Why the Colts are the Team to Beat

Since the 2009-10 season began I have just been bullish on the Colts. It may have been because my boy Austin Collie was drafted by Indianapolis in the fouth round out of Brigham Young University, or it may have come from the fact that I believe that Payton Manning is the best quarterback in the National Football League. Either way, if the Indianapolis Colts find a way to shake off the dust, clean off the rust and rough up the Ravens, they will win Super Bowl XLIV.

 Let me explain why without using my biased. First off, Manning is the best quarterback in the League. Stats may or may not show this, but he is the leader of this team. He calls the plays on the field and he decides how they team plays. If he wants to go down field, they go down field. If Payton wants to dink and dunk, well...that's what they do! I don't want to bash on Jim Caldwell, but it's Payton Manning's team. When Payton looks around he sees a stable of receivers who can run routes and catch footballs, a core led by one Reggie Wayne. When Reggie looks to his left or right he sees two quality young receivers: Pierre Garcon and the aforementioned Austin Collie. These two young pass catchers do just that. Get open and look for the ball out quickly from Payton's hands. Weather Garcon and Collie are running crossing patterns or said Garcon and Wayne are running as fast as they can down the sidelines to catch a deep ball these Colts are dangerous.

Now, while the Colts running game isn't exactly top notch, both Joseph Addai and Donald Brown are both good running backs. They can be deadly when the opposing defense is dead set to try and slow down Payton Manning's pass attack and leave those holes in the line gaping. They both can also catch the ball out of the backfield. Imagine that! Running backs in the Colts offense who catch the football! Careful that you look too much in the backfield and leave those receivers one on one with defensive backs.

Now, I have written much about the many weapons that the Colts have, but I have yet to touch on what I believe in the most important weapon of all. The man Payton Manning leans on the most is his tight end, Dallas Clark. Clark is a mismatch all over the field, big and strong so he's difficult for defensive backs to cover and he's got some good speed to run past linebackers. Also, he's got some of the best hands in the league. The man is a serious beast on the field!

Now, while I think that the Colts will win tomorrow, it's been a while since they had a meaningful game. They had two regular season games where they didn't care what happened and a bye week. Basically they've had three weeks of nothing. While practice is great, they've have almost no playing time in a real game. They have to shake it all off and get out there and get the job done. While, the Ravens are a very good team, I don't believe they have the offense enough to withstand the Colts and after the Colts get past Baltimore, no one else will be able to stop them.