Congratulations to the Indianapolis Colts who are the 2004 AFC South Champions. For the first time since the Colts have been in Indianapolis they are division champions two years in a row! Sunday’s 23-14 win at Reliant Stadium, or the quagmire as it has been practically called, over the Texans secured the team a first round home playoff game at least. While it appears as though the number 1 or 2 seed is out of the question, there is still work to be done to make sure we get the number three seed.

First to the game. The Colts came out smoking hot. Jason David stepped in front of a David Carr pass on the Texans opening drive for the interception and the rout seemed on. Several runs by Edge got the Colts to the 3 when PM threw number 45 to Marv for the TD. Following a punt by the Texans and more gouging runs by Edge P threw a TD strike to Reggie. It was PM’s 46th of the season leaving him but three shy of breaking Dan Marino’s 1984 record of 48 TD passes in a season. By the time it was all over Manning had thrown for 298 yards and had completed more than 78% of his passes. He was very workmanlike as was the offense in general. I did think he ran some questionable plays where he played right into the teeth of the Houston D. Nonetheless, Edge gained 105 on 28 carries and along with his TD, Reggie Wayne had 96 yards receiving for the second straight week.

The defense was opportunistic, but it still rankled to watch a guy like Dominick Davis tear us apart. He ran for 128 yards on 23 carries for a 5.6 per carry average. That is too much. However, the Colts did cause two fumbles to go along with David’s pick. They also sacked Carr 5 times and hurried him repeatedly.

It was really a good game for the Colts. They had been blowing people out and this time it was a three point game going into the fourth quarter. Two Vandy field goals made up the final difference as the Colts stopped all three Houston fourth quarter drives.

Speaking of Vandy, this guy was at it again. Oh it wasn’t what he said, it was what he didn’t say. Let’s face it, this guy is a fantastic FG kicker, best ever by the stats. He also can not kick off worth a crap and that is why David Kimball was drafted, Matt Baker was hired and now Martin Grammatica is on the team. Grammatica by the way did a hell of a job Sunday. Vandy had no comment about anything. He is just a spoiled little brat and I look for him to be out of here next year.

With that here is this weeks top 10. There weren’t many changes this week. San Francisco did go on the road and get a win and Miami held Denver down until finally succumbing late, but they don’t really matter anyway!

1. Indianapolis – Call me a homer if you will, but the Colts are playing great football right now. Offense, special teams and even the D are heating things up.

2. New England – The Patriots struggled at home versus the Bengals, but as usual, they found a way to win.

3. Pittsburgh – Nice win over a very tough Jet team.

4. Philadelphia – Struggled against lowly skins. The fact that they are in the NFC may be their downfall.

5. San Diego – Win against surging Bucs proved this team is for real. Week 16 matchup v. Colts may decide the AFC 3 seed.

6. NY Jets – Tough loss at PIT, yet this team still is the odds on favorite for that 5th seed in the AFC.

7. Atlanta- The Birds wrap up the NFC South. Too up and down for my taste but still a solid team.

8. Baltimore-You just never know which team will show up. Boller is a roller coaster and the injuries have hurt their D.

9. Carolina-The Panthers have won 5 straight and in the NFC they may have enough to get in. That’s all they have right now.

10. Buffalo-They may be on the verge of elimination but they are better than those not above them.

So far, only Cleveland, Miami and San Francisco have officially been eliminated from the playoffs. However, conventional wisdom tells us Tennessee, Houston, Cincinnati, Oakland and Kansas City are virtually locked out in the AFC. In the NFC, New York, Washington, Detroit, Chicago and Arizona might was well give up.