New England at Indianapolis

Before the season started, the NBC probably thought they would be getting two undefeated teams for this game. Obviously things have changed dramatically. Tom Brady went down with a knee injury in week one, and peyton Manning is seemingly dealing with the after effects from off season knee surgery. The Patriots have won five games, but it's hard to find a lot of quality in their wins. In their losses, they have been blown out of the building. After being a complete no-show offensively the first three weeks of the season, the Colts have shown the signs of getting it back. They torched a top notch Baltimore defense for 31 and last Monday, they put up 21 on the top ranked Tennessee defense. It was the most the Titans have allowed this year, and Indy did it on the road where the Colts typically do not play well. This week it looks like they get Bob Sanders back, and he makes a tremendous difference to the defense. In fact, I am not sure there is a more impactful single guy on any NFL roster, save Brady. Without Sanders, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Indianapolis is average. With him, they are great. In addition, they welcome back Joseph Addai this week. New England QB Matt Cassel has not shown the ability to stretch the field, which allows the safeties to cheat up and help with the run. That helps helps patch a Colts deficiency. The Colts are coming off two straight losses, dropping them to 3-4. The differenfe between a win here (4-4) vs. a loss (3-5) is nothing less than huge for the Colts. I expect them to come ready to play. Look for the Colts to step up big time, and win this one comfortably.