Colts Reflections, Week 1

Good Luck: The kid doesn't get rattled, has great pocket presence, and knows what he's doing out there. Bonus points for the drive before halftime in which he got the team in field goal range.

Bad Luck: The Colts left points out on the field. The end zone interception was a killer. Luck threw two other picks (one on a really, really nice play from Tim Jennings) and also fumbled. Overall, Luck had four turnovers--and with such a slim margin of error, those things can't happen.

Reggie, resurrected: It was a pleasure watching Reggie Wayne dominate out on the field. While many think of him as "the guy after Marvin," Reggie's a tremendous receiver in his own right. The Colts did their rookie QB a big favor by re-signing #87. Let's hope that's one guy who will retire a Colt.

Worse than a work in progress: The offensive line needs a lot of work. One starter was missing and another left the game with a concussion. Luck endured three sacks and took several hits. He's got a quick release and bounces back well, but the Colts can't afford to have him under pressure all season. Sadly, I think he will be.

Road to nowhere: Not much running room for the Colts either. Donald Brown had a few nice runs, but that was about it. It's hard to gauge how effective they'll be given that they fell behind early and had to throw a lot. Let's just say I don't have a rosy outlook on things.

Two-drive special: For two magical drives, the Colts defense and the Bears' offensive ineptitude made Indy look like a force to be reckoned with. It didn't last. The Bears found their groove, Dwight Freeney got hurt, and the Colts couldn't stop Chicago's passing attack.

Keep your eye on the ball: Donald Brown was, in the words of Dan Dierdorf, "a textbook example" of looking downfield before catching the ball. It happened twice--again we defer to Dierdorf, who called both examples "blatant." The first one probably hurt the most, as it looked like Brown had plenty of room to showcase his breakaway speed.

Tim Freaking Jennings: I remember a game--it's a 2008 game against Green Bay--in which Tim Jennings had a handful of penalties (four) and was generally horrible. I carry this memory of Jennings with me...so his very impressive play came as quite a surprise. Tim Freaking Jennings.

So close: I don't think the result would've been different if the Colts had made a few plays, but the score may have been closer. Antoine Bethea had the chance to end a scoring threat, but couldn't hang onto the ball. Colts defensive backs had opportunities to intercept Cutler, but couldn't pull it off. I think we'll see a lot of this during the season.

Almost special: Again, the Colts dominated the first five minutes of the game. This even extended to special teams when Joe Lefeged downed two of Pat McAfee's punts inside the five. So that went well. Of course, LaVon Brazill's fumble wiped out most of the good. Again, the result of the game would've been the same if not for Brazill's fumble, but it only made things worse.

Neil Diamond's "Comin-A-Yeah-Ha" Football Preview

How will this football season shake out?

Only Neil Diamond knows.

I've taken ten of his greatest songs and given them an NFL spin ahead of Sunday's games.

The Player: Kevin Kolb
The Song: Forever in Blue Jeans
The Applicable Lyrics: Money talks/But it don't sing and dance/and it don't walk
The Translation: As an untested backup, Kolb cashed in with a five-year contract worth $65 million. The Cardinals got...maximum suckitude. So maximum, in fact, that John Skelton supplanted Kolb as the starter. It'll be a saga out west with these two, but it sounds like Skelton's the guy. Kolb is just...overpaid...and he'll be standing on the sidelines. Probably not in blue jeans, though.

The Team: Houston Texans
The Song: Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon
The Applicable Lyrics: It's up to you/Girl, you'll be a woman soon
The Translation: It's time for our annual installment of put up or shut up for the Houston Texans. They're loaded with talent, they play in a weak division, and the Mighty Colts are no longer the Mighty Colts. There are no excuses for the Texans. Stop being the whiny little girl who wants to be good and become the woman you're supposed to be. Okay, that was awkward.

The Player: Tim Tebow
The Song: Brother Love's Travelin' Salvation Show
The Applicable Lyrics: Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies/And everyone goes 'cause everyone knows Brother Love's Show
The Translation: The football may not be much fun to watch at MetLife stadium, but the ongoing saga of Tebow-Mania and how it affects/distracts/destroys Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan should have a little something for everyone.

The Team: New York Giants
The Song: Song Sung Blue
The Applicable Lyrics: Song sung blue/Everybody knows one/Song sung blue/Every garden grows one
The Translation: It's one game. It's okay. So you won't go undefeated. New England went undefeated that one season...and then you stopped that. You played with house money last year. Everyone loses sometime. Chin up, chin up, Defending Super Bowl Champions.

The Player: Robert Griffin III
The Song: He Ain't Heavy...He's My Brother
The Applicable Lyrics:And the load/Doesn't weigh me down at all/He ain't heavy, he's my brother
The Translation: RG3 will put the Washington Redskins on his shoulders, bringing a jaw-dropping skill set and incredible athleticism to DC. He'll do it with a smile. He won't let the burden of resurrecting this proud franchise get him down.

The Player: Alex Smith
The Song: Love on the Rocks
The Applicable Lyrics: Love on the rocks, ain't no big surprise/Just pour me a drink and I'll tell you some lies
The Translation: Fans and pundits will continue to haunt Alex Smith, who could throw for 4,500 yards and 35 touchdowns and STILL be considered a failure. His team even entered the Manning Sweepstakes before begrudgingly signing Smith to a new deal. He'll be on the rocks all year.

The Team: Green Bay Packers
The Song: Sweet Caroline
The Applicable Lyrics: Good times never seemed so good/I've been inclined/To believe they never would
The Translation: The Packers can score, but can their defense do enough? We know their offense is a finely tuned machine. Basically, they should win the whole thing.

The Player: Tom Brady
The Song: Red, Red Wine
The Applicable Lyrics: Red, red wine/Go to my head/Make me forget that I/
Still need her so
The Translation: Tom Brady would like to forget the Super Bowl when Peyton Manning's little brother kept him from winning yet another Lombardi Trophy (on Peyton's turf, mind you, in the House that Peyton Built). Who am I kidding, though? Tom Terrific won't let that whole Super Bowl letdown thing get to him.

His three Super Bowl rings consoled him.
The Player: Andrew Luck
The Song: I'm a Believer
The Applicable Lyrics: Then I saw him play/Now I'm a believer*
The Translation: Someone had to replace Peyton Manning, and that someone is Andrew Luck. He has the unenviable task of trying to fill the shoes of the greatest quarterback ever to play the game. Skepticism abounded when the Colts went 2-14 and fans learned that Peyton wouldn't be coming back. Now, there's a buzz around the team...and it's because Luck has looked very impressive, turning some of us into believers. We'll just have to see if that will hold for the regular season.

We'll let the guy on the left play ONLY if it's part of an "I'm not shaving till we lose" motivational stunt.
*lyrics altered because "Then I saw her face" would imply that Andrew Luck is a girl and that his neckbeard inspired confidence when it's his play that gives me some hope

The Player: Peyton Manning
The Song: Yesterday's Songs
The Applicable Lyrics: Yesterday's songs/Don't stay around long/Not much anymore
The Translation: We had some good times, Peyton. I'll never forget them. I didn't cry when the Colts let you go. You didn't cry either. Jim Irsay didn't cry. NO ONE CRIED, OKAY? Can we all agree on that? So weird to see you in orange. We hope you do well. We'll still have those good times, right? Like when you beat Brady in the AFC Championship Game or that time no one tackled Marvin and he ran all the way for a touchdown. What about that Sprint commercial with the fake mustache? That time you danced on Saturday Night Live? We'll still have those, right? RIGHT?

"I'd like to point out that you could've gone with You Don't Bring Me Flowers ("So you'd think I could learn how to tell you goodbye") or Holly Holy ("Touch a man who can't walk upright/
And that lame man, he's gonna fly") or Heartlight ("Come back again/I want you to stay next time/Cause sometimes the world ain't kind/When people get lost like you and me") or...hey, look...a Buick! And DirecTV!"

Colts set to kick off season

College football started off with a bang last weekend. Wins by Purdue and Notre Dame were impressive despite lackluster competition. They'll challenge one another on Saturday, sparking a brief but passionate split between my brother-in-law and me.

Oh, IU won, too. It sort of counts.

Now, we're ready for something even more exciting. As the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys kick off the NFL football season, I'm thinking about the Indianapolis Colts.

What a strange off-season.

Peyton Manning gone. Jeff Saturday. Dallas Clark. Joseph Addai. Gary Brackett. Melvin Bullitt.

This all seemed impossible.

I've watched the preseason games. I've seen it with my own eyes--Peyton Manning is gone. He will not line up under center this weekend. I'll watch a rookie quarterback named Andrew Luck try to fill Manning's shoes.

An impossible feat, surely.

What will we see from the Indianapolis Colts this weekend? We've got a coach who values the running game and defense, and although those principles were given their requisite lip service during the Age of Polian, everyone knew Peyton would put up 30 points and throw for 300 yards.

I don't know if the running game will be a factor this year either. The Colts have a talented group of backs, but no one is "the guy." The Colts haven't had a true force at running back since sending Edgerrin James packing.

It took two running backs to replace him.

The running game has been as bad as usual, but it's hard to say if that's because the Colts can't run or because they wanted to see how their new hot rod would handle.

I like what I've seen from Luck...but so has everyone. His preseason debut certainly qualified as "magical" (at least in preseason terms). I loved how he bounced back against the Pittsburgh Steelers, who pretty much punched him in the mouth.

Preseason is usually meaningless, but Colts fans needed to see what they saw from Andrew Luck. This is the kid who's so good, the Colts cut Peyton Manning. If he'd come out throwing passes into the turf and generally looking incompetent, it would've been an embarrassment for the franchise and Jim "the Mad Tweeter" Irsay.

They say Luck's "the guy," but we won't know until real football starts.

We won't know until Luck faces down Brian Urlacher and the Chicago Bears and absorbs a few hits. We won't know until he walks to the line of scrimmage, makes a few dummy calls, and hits Reggie Wayne on a comeback route.

We won't know.

It should be fun getting to that point where we do know.

I don't expect a great season from the Colts, but I can say that a 2-14 record won't be as bad as last year's 2-14 record.

This time, there's hope. That things can get better. That things will get better.