Titans Were 10-0 Under Collins

[GoDeep]

We will be without Manning..yes. And that is hard. But we will have Collins under center...Let's not forget that in 2008 he had the Titans at 10-0...and won the division at 13-3. He is no slouch.

I am trying to put a positive spin on this bad news...bash away!

[Andy]

The Titans and the Colts are different... very different.

[tonychen]

People are just fooling themselves by believing we have more talents than Collins ever had and he may reach a decent level of success this season before Manning is back. Because:

1. You are just ignoring the fact that Titans have a legit running offense that we have not had even closely in the past decade. He can connect to the receiving corp effectively because the running game set up the situations for the receivers to get open. Plus, Titans receivers are not indeed less talented than guys like Pierre Garcon. They have Britt. And Chris Johnson is better than the entire Colts RB corp together.

2. No matter how good he is, even like Brees/Brady-good, it has been less than 20 days since he was brought into the team. Only 15min of preseason football and a couple of practices are not going to be sufficient for any QB to learn operating a new team fluently. Even Manning himself could not manage this in 2008 until one month into the seacon, considering he has been working with this team for 10 yrs.

The only things people can hope for are:

1. Our running game becomes stronger. The OL is indeed stronger and has lots of potential, and the backs we hold besides Addai and Brown are more competitive than what we had before. However, the problem is still the limited time for them to glue, get experience, and find the rhythm.

2. Our D stops the opponents from putting up points. The DL may be improved and we can hope they can stop the runs. While the DBs are in serious concerns. One good thing is the first 6 weeks we are facing less pass-happy teams except for the Texans. As far as we can stop the run things wont get too ugly.

In all, the major concern is the ability to score. It does not mean we will be blown out but we could be having many close losses. Only thanks to the schedule we are not facing the pass-happy elite teams until week7 and we might win 2 out of the 6 because the opponents could be struggling to score as well. Collins may improve after say 3 games and win us a game or 2. This is the reality.

[GoDeep]

And we will have to adapt.

[Moose Of Woe]

We're not the Titans.

[Coltssouth]

Kerry is not a bad qb. Of course he's not Peyton. No one is but it could be a whole lot worse.

[presto123]

Kerry is not a bad qb. Of course he's not Peyton. No one is but it could be a whole lot worse.

Yeah it could be Painter starting the season. Ouch!

[tonychen]

A major concern for me is how slowly the team reacted to the QB situation. If there was a possiblity to have Manning missing a couple of games, they'd bring Collins into the training camp from day-1. If so, he might have improved his chemistry with the team and help us win 3-4 games out of the first 6. Now it has been just too late and we can only hope for 1-2.

Anybody believing Painter could start was just insane. From this perspective the management were doing a terrible job.

[GoColts8818]

We're not the Titans.

No we're better. That's why we've been to two Super Bowls (one just two years ago) and won every AFC South Title except for two.

[GoDeep]

No we're better. That's why we've been to two Super Bowls (one just two years ago) and won every AFC South Title except for two.

Thank you.

[Coffeedrinker]

No we're better. That's why we've been to two Super Bowls (one just two years ago) and won every AFC South Title except for two.

People won't believe it until they see it. This board is going to be near impossible to read Sunday evening and Monday. If the Colts lose all these people are going to be like, "see I told you so, the Colts are horrible without Manning, blah, blah, blah." And if they win they will be like, "The Colts were lucky, the Texans aren't that good, when they face a real team... blah, blah, blah."

If Manning plays and they lose the Colts will have brought Manning back too soon.

If Manning plays and they win, it will prove that the Colts are weak except for Manning.

[Blue Horseshoe]

He had a running game in Tennessee and a defense.

I will be very surprised in he wins a third of his games in Indianapolis.

Frankly, I'm worried about the Brown game, let alone the Houston and Pittsburgh ones.

[GoDeep]

He had a running game in Tennessee and a defense.

I will be very surprised in he wins a third of his games in Indianapolis.

Frankly, I'm worried about the Brown game, let alone the Houston and Pittsburgh ones.

Same year, we started 3-4 and ended 12-4. Don't jump yet!

[Meltdown]

Collins has always been a strong arm, reliable QB IMO. However there are a few differences between his tenure in Tennessee and now here in Indy.

The year he went 13-3 as a starter and won the division, he had a very good running game. Just this one aspect gives the QB a confort zone and opens up the playbook.

The offensive line in Tennessee was also better than what we have presently. They were good run blockers as well as pass blockers. They kept Collins clean and provided huge holes for CJ to run through.

He also had a defense that was nasty, hard hitting, and solid. We do not have that type of Defense here in Indy. This also allowed him a comfort zone, he knew if he made a mistake the defense had his back.

Even though I think Collins will do fair, do not expect another 13-3 finish with what he has to work with here. I think most will see that without PM making up for alot of holes on both sides of the ball, our team I am sorry to say is average at best.

Just my thoughts.

[Smitto]

He was also 0-6 under them as well so take it how you want it... collins needs time to get into the swing of things during a game we'll see how he performs comes sunday.

[Rich Cannon]

I think we can go 1-1 without Manning. Game 1 -Texans, Gme 2-Browns. I am hoping Manning comes back game 3

[manningfan]

We will be without Manning..yes. And that is hard. But we will have Collins under center...Let's not forget that in 2008 he had the Titans at 10-0...and won the division at 13-3. He is no slouch.

I am trying to put a positive spin on this bad news...bash away!

So the Dolphins went 17-0 with Bob Griese and Earl Morrall as their QB in 1972. Should we sign either of them? Point is 2008 was 3 years ago and even then Collins was old.

Whole he might be better than a lot of the other back ups out there he's still a 39 yr old QB 10 that is a good 10 years past his prime.

[doogansquest]

A major concern for me is how slowly the team reacted to the QB situation. If there was a possiblity to have Manning missing a couple of games, they'd bring Collins into the training camp from day-1. If so, he might have improved his chemistry with the team and help us win 3-4 games out of the first 6. Now it has been just too late and we can only hope for 1-2.

Anybody believing Painter could start was just insane. From this perspective the management were doing a terrible job.

But they didn't react slowly. They brought in as many inexpensive FA's as they could, all the while talking to Hassleback. When he agreed to terms with Tennessee, we were left with few options and little time.

People always say, "we should bring in (insert personnel)" as if said player/coach doesn't have a choice. It's also not as though other teams aren't actively seeking said player as well.

[indy1888]

We will be without Manning..yes. And that is hard. But we will have Collins under center...Let's not forget that in 2008 he had the Titans at 10-0...and won the division at 13-3. He is no slouch.

I am trying to put a positive spin on this bad news...bash away!

In 2008, the Titans allowed just over 14 points a game. They also were a top 10 rushing team.

If the Colts can do that, then yeah we have a chance.

[indy1888]

But they didn't react slowly. They brought in as many inexpensive FA's as they could, all the while talking to Hassleback. When he agreed to terms with Tennessee, we were left with few options and little time.

People always say, "we should bring in (insert personnel)" as if said player/coach doesn't have a choice. It's also not as though other teams aren't actively seeking said player as well.

Just how long could they have been talking to Hassleback? He signed right after the lockout. 3-4 weeks passed before Collins was brought in? That might not be an ideal situation, but i'm not sure i would say it was little time either. Personally, i never believed the rumor about MH. I think Polian floated that out there through Mortensen as damage control. I'm not sure why they even would think Hassleback would have been interested in coming here, not unless they though clear back then that Manning may miss half the season or all of it.

[chad72]

Our O-line has to allow a half second extra at least, IMO, to allow our passing game be effective with Collins' long-winded-less-quicker-than-Peyton-release. If we can do that, Collins will find Wayne, Clark, Collie and/or Garcon.

Realistically, I see a 7-9 to a 9-7 range for the Colts team record with an entire season this year without Manning but with most of our team healthy.

Here is how I would break it down:

Winnable games (6): Browns, Bengals, Titans (twice), Jags (once), Panthers

On the fence games (4): Bucs, Chiefs, Texans (home game), Jags (road game)

Losable games (6): Falcons, Steelers, Saints, Patriots, Ravens, Texans (road game)

There is no reason this team should not be a .500 team (8-8) without Manning for an entire season if they are healthy and play hard on offense, defense, and ST, given the talent Irsay is paying for. If you think the talent is good enough to be .500 team without Manning, then your coaches and players have to prove it on the field with good game plans, adjustments and execution. If I am Irsay, that is how I would look at it, purely from a business perspective. You are not paying those contracts to Clark, Wayne, Brackett, Freeney and Bethea for plays not being made consistently just because Peyton is down, right? I think they will but I am also being realistic with our schedule as outlined above.