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!