Early Colts Schedule Outlook

The schedules were released a few days ago, and I'm here to talk about the Colts' schedule. I can sum it up in one word: KILLER. It sucks when you are in a division with 3 other teams that actually can contend. It doesn't help that they are playing the AFC North, who has Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Good thing Favre retired, or else we could feasibly be playing 5 teams that could win Super Bowl XLIII. Here's the schedule*, and which games I think are guaranteed wins and what games the Colts will have to play their best to win.

1
9/7
CHICAGO BEARS
8:15 PM
NBC
2
9/14
@ Minnesota Vikings
1:00 PM
CBS
3
9/21
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
4:15 PM
CBS
4
9/28
BYE
-
none
5
10/5
@ Houston Texans
1:00 PM
CBS
6
10/12
BALTIMORE RAVENS
1:00 PM
CBS
7
10/19
@ Green Bay Packers
4:15 PM
CBS
8
10/27
@ Tennessee Titans
8:30 PM
ESPN
9
11/2
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS
8:15 PM
NBC
10
11/9
@ Pittsburgh Steelers
4:15 PM
CBS
11
11/16
HOUSTON TEXANS
1:00 PM
CBS
12
11/23
@ San Diego Chargers
8:15 PM
NBC
13
11/30
@ Cleveland Browns
1:00 PM
CBS
14
12/7
CINCINNATI BENGALS
1:00 PM
CBS
15
12/14
DETROIT LIONS
1:00 PM
FOX
16
12/18
@ Jacksonville Jaguars
8:15 PM
NFL Network
17
12/28
TENNESSEE TITANS
1:00 PM
CBS

Guaranteed Wins
v. Chicago Bears, v. Houston Texans, v. Detroit Lions, v. Cincinnati Bengals, v. Baltimore Ravens, @ Houston Texans, @ Green Bay Packers

The schedule is so tough, I can only find seven games right now that don't worry me at all. The Bears, Lions, Bengals, and Ravens are going to be cellar-dwellers in their divisions. The Packers are too one-dimensional, and the Texans can't beat the Colts.

Probable Wins
@ Minnesota Vikings, @ Tennessee Titans, v. Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Colts are near unbeatable at home in the regular season, and it will be interesting to see if there will be any differences with the move to Lucas Oil Stadium or "The Lube" as it is called. That's why I think the Jags are NOT going to beat the Colts at home. The Titans and Vikings could beat the Colts, but I wouldn't bet on it.

Will Be Close, but the Colts are going to be favored
@ Pittsburgh Steelers, @ Cleveland Browns, v. Tennessee Titans.

The Titans game is only up here is because of the chances that the starters won't be playing after the first quarter. The Browns and Steelers will be tough, but I don't see the games being blowouts either way.

Bring Your A Game, Colts
v. New England Patriots, @ Jacksonville Jaguars, @ San Diego Chargers.

Versus the Chargers-REVENGE! Versus the Patriots-Sort of revenge, but I want to crush them regardless of previous outcomes. Versus the Jaguars-This. Is. Our. Division.

My Prediction: 13-3. I see the Colts beating every team on the schedule besides the road game against Jacksonville, the Titans home game, and the Browns game. The Browns are looking for revenge, the Jags are going to be great, and the Titans will be playing the scrubs. The Colts will be the number two seed in the AFC behind the Patriots. This year, however, they will go all the way.

*Courtesy of Colts.com

Quick Colts Mock Draft

There is nothing really to explain. The Colts have 9 picks, and here's what I think they will do with them come draft weekend. I will not give us Chris Long, Darren McFadden, Keith Rivers, etc. This will be realistic.

2nd-Chris Johnson/RB/ECU
3rd-John Greco/OT/Toledo
4th-Rudolph Hardie/DE/Howard
5th-Arman Shields/WR/Richmond
6th-Joey Haynos/TE/Maryland
6th-Titus Brown/DE/Mississippi State
6th-Kory Lichtensteiger/C/Bowling Green
7th-Bernard Morris/QB/Marshall

All of these guys have been getting interest from the Colts. The only stretch on their is Lichtensteiger, who is projected as an early 6th rounder. I wish I could have fit in Jack Williams, but Hardie and Shields are too good to pass up right there. Corner isn't a huge need for now, depending on what we do with Hayden this offseason. With this draft, the big needs like running back, offensive line, and defensive end are covered. This may be the best possible draft.

What I Tell You???

Didn't someone say Rob Morris and Booger McFarland would be cut? I remember some great, intelligent blogger saying that Morris and McFarland wouldn't be back. Yep. I called it. Hopefully this luck carries over for March Madness. I would love to win some cash for my psychic ability. Too bad I will go with some homer pick like Notre Dame-Butler in the championship. It's just nature.

Well, if you made it through my ramblings, here is the link to the article. Just ignore the meaningless cuts below. I guess this didn't deserve a full article.

I love this move. According to Colts Cap, the Colts had about $2.58 million in cap, so this move should put them at about 10 million. What does that mean? Polian has some more leniency in the draft, free agency, and resigning. With $10 million, the Colts can resign Matt Giordano, Rocky Boiman, Derrell Reid, and Ben Utecht with enough cap space to sign all of our draft picks. This was a great move, Irsay and Polian. Cutting useless players, so we can improve our team with young players. Way to go. Now make my prediction of a Super Bowl XLIII win come true as well. I'm counting on you guys!

Catching Up On A Busy Week

I haven't blogged about the Colts for a while, so I have to catch up on two big stories.

Dallas Clark Gets the Franchise Tag and Signs Long-Term Almost Immediately: I wasn't surprised when Clark got the franchise tag. He is the best free agent the Colts had, and normally those players get the franchise tag even if they are expected to sign long term. What I didn't expect was him to sign so soon. It was less than a day after. Someone at Elias needs to see if that is a record. I thought it was a misprint on the ESPN Bottomline. He signed a 6 year contract. That's pretty long. He will be a Colt for the rest of Peyton's career and probably the rest of his.

Ryan Lilja Also Signs: Lilja or Scott? Lilja or Scott? I didn't care who they signed. They are pretty much the same player. I can't say which one is better, and I couldn't tell them apart if they were in a police lineup. However, I can't complain with the money Lilja got. I thought he would get 5 million dollars, but he only got 4. That's a pretty good sign. Hopefully that will leave some cap.

Current Cap Situation: According to coltscap.net, we have 2.5 million and change left. That's enough to resign Utecht or Giordano and Fletcher. With the imminent cuts, the Colts could get that number to between 10 and 14 million. That would be enough to resign all of the good free agents besides Scott, who everyone knows will leave with the Lilja signing. The Colts are in a good place with the cap. This offseason will be better than last year when the Colts lost everyone. Maybe we can put our sights on DeShaun Foster or Julius Jones. They should be pretty cheap. Hey, you never know...