Two-a-Days: Indianapolis Colts

TheSportsWatchers want to get you in shape for the upcoming 2010 NFL football season. So in the spirit of NFL training camp, we are doing two-a-days to get you in gear for each and every NFL team.

The Indianapolis Colts ended the 2010 NFL football season in one of the worst ways you can end it: with a loss in the Super Bowl. Sure, going 0-16 sucks, and not making the NFL playoffs makes a season seem wasted. However, playing in a game that some players wait their entire lives for, only to relinquish a halftime lead and lose is about as dreary as it gets. Can the Colts recover from the emotion of losing a Super Bowl, or will they suffer the effects of the Super Bowl hangover that has brought many good franchises back to the pack?

2009 NFL Football Recap
The Indianapolis Colts were the best team in football throughout the NFL’s regular season. They went 14-0 before they lost a game, and even then, they lost on purpose. Some thought the lack of playing time would doom the Colts in the first round of the playoffs, but Indianapolis handedly beat the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Jets before marching on to the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, the New Orleans Saints were waiting for the Colts, and their daring plays, consistent passing game and a pick-six (that was Reggie Wayne’s fault) cost the Colts a chance at their second Super Bowl victory in four seasons.

2010 Offseason Transactions
When you think of the Colts, you do not generally think defense, but when you do, you know that the focus will be on the pass rush. After a Super Bowl in which an injury to Dwight Freeney may have contributed to their loss, the Colts went out and sured up their defensive front. The signing of DE Trevor Anderson was a small step in that direction, but the later signing of DE Ricardo Mathews was an even bigger acquisition. Then of course, there was the DE Jerry Hughes out of TCU, whom the Colts took with their first round pick in the 2010 NFL draft. Hughes was a speedster at TCU last year and stuck on to quarterbacks like white on rice during his senior season with the Hornfrogs.

2010 NFL Prediction for the Colts
The Colts are the Colts, and Peyton Manning is Peyton Manning. They had 14-2 season last year (should have won them all). They beat upon the Baltimore Ravens. They beat up on the New York Jets. And they played their worst game of the year in the Super Bowl and were still 30 minutes away from being champions. And with little in the way of detraction from last year’s squad, the 2010 Indianapolis Colts should be prime to pursue another Super Bowl trip. It will be harder though. If the Tennessee Titans play more like the team that went 8-2 and not the team that went 0-6, the division just got tougher. And the #1 passing offense of the Houston Texans could prove to be problematic as well. Add to that a tougher New York Jets team, a promising Cincinnati Bengals squad and a very dangerous Ravens team, and the Indianapolis Colts path to a Super Bowl just got a little bit harder. All that being said, we still like the Colts to go 13-3, but we are doubtful of another trip to the Super Bowl.

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