The awesomeness of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady will be unleashed on Indianapolis today.

Brace yourselves, Colts fans and Indianapolis residents, today is Media Day for Super Bowl XLVI!  It’s the day that Eli Manning tries to fit in a few words about the Big Game around all the questions related to older brother Cooper, er, Peyton.  It’s also the day that Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and all the rest of the Patsies, er, Patriots, will grace us with their presence, in all their Red, White, and Blue glory.   Can’t wait to see coach Hoodie!   Congratulations to all of you who own stock in Prestige, owner of Dramamine.

Please, oh please, let history repeat itself in Indy. We're counting on Eli to deliver us from Brady!

Entering the 2011 NFL season, what would your dream matchup have been for Super Bowl XLVI?   For many, it would have been Peyton Manning and the hometown Indianapolis Colts against his brother, Eli Manning, and the New York Giants.    And your nightmare scenario?   Peyton lying prostrate with Tom Brady and the despised New England Patriots crashing the Naptown city gates would have been about as bad as any of us could imagine.   So, in the end, what we’re left with is the lesser part of a pie-in-the-sky fantasy and the worst of all football evils.

Thus, the Super Bowl rooting choice for any true Indianapolis Colts fan is clear.   We need Eli to bring his most potent magic to the game and equip his teammates with all of the dragon-slaying armor that he can find.   Might not be a bad idea to locate David Tyree, as well.

And, as a contingency plan, I think the city planners should get to work, post-haste, on fitting all of the downtown expanses between buildings with safety nets.  Should the Patriots clinch another Super Bowl victory, in Indianapolis, while Peyton Manning watches on (from somewhere), we may find some locals practicing their amateur aerobatic skills.

How important is Tom Brady to the Patriots these days?

So here we sit in Indianapolis, without our franchise quarterback and grasping for positives to take from the first lousy game of the 2011 NFL season.   Right now, things don’t look too good for the Colts without Peyton Manning, but they’re not the first team to lose a legendary QB in recent seasons.    We all remember 2008, when the New England Patriots lost Tom Brady to injury in Week 1, only to see Matt Cassel step in and lead the team to a 10-6 record.   While the Pats didn’t quite make the playoffs that season, Cassel was a revelation and earned himself a trade to the Kansas City Chiefs, along with a fat contract.

These thoughts got me thinking some more, and wondering if the current Patriots team could be quite as resilient.  What tod you think?  How would New England fare in 2011 without Tom Brady?  Could backup Brian Hoyer carry the day?