For what initially looked like  a dream season in the making has now ended in being second best, the first loser for the 2009-2010 football season. However, with the loss to the New Orleans Saints tonight, the talking heads have been given a whole slew of things to talk about, analyze, and debate for the near future and into next season.

Did Jim Caldwell have the team prepared? They were competitive and the Saints are a good team. For the Saints to win does not meant that the Colts had to have screwed up. There were a few drops from the receivers during the game, something that is very uncharacteristic of a Peyton Manning led offense. With the exception of the first quarter, the offense never seemed to really get it going. Give the Saints credit for making adjustments, but then where were the Colt adjustments?

What will the Colts do to get back next year? The running game was not bad tonight, but if they had more of a running threat would the receivers see some easier coverage? Is it because Joseph Addai can’t get it done or does the offense try to cater to their superstar too much?

Where the colts really this good to begin with? I will be the first to say that a team is not jut as good as their record and it’s the way they win that counts. That includes capitalizing off of their opponent’s mistakes as well as overcoming adversity and pulling out the win in the end after being behind. The Colts and Peyton Manning were absolute champions at that this season having 7 fourth quarter/ late game winning drives. Peyton engineered those wins, but his interceptions this season also created the need for some of them as well.

That in turn raises other questions. Where they his fault or can the blame be shifted/ shared with the young receivers he was stuck with? Was it predictable play calling or lack of sufficient coaching for Peyton as well as the receivers? Did no one worry about it thinking that it was no big deal because Peyton can pull it out of his behind in the end?

Now, I am fan though I am sure some of you might be doubting that now. However, when you look at the performance of the team with an objective eye you have to see some of the holes that the team has. The questions will be raised: Is Jim Irsay content with having a really good winning team or does he want to have one of the best? Will there be any changes made?

What ever the questions might be, there are a couple things for certain: this is going to sting for the Indianpolis Colts and their followeres for a while and that THIS SUCKS.

Saint fans think they may have dodged a bullet with the annoncement of a ligament tear in the ankle of pass rush specialist Dwight Freeney. Think again Saint fans.

Yes, Dwight is a force when it comes to the pass rush.To not be aware of where he is lining up is a huge mistake; even when you do it is still no easy task to slow this man down when he feels like smacking a QB around. His 13.5 sacks (in 14 games) led the team on the season and tied for third in the NFL behind Jared Allen and Elvis Dumervil. However, there is so much more to playing good defense then just a player’s sack count.

Sacks get the most attention since they are the more dramatic plays and are harder to come by, but to give one player so much credit for the success of a team’s defense due to one statistic is ridiculous. Eighteen other Colt defenders tallied more tackles on the season than Freeney; seventeen had more solo tackles than Freeney’s 19 and 18 more assists than his 5. Now its not to say that that stat makes him a non-factor either. If a defensive linemen is doing his job right he will not be making too many tackles, but his linebackers will. Sure enough the top two tacklers for the Colts were Clint Session and Gary Brackett.

Now the defense will suffer withouth the serivces of Freeney, but the defense does not revolve around one man. Sessions and Brackett may have to battle off a few more blockers than normal if Freeney does not play. The other leading tacklers for the team may have to get more active in defending the run game (Bethea, Lacey, Bullit, and Powers- aka the secondary), something which the Saints have done well with this season.

Officially listed as questionable, Freeney will likely come down to a game time decision. Knowing how intense a competitor he is it is unlikely that one of the most feared pass rushers will miss out on playing on the biggest stage in professional football.

Beware Saints fans because Freeney or no Freeney, the Colts are coming!