Colts @ Jaguars Preview – Week 4
What: Indianapolis Colts (2-1) at Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2)
Date: October 3, 2010 – 4:05pm ET
All-time record: 14-4 (Colts)
Where: EverBank Field, Jacksonville, FL
Robert Mathis Gets Award
Defensive End Robert Mathis was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month. This isn’t exactly a Defensive Player of the Year award but it’s worth noting nonetheless. In just three games Mathis has totaled up four sacks, which ties for second most in the league. Congrats Mr. Mathis!
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18-Game Season Officially Proposed
The title says it all. I’m not going to pretend to know how all of this works on the legal side of things because I honestly have no idea. Nate Dunlevy over at 18 to 88 seems to have a much better grasp on that part, or is just better than I am at pretending like he does. Either way, he wrote a great piece on it which you can check out by clicking here.
I’m not going to provide much of my own personal analysis on this topic because I’m kind of on the fence about it. As a football fan, I’d love to see more regular season games and less preseason games. On the other hand, as a Colts fan, I’d hate to see the schedule expanded to 18 games.
The Colts are arguably the best team in the league at evaluating talent and finding a hidden gem during the offseason and preseason. They use all the time given to them (including all four preseason games) to come up with these talented, under-the-radar players that fit their system. I don’t want that to be hindered by the removal of two preseason games.
The bottom line for me though is whatever needs to happen to actually have a 2011 NFL season is what I want to have happen. If that’s a 16-game season or an 18-game season then and it can only work with one of the other then I’d rather have that one than no professional football at all for an entire season.
Tyjuan Hagler is back!
The Colts have decided to resign Tyjuan Hagler, our former starting strongside linebacker. Hagler was a starting member of our defense as recent as November of last year. He is fully capable of playing at any of the three linebacker positions and the decision to bring him back was likely due to the injury that Kavell Conner sustained (a right foot fracture) in Denver on Sunday.
Conner had been starting in place of Clint Session, who began this year as our starting weakside linebacker until he sustained a hamstring injury. Conner has had surgery already and is expected to be back in eight to ten weeks. The hope is that Session will be back much sooner than that.
To make room for Hagler the Colts finally cut Gijon Robinson, who many were surprised made it onto the final 53-man roster after the preseason. The Colts have also cut practice squad quarterback, Tom Brandstater. It appears he was replaced by rookie fullback Matt Clapp out of Oklahoma.
The Colts also grabbed rookie wide receiver Chris Brooks out of Nebraska to replace Blair White, who was moved from the practice squad to the active roster before this past weekend’s game against the Broncos. I’ll be writing more on him later.
For now I’ll suffice it to say that if he develops into a reliable threat (in his first game ever he had three receptions for 27 yards and a touchdown) then we will be able to breathe a whole lot easier while we wait for Pierre Garcon and Anthony Gonzalez to return from their own injuries.
Predictions for Week 3
Well I improved last week but still didn’t do very well getting 9 of the 16 games right leaving me at 16-16 overall so far this season. I’ll try to continue heading in the right direction with my picks this week. Here’s my thoughts on week 3:
Titans @ Giants: Both of these teams are trying to bounce back from disappointing losses last week after winning their season openers. These teams are en almost the same position right now. They both beat a far inferior team in their opener and then lost to a better team in their second game. The Giants have homefield advantage and they’ve been known to play much better at home than on the road. They’re also favored by three with an over/under of 44. So with that in mind I have the Giants winning 24-21.
Steelers @ Buccaneers: I really don’t think the Bucs are good despite having a 2-0 record. The Steelers have looked extremely impressive in their two wins and I think they will expose Tampa Bay for the team that they really are: a bad one. Somehow the Steelers are only three-point favorites. That doesn’t make much sense to me, I suppose it’s because the game is in Tampa and it going to be a defensive game, but still, I think the Steelers win this one handily 20-7. (more…)
