The new Indianapolis Colts jerseys had a long offseason to think about what could have been in 2009. A late mistake by Peyton Manning cost them the Super Bowl and left them with a painful summer to think. Manning returns in 2010 after throwing as many touchdowns as years old he was in 2009, 33.
Also returning is the deepest receiving corps in the NFL, headlined by wide receiver Reggie Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark. The team relied very heavily on the passing game last season as it accounted for 77% of the yards gained. Rookie running back Donald Brown was injured much of the year, so the majority of the rushing duties fell on Joseph Addai. The ground game did not perform well though, having the lowest yards per game in the NFL. The struggles started up front, with an offensive line that underachieved. Outside of Pro Bowl center Jeff Saturday, the rest of the line had a hard time maintaining their blocks. The reason they gave up the fewest sacks in the league is much more a credit to Manning than the line. To boost the line, Indianapolis signed free agent guards Adam Terry and Andy Alleman.
On defense, the Colts have one of the best pass rushing duos in ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. Add to them Jerry Hughes, the first round draft pick from Texas Christian University, and opposing quarterbacks will be in trouble. Linebackers Gary Brackett and Clint Session played very well, recording a combined 202 tackles. The secondary is a question mark for the Colts football jerseys. Cornerbacks Tim Jennings and Marlin Jackson both left as free agents, and safety Bob Sanders has shown he can't stay on the field. Melvin Bullitt and Antoine Bethea have done a good job, but they will need some help against strong passing offenses.
As long as Manning is the quarterback, the Colts jerseys will also be the favorite in the AFC South. If the offensive line can improve and the secondary can hold up, this team will again be chasing a Super Bowl title.
Why, I wondered? Joe Flacco has been durable as a starter, not missing a game in two seasons. Coach John Harbaugh had Troy Smith and John Beck as young backups, even though they have only one NFL regular-season win between them. In fact, Beck, drafted by current Ravens offensive coordinator Cam Cameron when he was the coach of the Dolphins, still has the potential to develop into a starter somewhere in this league.
Bulger would be the perfect fill-in if Flacco suffers an injury. But the Bulger signing also firmed up how little faith the Ravens have in Smith and Beck and how bad the backup quarterback position is in the NFL. Thanks to the development of young quarterback studs such as Flacco, Matt Ryan, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Philip Rivers and others, the starting quarterback position is as deep for quality as it's ever been in the NFL.
On the flipside, the backup landscape is a desert. More good teams have unknown, unproven quarterbacks behind the starter than ever before. An injury to a starting quarterback could take a 13-win team to six or seven wins in an instant.
Sure, the Patriots came off an undefeated regular season in 2007 and won 11 games with Matt Cassel, who hadn't started since high school. What's forgotten is that Patriots team was loaded. Cassel threw to a great set of run-after-the-catch receivers. The defense was solid. The offensive line was in its prime. And don't forget, all four AFC East teams were playing one of the easiest schedule combinations in the past five years; they played the AFC West and NFC West when both divisions were down.
没有评论:
发表评论