Well there it was in black and white. Colts 30 Bills 17. Colts win, but fail to impress the coach who ultimately needs impressed. I thought the team competed and played hard. Sure they made mistakes, but we still have a week and a half until the Patriot game so hopefully those issues will be remedied.

Unfortunately there are injuries. Hubie Pyatt has just been listed as out 2 to 6 weeks with a deep thigh bruise. James Mungro will not see any action this week because of an injury and the Rock also tweaked an ankle and is questionable for this week.

Defensively the Colts did look pretty stout. Of course that was against one of the more anemic offenses in the NFL. We forced 7 fumbles on the night, held Drew Bledsoe in check and didn’t give Willis McGahee anywhere to run. Dwight got a sack, Morris managed 6 tackles and Cato June had 11 tackles.

Penalties again plagued the Colts with 7. That is something that is going to have to be rectified ASAFP!

Basically though, the team didn’t really show anything which seems to be the Dungy way. Coach just plays real vanilla anyway and the preseason is even more monotonous.

A sellout crowd allowed the game to be televised live locally, although my estimate would be about 48k in actual attendance on what was a rainy night in Indy.

Me and Neil made the trip and hit the Whistle Stop before the game.

Well I don’t know if I am ready to pull the plug on my pre-preseason prediction of a 14-2 record this season for the Colts but Saturday showed me that the team is nowhere near ready to contend for the Super Bowl.

The Jets rolled the Colts 31-7 and that score is justified. Now granted the score was only 8-7 when P. Manning and Co. left the field, but that was after a Manning pick in the end zone and an Edge fumble that thwarted decent drives.

The Jets were relentless through the air. Pennington Gap was 11-12 before he left for the evening and was never harassed.

Edge did look good with 62 yards on 11 carries. Hubie Pyatt continues to be a player. He was solid as a return man and did a nice job as a receiver. #49 Bryan Fletcher impressed as a TE. Manning looked off early. He hung Reggie Wayne out to dry on one pass and then really hung Troy Walters out a couple of plays later. He eventually settled down and was okay, though Walters wasn’t.

Defensively no one was much. Cato June played okay. Morris was his usual self, LOST! The backfield was chewed up by the Jets. QB Jim Sorgi didn’t show anything and at this point I would say the job belongs to Joe Hamilton. Kickoff specialist David Kimball once again showed nothing special. He is probably not going to make it. I don’t see the team keeping him when he can do no better, and actually worse than Vandy. Speaking of Vandy, he handled punting duties in Hunter Smith’s absence. He did a pretty good job.

Now there were a lot of guys not in the lineup. Agnes and Stokely were both out. Troy Walters was lost in the first series with a broken arm. He may be lost for the season. I guess if there is one position the team can afford to lose a player it would be at WR.

There were more than 44,000 in attendance which is pretty good for a preseason game. Mellencamp came out and played “Little Pink Houses” at halftime. He was booed by some when he was introduced, but basically cheered as he went off after a nice version of the song and no political commentary.

It was a good evening. Beer prices have gone up at the games. Last year a 24 oz. can of Bud was $6.50. This year a 16 oz. can is $6.00 for a 10.5% increase in price. There is more signage up at the entrances to the aisles with advertising.

This week should be more entertaining. The starters will probably play the whole first half and it will be a good test against Willis McGahee and or Travis Henry who was injured Saturday.

The Colts opened the preseason Saturday night with a 21-17 win over the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. They looked damn unimpressive doing it though. The first team offense ran only 6 plays and went 3 and out twice. The first team defense didn’t look any better and basically made Drew Brees look like Joe Montana with a leech on his face.

Backup QB’s Cory Sauter and Joe Hamilton both were adequate, but since Peyton doesn’t miss plays let alone games (knock on wood) their, and Jim Sorgi’s services will not be needed.

I don’t really put much stock in this game, but it is clear the D still is in a state of flux. We really could use second round draft pick Bob Sanders in camp. Morris was pitiful again. He had one tackle on the night and that was on special teams. He is pathetic. I can’t believe there are still those that defend his play. We watched the game and he was just out of position on every play he was in. Just terrible!

Some bright moments were a spectacular catch by Agnes. In what looked to be a good defensive play, Aggie somehow managed to get his hands on the ball behind him and bring it in. He then ran down the field for a TD. Agnes is a good possession receiver and is one of the reasons why we have the best receiving corps in the league. The only other real play of note was a beautiful second effort play at the goal line by James Mungro for a score. Mungro appeared stopped at the 1 foot line, but managed to squirm through for the score.

Sure Hamilton lead the team down the field for the winning score in the two minute drill, but with both teams scrubs on the field it really didn’t count for much. I know Hamilton is athletic, but sight unseen I would expect Jim Sorgi to get that third slot on the team.

One other disappointment was the kickoffs. David Kimball was brought in as a kickoff specialist but his first kick only went to the 19. His second cleared the 10 and his other kick was a squib. He also missed his only FG attempt of the game, albeit a long one. Vandy only kicked off once and sailed it to the 5, but he kicked off from the 30.

Again, it was the first preseason game and there were no real glimpses of brilliance and many moments of rust. That is to be expected. This week it’s the Jets at home. I expect the first teams to play a little more. Sorgi will play instead of Hamilton and hopefully we can get Sanders signed.

Saturday night at San Diego the Indianapolis Colts face the Chargers in their initial preseason game. Expectations are off the charts for this years Colts and for good reason.

The Colts are coming off their most successful season since moving to Indy in 1984. The AFC South crown and a trip to the AFC Championship game have left us Colt fans salivating over this years chances.

Most of the players are back from last years 12-4 squad including NFL MVP Peyton Manning who comes to camp this year with a $90 million some odd contract. Marvin and Edge are back as are super surprises Brandon Stokely and Troy Walters. Dallas Clark should be healthy and able to compliment Marcus Pollard at tight end and an upgrade would seem to have been made with the drafting of Ben Hartsock at TE.

Gone is former starter Adam Meadows who was lost to the salary cap. Meadows will be missed, but we seem to have a cohesive unit starting and a couple of really good backups.

Of course defense will once again be the big question mark on this team. Marcus Washington is gone via free agency and as of today our top draft pick, Bob Sanders remains unsigned and out of camp. Sanders is expected to challenge Idrees Bashier for the starting safety position.

Unfortunately the middle will be “anchoreda’ by Rob Morris again. Morris is in a contract year, but I doubt if there is enough motivation in the world to make him excel at the position. Thankfully Dwight the Fright will be there to wreak havoc in opposing teams offensive backfields.

My preseason prediction is that the team will go 14-2 with bookend losses at New England and at Denver in the opening and closing games of the season. Of course this is not my official prediction but rather what I see at this early point. I’m excited to get the season underway, at least the preseason and see where the team stands after a couple weeks of camp. Stay tuned to this page for thoughts and insights all season long!