Collie lies motionless after a big hit against the Eagles

Last year, no one was catching more passes than Austin Collie until he took a few devastating hits that led to major concussions and his missing the second half of the season. After lots of time away from the field, while the recent lockout was getting figured out, hopefully it was enough time for Collie to get some healing done. There were many injuries to the Colts receiving corp in 2010, with Dallas Clark and Anthony Gonzalez also missing significant time.

Gonzalez has been on the injured list for the past two seasons, but before that he was a solid third option in a Colts offense that featured Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison. Since then, Harrison has retired and Wayne has become the unquestioned number one, while fourth-year speedster Pierre Garcon has slid into the number two spot, which is more of a part time job because Clark is going to be getting plenty of looks as well. Garcon was off to a slow start this past season but mostly because teams didn’t want to surrender the long bomb to him and veteran quarterback Peyton Manning isn’t afraid to look to other options.

Collie may not have to be a full-time number three option, especially if Gonzalez can stay healthy the whole year; both players are of a similar mold. So a time share wouldn’t be the worst thing to happen, especially if it means both players would be healthy the whole year. The same goes for Clark; Jacob Tamme did a good job filling in last year, catching 67 passes for 631 yards and 5 touchdowns. However the split goes, whether its 60/40 Collie or Gonzalez, there will be plenty of chances and bad matchups for opposing defenses, as they have to worry about Wayne, Garcon, Clark, Collie and Gonzalez.

We also can’t forget about Blair White, who came off the practice squad to help out the team. White didn’t catch many long passes but he was still a consistent option for Manning during an injury-plagued 2010. The truth is, as long as Manning is under center, the receivers are going to produce, but a slow start could become a reality if Manning misses most of training camp this year after off-season neck surgery.

Gonzalez has been injured for most of this season and last season. Being out of the line-up for this week makes things worse for him and his future with the Colts

The Indianapolis Colts will have at least eight players out for the Sunday’s game versus a returning Michael Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles, according to the Associated Press.

The latest person to be gone will be Anthony Gonzalez, who finally played a game last week but now is out again. Gonzalez could be out for several weeks again due to a PCL injury that suffered after the team’s Monday night win over the Houston Texans to take the AFC South division lead at a 5-2 record now. Gonzalez got injured during a tackle from Texans safety, Bernard Pollard.

Jim Caldwell said Gonzalez has been a bit banged up this week. Now it is a little more than that.

Other players that are potentially out are running backs Joseph Addai with a neck injury and Mike Hart with an ankle injury. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they can play. Not so sure about Addai but I feel confident in Hart.

The players who could most likely be out are tight end Brody Eldridge with a rib injury, cornerback Jerraud Powers with a foot injury, linebacker Clint Session with an elbow injury, and cornerback Justin Tryon with a foot injury. All haven’t practiced at all this week.

Bob Sanders and Antonio Johnson are ruled out.

Robert Mathis will most likely play, although he is suffering from a knee surgery.

The Colts looked terrible in the first half.  Our offensive line was down to the backups.  If this team was healthy, Jamey Richard, Charlie Johnson, Steve Justice, and Dan Federkeil would not be playing in such a big game.  We were shut out in the first half with a Peyton Manning-led offense.  That doesn’t seem possible.  This game looked ugly early.  However, some luck, a classic Peyton comeback, and the most clutch kicker in football history kept the Colts from being 0-2 going into the Jacksonville game.

Adam Vinatieri completely redeemed himself for not only the miss earlier in the game, but for the Chargers miss last year.  It was a similar situation on his first kick as the Chargers game.  We were on our way to a comeback, and Vinny missed a gimme.  However, instead of it being a game loser and live in infamy, Vinatieri made up for it with a clutch 47 yard field goal with 3 seconds left on the clock.  That kick kept us from an overtime game against a team whose kicker with 5 for 6 and could move the ball at ease on the ground.  We needed that kick, and Vinatieri came through for us.

Let’s state what everyone is thinking: Tavaris Jackson sucks.  I’ve always been a big Jackson supporter, but he was terrible yesterday.  He could not complete a pass on third down to save his life.  Adrian Peterson carried that offense yesterday, but Jackson couldn’t get them into the endzone.

Anthony Gonzalez was a great Polian pick.  He could have gone outside linebacker or defensive tackle.  Those were our needs going into the 2007 NFL Draft.  We took a wide receiver who was overshadowed by Santonio Holmes and Ted Ginn for his career at An Ohio State University.  He made that amazing catch in the third, and then he made one of the most successful boneheaded plays I’ve seen.  He should not have lateraled that ball.  It ended up getting us to the one where Addai punched it in (HE DID SCORE!).

Dwight Freeney is back.  He has 2 sacks and a forced fumble in his first two games.  He’s regained his speed and back to his usual self.

Eric Foster was a great surprise in the second half.  He made some clutch tackles to keep Adrian Peterson in the backfield.  Ed Johnson, an undrafted free agent from 2007, gets cut, and Foster, an undrafted free agent from 2008, steps up in a huge way.

I’m ready for this team to get healthy.  When Mike Pollak, Jeff Saturday, Ryan Lilja, Tony Ugoh, Jacob Tamme, Dallas Clark, and Tyjuan Hagler are back, I don’t see this team losing much.  Charlie Johnson is terrible at left tackled and got abused by Jared Allen.  The interior line let Pat and Kevin Williams to get in the backfield every play.  Ugoh, Lilja, and Saturday do not let that happen.

Here are my top 3 players from this game

3. Dwight Freeney (2 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble): It’s too bad the Colts couldn’t take advantage of the forced fumble.  Vinatieri missed the field goal

2. Peyton Manning (311 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions): Peyton led this team back from a certain 0-2 start to a great win over a good Minnesota team.  Peyton had one of his best games of his career yesterday.

1. Anthony Gonzalez (9 catches, 137 yards): Gonzalez made big catches and was Peyton’s favorite target.  He ended up getting Reggie Wayne open by drawing the defense to himself.  Gonzalez is only in his second year.  I think we have a budding star on our hands.

Looking ahead to next week, the Jags have looked terrible.  Like the Colts, they don’t have a running game.  Garrard has already thrown 3 interceptions, matching his total from last season.  They are 7 for 25 on third down.  They’ve given up 9 sacks.  If the Colts can stay focused, they will win this game.  The Jaguars have a lot of injuries on their offensive line.  We will have to take advantage of their misfortunes.  Freeney can get to Garrard, and if we get Garrard on the run, we will get takeaways.  Plain and simple.

The pass defense of the Jags has been terrible this year.  Trent Edwards picked them apart throwing to James Hardy, Fred Jackson, and Lee Evans.  Anthony Gonzalez, Marvin Harrison, and Reggie Wayne will pick apart this defense.

Right now, I’m predicting a 24-10 victory, and I’m not expecting Dallas Clark or Jeff Saturday to be back.  If they are, this game will be even better for the Colts.