Here come the Colts...

[cdumler7]

It's the NFL in general. A savvy fan respects any opponent, especially a playoff opponent.

It honestly bothers me a little how little respect this game is getting. On the NFL Network it just seems like this game is getting the least attention. They seem to be trying to make a story out of Luck vs. Manning kind of thing but many just don't seem to be that interested. To me this is the divisional round of the playoffs and every team still remaining needs to be respected. Honestly there is no quarterback left in the playoffs that scares me more than Andrew Luck. He might not be as consistent as say Rodgers or even Romo kind of thing but when this kid is on his game there is no better quarterback in the league. So yes that should make us have to take a bit of pause when it comes to this game. I still expect a Bronco win but until that clock reads 0 and the Broncos have actually won the game I will be nervous like crazy.

 

[HOF-ELWAY-7]

It's the NFL in general. A savvy fan respects any opponent, especially a playoff opponent.

Every team that's in the tournament is capable of winning the whole thing. I believe 6 of the last 9 SB winners played on the opening weekend of the playoffs which means 3rd seed or lower. I'm not sure that it matters if fans respect an opponent, just that the Broncos actually do. For my part if the Broncos lose, Monday isn't going to be any easier whether I personally respect the fact they can beat us or not and quite frankly it will have no impact on the outcome. That said it's certainly possible that the Colts can win but IMO it will take a monster game from Luck for that to happen. Again, he's certainly capable.

 

[iknowftbll]

That "Manning vs Luck" thing gets a lot of hype and it is a little frustrating. It doesn't help when that drunk twat-waffle Irsay thinks he has to justify his decision every time the Colts face off with the Broncos.

These are two teams that will face each other, not two players. Both have worked very hard to get to this point and both have everything to gain and lose with this game. I believe the Broncos will win, but like you I am not willing to count the Colts out until this one is officially in the books.

 

[cdumler7]

That "Manning vs Luck" thing gets a lot of hype and it is a little frustrating. It doesn't help when that drunk twat-waffle Irsay thinks he has to justify his decision every time the Colts face off with the Broncos.

These are two teams that will face each other, not two players. Both have worked very hard to get to this point and both have everything to gain and lose with this game. I believe the Broncos will win, but like you I am not willing to count the Colts out until this one is officially in the books.

I really liked what Luck had to say after his wild card round in pretty much that it is not him vs. Manning but it is him vs. our defense. Seattle fans keep pointing towards Wilson's record against the best quarterbacks in the league and to me that is more a sign of how good the defense is not how good Wilson is. He is not the one who held all those guys to bad days. Too often we want to make it about the quarterbacks as they do influence the game more than any other player on the field but I am very interested to see how our defense does against him. I'm hoping to see a bit of a rejuvenated DeMarcus Ware. He seemed to not be 100% after about half way through the season. Hopefully the week off helped him get some of that endurance back and we can see him make a big play.

 

[BigKen]

Not to piss anyone off.......Game with the highest interest is Cowboys vs Packers. I've been watching the NFL Network and they spent a god 20 minutes going over every thread of that game from the number of divots in Tony Romo's spinal column to how many muscle fibers in Aaron Rodgers calf will not be fully functional.


Next is the Ravens vs Patriots. All we're hearing back east is that Joe Flacco is the greatest post season quarterback in the NFL since the merge in 1970. He's 7-1 and his coach has proclaimed him the greatest QB of all time. Then it's all about the rise of the Ravens year in and year out when the playoffs get here...........


Third is the Colts vs Broncos. As some of you have already stated, they're trying to get interest in the Luck v Manning because of the Indy/Denver connection. When they start to talk about the teams against each other in the game, no one seems to be able to come up with an interesting twist that would give the viewer pause. For Luck, it's the same stuff Manning went through when he played outside the dome......Can't win the cold etc.


Least interest is with the Panthers and Seahawks. It's pretty much 90/10 that everyone thinks this one will be over by the end of the first quarter. Most anyone outside Carolina or Washington state could really give a rat's ass.


It's not disrespect, it's what offers the most to the most viewers. In all honesty, AFC fans won't care much about the NFC games until next week exact opposite for NFC fans.

 

[TDs3nOut]

Not to piss anyone off.......Game with the highest interest is Cowboys vs Packers. I've been watching the NFL Network and they spent a god 20 minutes going over every thread of that game from the number of divots in Tony Romo's spinal column to how many muscle fibers in Aaron Rodgers calf will not be fully functional.


Next is the Ravens vs Patriots. All we're hearing back east is that Joe Flacco is the greatest post season quarterback in the NFL since the merge in 1970. He's 7-1 and his coach has proclaimed him the greatest QB of all time. Then it's all about the rise of the Ravens year in and year out when the playoffs get here...........


Third is the Colts vs Broncos. As some of you have already stated, they're trying to get interest in the Luck v Manning because of the Indy/Denver connection. When they start to talk about the teams against each other in the game, no one seems to be able to come up with an interesting twist that would give the viewer pause. For Luck, it's the same stuff Manning went through when he played outside the dome......Can't win the cold etc.


Least interest is with the Panthers and Seahawks. It's pretty much 90/10 that everyone thinks this one will be over by the end of the first quarter. Most anyone outside Carolina or Washington state could really give a rat's ass.


It's not disrespect, it's what offers the most to the most viewers. In all honesty, AFC fans won't care much about the NFC games until next week exact opposite for NFC fans.

Personally, I don't care about which game NFL Net devotes the most coverage to. I'm interested in all four games, particularly Colts at Broncos.

Also, your post does make me think about how uncannily good Flacco has been in the playoffs. Not too confident that that short trend extends, but I certainly hope that it does.

 

[Broncosr0k]

I also have to wonder how much is just media bias. Denver and Indianapolis are not large market teams. The ravens-pats game can grab much of the east coast while the packers and cowboys have fans across the country in large numbers.

I am not going to worry about lack of media coverage. That can keep teams under the radar and I am sure we will get a media circus if the broncos and pats win this week.

 

[HOF-ELWAY-7]

That "Manning vs Luck" thing gets a lot of hype and it is a little frustrating. It doesn't help when that drunk twat-waffle Irsay thinks he has to justify his decision every time the Colts face off with the Broncos.

These are two teams that will face each other, not two players. Both have worked very hard to get to this point and both have everything to gain and lose with this game. I believe the Broncos will win, but like you I am not willing to count the Colts out until this one is officially in the books.

I agree that the narrative of Manning V Luck is ridiculous. I think Manning said it best, I've been here for three years, I think that's all been covered enough.

I do think that Luck is the biggest key to this particular game though. If Luck doesn't play well or has an average game the Broncos will roll them, if he plays very well it could be anyone's game. I think there's a bit of extra attention payed to Manning because of his late season struggles and is he going to play like that or the first 8 games. I still think whether Manning admits this or not, this would be a special game to win. This is the first "real" game that Manning has played against Indy and with that idiot Irsay and his words..... well..... let's just say I'm excited to see how Manning plays Sunday.

 

[HOF-ELWAY-7]

Not to piss anyone off.......Game with the highest interest is Cowboys vs Packers. I've been watching the NFL Network and they spent a god 20 minutes going over every thread of that game from the number of divots in Tony Romo's spinal column to how many muscle fibers in Aaron Rodgers calf will not be fully functional.


Next is the Ravens vs Patriots. All we're hearing back east is that Joe Flacco is the greatest post season quarterback in the NFL since the merge in 1970. He's 7-1 and his coach has proclaimed him the greatest QB of all time. Then it's all about the rise of the Ravens year in and year out when the playoffs get here...........


Third is the Colts vs Broncos. As some of you have already stated, they're trying to get interest in the Luck v Manning because of the Indy/Denver connection. When they start to talk about the teams against each other in the game, no one seems to be able to come up with an interesting twist that would give the viewer pause. For Luck, it's the same stuff Manning went through when he played outside the dome......Can't win the cold etc.


Least interest is with the Panthers and Seahawks. It's pretty much 90/10 that everyone thinks this one will be over by the end of the first quarter. Most anyone outside Carolina or Washington state could really give a rat's ass.


It's not disrespect, it's what offers the most to the most viewers. In all honesty, AFC fans won't care much about the NFC games until next week exact opposite for NFC fans.

They had a fan poll asking what was the best / most anticipated game and Seattle and Carolina was by far last the other 3 were very close. I think all the games are very attractive. If there is one game that's a sleeper its the Sea / Car game. When they played in Carolina that was a mans game. I would think that Carolina wouldn't have been Seattle's top choice as an opponent.

 

[cdumler7]

I think the Seattle/Carolina game was half way interesting until you learned that Star Lotulelei broke his foot. I gave Carolina about a 10% chance of pulling off the upset until that happened. Most Carolina fans actually believe he is the cog that makes that defense great...even more so than Luke Kuechley. For Carolina to stand a chance Cam Newton is going to have to play the game of his life in my opinion.

Anyway so back to our game...
What do you think the key match ups will be in this one?

 

[Broncosr0k]

Anyway so back to our game...
What do you think the key match ups will be in this one?

Our pass rush vs. the Indy line and Luck's scramble skills. I think If Ware and Miller and attack the outside and we get Jackson or Pot Roast to collapse the pocket we can easily win the day. Given what we saw last week I expect Luck to challenge deep so whoever covers Hilton and Moncrief will need to be on point, at least the first few seconds of the play.

 

[HOF-ELWAY-7]

Our pass rush vs. the Indy line and Luck's scramble skills. I think If Ware and Miller and attack the outside and we get Jackson or Pot Roast to collapse the pocket we can easily win the day. Given what we saw last week I expect Luck to challenge deep so whoever covers Hilton and Moncrief will need to be on point, at least the first few seconds of the play.

Yup, that's exactly right. I don't think JDR can drop 7 or 8 into coverage against this guy. JDR tried that on two consecutive drives on which allowed the Colts to jump back into the game in September.

 

[iknowftbll]

Yup, that's exactly right. I don't think JDR can drop 7 or 8 into coverage against this guy. JDR tried that on two consecutive drives on which allowed the Colts to jump back into the game in September.

Ugh. Just the thought of JDR putting the defense in the prevent, at all, at any point in the playoffs, regardless of the score, makes me shudder.

 

[HOF-ELWAY-7]

Ugh. Just the thought of JDR putting the defense in the prevent, at all, at any point in the playoffs, regardless of the score, makes me shudder.

 

[iknowftbll]

I keep reading a lot (A LOT) about Vontae Davis shutting down DT this weekend. Davis has been a bright spot on the Colts defense this season, but I think a lot of analysts are reading a little too much into Davis' performance against DT. Much of the analysis hinges on Davis' performance against DT in week 1. We all remember DT getting out of the gate slowly this season, and having him line up in the slot in that week 1 game had him playing out of his normal position. I think with Welker in and DT in is normal spot out wide, Davis is going to have a much more difficult time covering.

Do you guys agree?

 

[DownSetHutch]

I keep reading a lot (A LOT) about Vontae Davis shutting down DT this weekend. Davis has been a bright spot on the Colts defense this season, but I think a lot of analysts are reading a little too much into Davis' performance against DT. Much of the analysis hinges on Davis' performance against DT in week 1. We all remember DT getting out of the gate slowly this season, and having him line up in the slot in that week 1 game had him playing out of his normal position. I think with Welker in and DT in is normal spot out wide, Davis is going to have a much more difficult time covering.

Do you guys agree?

I agree. It was a few weeks before DT got up to speed production-wise, and like you said, he's was out of his usual position.

I will say though that I am not quite sure what type of offense to expect from our Broncos this week, or even the rest of the playoffs (if we win) - run-heavy, pass-heavy, or balanced. That could be a very good thing if opposing teams are not sure what to expect either.

 

[TDs3nOut]

I keep reading a lot (A LOT) about Vontae Davis shutting down DT this weekend. Davis has been a bright spot on the Colts defense this season, but I think a lot of analysts are reading a little too much into Davis' performance against DT. Much of the analysis hinges on Davis' performance against DT in week 1. We all remember DT getting out of the gate slowly this season, and having him line up in the slot in that week 1 game had him playing out of his normal position. I think with Welker in and DT in is normal spot out wide, Davis is going to have a much more difficult time covering.

Do you guys agree?

No doubt. DT is more than any CB can handle.

 

[randymon]

Wow! Surprised anyone wouldn`t be excited about any game this wknd and the potential for any " upsets" to happen. One of the games I think will be really interesting is the Panthers - Hawks game. For anyone to say these games don`t have the possibility of being extremely competitive down to the wire, are just ignorant. The majority says Dallas/GB will be high scoring game and Seattle and Carolina will be low scoring of course is the "jump on the band wagon mentality",but we`ve all seen how that turns out to be just the opposite. Nobody knows and thats what makes these games really unpredictable. Be prepared to be stunned this wknd.

 

[cdumler7]

I actually think the Broncos will put Emmanuel Sanders on his side this week. The Colts actually have a very similar style of defense to that of the Seahawks and one of those ways is that they keep their corners on one side all game long. I think Sanders is the better match up against Davis as he is the better one at getting off of press coverage. Throw in then DT has the huge height advantage and speed advantage against Toller on the other side.

I would also say with Davis there is just not much reason to challenge him in the game. The Colts defense just doesn't have much more than him at this point. They kind of remind me of the Raiders defense when they had Aso...He was a great corner but essentially what teams would do is just play 10 on 10 all game long because the rest of the defense just stunk so bad there was no reason to challenge the one good player they had.

 

[cdumler7]

So last injury update before the game on Sunday. Quanterus Smith did not practice today and is officially out for the game with a knee injury. Mitch Unrein and Brandon Marshall are listed as questionable for the game. Everybody else though is listed as probable that is on the injury list and everybody else actually had full practices.

Quanterus Smith has been a somewhat healthy scratch from games of late so not sure he would have played if he was healthy. Unrein has been in and out all year depending on the match up it seems. Marshall though is the one that could hurt. Don't want to play him if he isn't healthy enough but he definitely changes our defense if he does play. If he is 80% or lower though I honestly wouldn't play him for this game. I would rather take our chances against the Colts without him and everybody else healthy and give his foot another week or so to be ready for the Championship game. That is not me overlooking the Colts but just stating that an 80% or less Marshall could actually be a hindrance on this team more than a help with the speed at the TE and RB position for the Colts.