[Give it up for Painter]

Curtis Painter did fine. But what about those DROPPED passes ?...like the first play to Garcon !! If the ball hits the receiver in both hands, there is no excuse for not catching it. All we read about is the QB's stats. Collie & Garcon drop sure completions and it only seems to reflect bad on Painter ?

And another note, why weren't Freeny and Mathis in on every defensive down ? Jeff Saturday and every other "healthy" offensive lineman played every offensive down. Just curious.

Collie was held on his drop, Garcon just has butter fingers and he more than made up for his early drops IMO. Freeney and Mathis were tired, rushing full out on every play is impossible. They have never been every down DEs. Plus add in the humidity factor in Tampa and the fact that their offense took over twice the amount of snaps we did and you have your reason why they weren't playing every down. It's simply a different position. Being on the O - Line is less taxing. Don't get me wrong, it's an incredibly demanding position. I equate being a DE to basically running suicides, but at the same time you trying to push a couple hundred pounds backwards. Mathis and Freeney get the rest so that they can come in 100% and blow by the tackle to create turnover opportunities and sacks.

[Give it up for Painter]

Painter played very well given the condition of the O - line, dropped passes, Donald Brown's blown block, etc. If there's one thing I can say with certainty, it's that Painter was not responsible for the loss. You can thank Coyer's soft Tampa 2 on every down, our terrible CBs, and our injury plagued lines for the L. I hope the injuries(besides Foster's) were all minor and that they will return to practice and play this next Sunday. No QB is going to last long with Link and Teper in there.

[Curtis Painter Look-Alikes]

Shave his facial hair and he looks like a 40 year old Marcia Brady addicted to meth.

. QFT

[Qb Situation To Be Determined]

This is absurd. Seriously. Stop it with the whole Collins crap Indy! He's done. He's bad. We have almost a 100% chance of losing with Collins starting. Unless this organization is determined to Suck for Luck or to ruin what little confidence Painter could possibly have at this point: Throwing the kid out there in the worst possible situations, bringing in a backup with no experience in the organization 2 weeks before games start, etc. Absurd. If they really think that Collins gives them a better chance to win at this point then I've lost a lot of faith in this organization.

[Painter]

Playoffs? Playoffs?

Yeah I really believe that there is a chance. No, it's not a high percentage, but it's there. Given that Painter starts and progresses relatively quickly, we could easily have a shot at the last wild card spot:

Colts Schedule:

@ Tampa Bay (Winnable)

Kansas City (Very Winnable)

@ Cincinnati (Very Winnable)

@ New Orleans (Not likely)

@ Tennessee (Winnable)

Atlanta (Possible)

Jacksonville (Very Winnable)

Bye

Carolina (Very Winnable)

@ New England (Not likely)

@ Baltimore (Not likely however Tennessee beat them...)

Tennessee (Winnable)

Houston (Winnable if Peyton is back, otherwise not likely)

Jacksonville (Very winnable)

Look at that schedule. I can easily see THIS colts team getting 8-9 wins by the year's end especially if they keep improving as much as they have been with each game. Bump those numbers up if number 18 actually does end up returning at the end of the season. I honestly think that the wild cards will need 9 or 10 wins to get in this year. The Steelers look bad, the AFC east is upside down. I think the wild card race will be tighter than usual and may actually present an opportunity for us to slip in if we are positioned right. The other factor that goes both ways is that on ANY given week ANY team can win. Who in their right mind would've predicted that the Colts would give the Steelers a run for their money last night? Don't count them out. I'm not suggesting that we adopt unrealistic expectations of the Colts, but rather that we have a little more faith in their abilities. Also, Houston is good at choking.

[Should Painter Start?]

Finally!

[Colts Are Significantly Better This Year Than Last Year]

Addai is looking great and is getting some really good blocks inside. He is cutting with a decisive and explosive nature. It's awesome to see. Our run D looks great for a change. Maybe the Steelers are just bad? lol. I feel terrible for Reggie Wayne though. The guy has been open on almost every play, yet Collins can't get him the ball. Sad.

[Painters Time]

I agree. Painter should get the start. The Colts have a lot of problems, sure, but Collins lost week 2 for us. Actually if you take away his fumbles in both games, we wouldn't be talking about Suck for Luck and draft day nearly as much as we do now. He doesn't secure the football. Sure, our O-Line sucks. But it doesn't change the way that Collins grips or throws the football. Watch him tonight and see what I mean. I cringed at almost every snap in fear that he would fumble due to his weird wind up, scramble, and throwing motions. There is virtually no upside to playing Collins. I hate saying it, but it's true. Our running game has actually looked amazing compared to last years so far and yet we still can't convert 3rd downs or in the redzone and I think much of the blame is on Collins. Put Painter in, the worst that can happen is that he turns the ball over(something that Collins already does). And if he does, at least he will gain valuable play time experience and the coaching staff and fans will have the opportunity to evaluate him a bit more. This post is somewhat irrelevant though because I don't think Collins will last too much longer with our O-line. In some ways, it's nice for the rest of the world to finally realize JUST how good of a player Peyton truly is.

[Archie Says Peyton Felling Better, Article & Video]

manning is a joe for having neck surgery at the end of may....what the heck was he thinkin

Seriously? lol. I'm sure Peyton loved having surgery and loves sitting out this season. The guy is a competitor. Take away the money and I bet the guy would still play for the love of the game. This was a recurring issue that he's been working through with the team's medical staff for awhile... What an ignorant post.

[How Bad Is Kc Going To Beat Us?]

Wow, what a bunch of Negative Nancys. The Colts have a lot to improve on, but I don't think the season is lost yet. Sure play off hopes are rather low, as they should be, but wins? Come on! Even the worse team in the league can surprise the best on any given Sunday. Take away the fumbles from the first two games and the Houston game becomes closer and the Browns game is probably a win. Sure, Steelers will be tough and it's probably going to be a loss, but the next 3 games are against TB, KC, and CIN. All are very winnable IMO. And if that happens, the Colts are 3-3 and probably sitting at 2nd in the division. I swear Indy fans are the definition of fair weather fans.

[Kravitz Wants Favre]

I kinda' expected it from a few average Colts fans, but not from a seasoned sportswriter.

Just a full disclosure: I was one of the people who said Painter should have started over Collins in the first place. Not necessarily because Curtis was a better QB for the Colts at the time (although you can make a good argument for it), but rather because it was going to be a project, no matter who you put in there.

I am now stating on the record: they need to stick with Collins.

There's an old adage in college football: "If you have two starting quarterbacks, then you really don't have any." I think that especially rings true here. You make a decision, and you live with it. Stop being so darn wishy-washy. The honest truth of it is, unless Manning miraculously comes back at 100% in the next few games, there is no Superbowl trophy for us this year. I personally would have rather spent the year developing our younger players (including Painter) and come back in a better position to win a championship next year. What the Colts have committed to, is developing a 38 yo quarterback who won't help us win a SB this year, and almost certainly won't be with the team next year (due to age and his huge 2nd year contract). But you make a decision and you live with it.

And no, I don't think Brett Favre is the answer, like Kravitz is advocating. That'll make things even worse than they are right now.

No, I think they should start Painter ASAP. Collins has a track record, sure, but the Colts have kept Painter around for this long for a reason. I'm guessing that they've seen good development in practice and honestly he looked really really good against Green Bay in the pre-season. If the season is truly lost, why continue to go with Collins? Why not try to develop Painter? The worse he can do is fumble it a couple of times inside our own twenty...oh wait Collins already does that. He should be able to run the offense more efficiently as well given that he's been in the system for a couple of years now and has some report with the receiving core. I don't think there are any downsides to running with Painter.

As for Favre? Yes, it would be good for the general Colts public to have Favre come back because it will revive general Colts fan interest. No, it will not be good for the team or for the Colts. He's old, our O-Line is awful, and he would probably be injured in his first two games. Speaking of injuries, I think we'll probably see Painter sooner or later due to the hits that Collins is taking.