the colts will not win a game this year.

will they trade the top pick or take Luck with Peyton's injury situation so much in the air?

The Colts should take Luck. Even if Peyton is healthy next year, he may have 3 or 4 years left at best. The Colts could do like the Packers did with Rodgers and be set at QB for another 10 years or more!!

This isn't just about Peyton being out. I'm watching the game right now and the colts are a very bad team. The defense ... doesn't defend. If Peyton was in, they'd be winning some games but I doubt they'd even have made the playoffs.

Yeah but I bet they're phoning it in now. Odds are the defense would be playing much better and much harder if Manning was under center...at least well enough to not give up 61 points.

With the Dolphins and Rams stiking up the joint too, could be a battle royale for Luck. With three possible 0-16s, I'll have to look to see if the NFL has a process for determining "suckiness" for draft order.

St Louis really doesn't need Luck though. Unless they're just going to let Bradford be abused to the point of total annihilation.

Colt's defense has never ever ever been that great. It's always been a defense that depends on the offense. If you have a good offense and can keep your defense off the field then your defense get rest and is better with each series.

The Colt's defense has been the Freeney and Mathis show for the last few years. Both of those guys have been dealing with various injuries over the last couple of years.

Manning IS the Colts. With him off the field the team just doesn't play with the same enthusiasm. Right now they are playing for the Andrew Luck sweepstakes because they have no viable alternative to Manning when he retires in 3-4 years or sooner.

Alan

Correct. If the Colts get Luck, he will sit behind Manning for two years, and then Manning will retire.

I hope the Dolphins get Luck. They've consistently been an awful offensive team since Marino was in his prime and the other two teams have decent QBs already. I could see them trying to trade up for the first pick if one of the other teams gets it. Realistically, it might be in the Colts' best interest to trade the first pick to the Dolphins, if the price is right, as they would still be able to draft a top-3 QB who could be mentored by Peyton for a few years before starting and have time to develop. Luck should be able to start right out of college and, if he wants to play right away, the Dolphins are his best bet.

Go Dolphins!

how 'bout them Rams?

Weary wrote:

This isn't just about Peyton being out. I'm watching the game right now and the colts are a very bad team. The defense ... doesn't defend. If Peyton was in, they'd be winning some games but I doubt they'd even have made the playoffs.

This is just about Peyton being out. Colts have always had the kind of defense that only works when Colts are ahead. When Colts are ahead and the opponents have to rely more on passing, Colts defense is very good with their pass rushers.

Colts have always struggled when they're behind or a close game since Colts defense have never been able to stop the run except for 2006 Super Bowl year when Bob Sanders was healthy.

This is the reason why Colts usually struggle in the playoffs. Teams in the playoffs usually have pretty good defense to slow down Peyton, and opponents usually have good enough running game to keep Peyton off the field.

Last year is the perfect example of this team just about Peyton. Colts have no-name receivers except for Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark was out. Running game is awful as the O-line is built for the passing game. Still with Peyton's game management, Peyton would keep the offense on the field and minimize the amount of time their defense is on the field. Colts were good enough to make the playoffs.

taxing taxing wrote:

Yeah but I bet they're phoning it in now. Odds are the defense would be playing much better and much harder if Manning was under center...at least well enough to not give up 61 points.

The Colt defense is made up of many individual players who will get paid more next year if they perform well, individually, this year. They care somewhat how the team defense performs, but mostly they care how they themselves perform. They would be committing career suicide if they were "phoning it in."

number nineteen wrote:

St Louis really doesn't need Luck though. Unless they're just going to let Bradford be abused to the point of total annihilation.

Bradford will not hold up to regular week to week pounding, let alone the abuse that he takes currently. Guys need to be bigger and stronger.

True, but do you think they really have the extra motivation to hold the line on a goal line stand? Do you think they're as fired up as they would be to do the little things when they're getting blown out by 50 points?

I don't doubt that they all want to make plays and look good. But I'd have to imagine they're missing that intangible drive to play harder that comes when you're up by one score and have to defend that lead.

The Rams are happy with Bradford. He has no supporting cast: offensive line sucks and mediocre receivers. Even if the Rams go 0-16 and somehow get the 1st pick, it won't be on Andrew Luck.

My guess is Colts are tanking on purpose to get Luck at QB. As already mentioned he can learn from Payton and in 3 years they once again will be a top team with a top QB.

The colts won't win until all of the Polians have been fired. They created this mess and should be terminated by Irsay. Bill and Chris Polian seem to think that one man, Manning is the reason theis team can't win. Not so, it's bad leadership of the Polians and less than good coaching. The good coaches have been kicked out of the orgainization.

The colts won't win until all of the Polians have been fired. They created this mess and should be terminated by Irsay. Bill and Chris Polian seem to think that one man, Manning is the reason theis team can't win. Not so, it's bad leadership of the Polians and less than good coaching. The good coaches have been kicked out of the orgainization.