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"I didn't hit it that hard, it must have had a self-destruct."
As the Colts finish up what they call the "3rd Quarter" of the  their season, the story of the Colts up to this point has been a solid season despite significant injuries changing the lineup every week. They started out like gangbusters, but have cooled a attrition took its toll. There is no way to predict most injuries, and sometimes a team just gets bitten by the injury bug, but one thing that is increasingly clear is that a professional squad like the Colts can win beat up, but they are not nearly as dynamic. That is a real problem Sunday when they go up against one of the more dynamic teams in the league with the Jaguars. AFC South fans have been saying for about 5 years that Jacksonville was right around the corner from being a real difference making team, and they are coming around. They have a very good coach, playmakers at every position of the defense, and very exciting offensive weapons. They are not dominant, they aren't consistent enough, and their lives have been spent under the radar because of the dominance of their hated rival. Unfortunately, that's us. There aren't many ways to stop Fred Taylor who has been bustin out of late, but hopefully we can find one better than this.
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The Contender: (8-3) Jacksonville Jaguars
Key Players: David Garrard, Fred Taylor
The Champ: (9-2) Indianapolis Colts
Key Players: Peyton Manning
Where: RCA Dome. I enjoy going to the Dome but what i really like is the watching the giant stadium being built next door. When the city of Indianapolis built Conseco Fieldhouse it was generally agreed upon that the place was awesome. El Cucaracha took me to a playoff game up there a few years back and it was the first time I had been to the new place. It was fanfreakintastic. The food is good and the gym is super nice to watch a game in. It is the Holy Land of basketball. A Mecca if you will. Watching Lucas Oil Field get built has a certain anticipation for me in similar regards because it looks like it will be visually similar in terms of the exterior and will fit nicely into the cityscape. The inside has large arches running down the length of each side to provide support for the retracting roof and they provide a very cool aesthetic to the interior. Not to mention the place is huge. There will be a 100 foot HD screen completely covering one endzone, which is making my eyes hurt just thinking about it. It looks really sweet.
Bruce Paine: At the Dome despite Old Man Paine's birthday. I love my dad, but come on, this might be the best game of the week.
Skinny: On Monday night, earlier in the season, The Colts went south to f ace the Jags in a game Jacksonville was predicted to win. Dungy sensed a playoff-style game coming, and played Marvin with his bruised knee. That was the same knee that was injured against Denver that held him out against Tampa. Dungy played Harrison, who caught three for 16, but then sat him at the end of the first quarter. Harrison did not re-aggravate the injury during the course of the game, but was sat, presumably, because the Colts were handing out an almighty asswhippin and they didn't need him. We haven't seen Harrison since, and the Colts success in this game was probably the reason they held Marvin out against New England and went ahead and scoped his knee.
The Colts kicked the Jags around, and for the most part, it was due to their stifling defense which held Garrard to no touchdowns and took him out of the game. It is tough to expect the same this week. The Colts are bringing back several guys from the injured list. Brackett and Keiaho are expected to play at linebacker. Johnson and Ugoh will be back at tackle. Dante Hughes was placed on IR this week, which makes the 9th Colt to go on IR. That is pretty ugly. But the reason this isn't the same game is because of the way the teams are playing. To be absolutely honest, the Colts are reeling (or what their version of that is given a 9-2 record sitting in the 2 seed with a chance to clinch a spot in week 13). Manning has not looked as Herculean as we are used to seeing. It is understandable to a point given the loss of receivers and linemen in front of him, but no matter why it is that way, it is that way. The defense is dominant, and has been all season, but they have a different lineup every week and it is hard to predict how they will play when everybody is moving in and out. The Jags are rolling. With three straight wins and Fred Taylor starting to find a late-season stride, they have beaten everyone by controlling the ball. They don't fumble and they don't throw picks. To get the ball back they either score or you have to stop them. They have scored 24 or more in 5 of their last 6. they are 3rd in the league in rushing and 6th in points allowed. That shows control of the ball, simple but true. Their turnover ratio is 25 to 8. Anytime you are +13 in turnover ratio you know 2 things. 1. You are winning games. 2. You are well coached.
 I keep expecting the Colts to avoid some of their injury troubles by going to a two tight-end set and running the stretch a little more, but it hasn't happened. Probably because Clark isn't the blocker you would ideally want. So as long as Gonzalez is healthy we will probably see the three wide set with Clark in the slot. I expect them to bring Sanders up in run defense fairly often and even blitz a little more given the loss of Freeney. If I can I will try to liveblog it through Headquarters again, but no promises.
Colts 28 - Jags 10
In response to a query about a facemask from JJ, I mentioned a picture of Antwaan Randle El getting his face ripped off. Here is the picture. You can see his hairline in the ear hole, and part of his ear is coming out from underneath the back of his helmet. You can see his ass and his hips and see that he is in a ridiculously unnatural position. He is almost being pulled out of his pads. My dad always talks about bridges being an integral part of warmups for football, and how he always pushed flexibility instead of size as a method to avoiding injury. He may have been right. Though his record as a coach displayed the lunacy of playing teams from Indianapolis with kids from a school of 300 he may have been a little ahead of his time in terms of injury awareness. Within the last two years people are starting to take concussions and neck injuries more seriously than they once did in the course of football games. Jack already commented on the life-altering possibility for injury in football, but there is no better way to understand why a penalty is a penalty than to see this picture. Twaan is a jungle cat. Speed, flexibility and athleticism come so naturally to him he just wakes up in the morning to a dawn of badassedness (pronounced bad-acid-ness), and he walked away from this rather easily, but short of an auto accident the human body doesn't see this sort of thing, and probably shouldn't. A lot of guys lose their helmets during games because they think it is cool to not wear them properly and be reckless, as you can see this is not the case with Twaan since his two part chin strap is properly snapped. If memory serves, his grill is pulled hard enough here that his chin strap breaks at one point.
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2008 Cubs Preview
28-10 Bruce? Really? I know you love the Colts, but I'm not sure who we're going to use to beat these guys this time around. I mean, if Wilbon is going with Jacksonville, isn't it already a done deal?!
Also, I will be sticking with Kelper from here on out now that I have a place of my own over on the blogspot. Don't worry boys, the Brigade has a link from my location.
Bruce,
Did #58 in pic 1 get called for a face mask in that game?
Talk about being caught red handed...
He's wearing a Cowboy jersey, so probably not. :)
Kelper: because on Monday night the Colts went down to jacksonville and put 29 on a solid team in a hostile environment with essentially the same team they will put on the field tomorrow minus Freeney. They average a little over three touchdowns anyway. So that is the mean, 24. They will be at home, which is a plus. They put up solid offensive number against both the jags and Carolina which is a similar defense, both on the road, which is a plus. Theya re going up against the Jags when they are hot, and Jones-Drew and Taylor are over 5 per rush combined, so that is a minus. Wayne will still get 7 for 85 and Clark will still get 5 for 70 and Addai will get 25 for 102, so i will call that a wash. All in all I don't think my guess is that godawful.
JJ: That is a shot from the Jags/Dallas opener from last year and if memory serves that is Brady James and I do think he was caught for it. Dont hold me to that. I used that shot because it reminded me of a shot that was in Sports Illustrated about 4 years ago with Antwaan Randle El in the Leading Off part of the mag. I was in the Old Man's office one day and he had saved that issue and dogeared that page. I asked him why and he said it was the reason that he got out of coaching football. He had said that parents and administrators didn't take the ferocity of football serious enough or showed proper concern over their kid's health during the game. He had always believed that a facemask call was worthy of more of a penalty than the five yards it was worth in the 50's and 60's when he coached. After seeing that shot of Antwaan I am not sure if 15 is enough. I will find that shot and post it on the bottom of the page. Thanks Kelp
Notes from Paine at the game - "Boiman is horrible"
There will be a 100 foot HD screen completely covering one endzone
I believe the Cowboys new stadium is supposed to have an HD 'jumbotron' that spans from one 20 yard line to the other 20 yard line....
The Cowboys are adding an innovative design element to the Stadium with a one-of-a-kind center-hung video board. It hangs 110-feet above the field from the arches, but here is what will be exciting to fans: It will stretch between the 20 yard lines, meaning the sideline boards will span 60 yards. So the fans sitting in the upper decks will have what amounts to a larger-than life game being played directly in front of them if they choose not to look down at the field, giving them an unprecedented benefit up top.
And this high-tech video experience doesnt exclude those fans sitting at both ends of the stadium, since there will be two 48-foot wide boards facing them to enhance their game-day experience.
It is pretty sick what teams are doing these days with stadiums. Enormous HD screens on top of what is already a great experience at most NFL games. These screens are becoming an integral part of football games more than any other due to the instant replay factor. The Atlanta Braves may feel special about their "jumbotron", but as noted above, it is about to be obliterated size-wise and it really isn't all that necessary at a baseball game in my opinion.