The chess match should be entertaining. Manning is the best offensive mind in the league. Mike Nolan has cultivated the NFL’s third-ranked defense. During the Colts’ record five-straight fourth quarter comebacks, they never faced a unit better than 10th. Somehow, their own 18th ranked run stoppers were able to absorb Frank Gore, Steve Slaton, Laurence Maroney, and Ray Rice. But again, none of these backs have been as hot as the combination of Moreno and Buckhalter when it comes to chewing precious seconds off of opponent’s last hopes.
As precise as the Colts will be, and trust me they’ll be surgical, and as determined as Manning will be, and he’ll be hell-bent on earning a few weeks’ rest, and as dire as this game is to the Indianapolis home-field campaign, the AFC’s bully brother has not faced a team of this caliber.
Indianapolis hasn’t gone up against a defense that holds opponents to less than 300 yards per game. They haven’t had to slow a ground game featuring two healthy backs that have each gone over 550 yards. Their defense hasn’t faced a quarterback who takes care of the ball better than Kyle Orton since week one, against a Jacksonville team that just isn’t on Denver’s level right now. And as intelligent as Manning may be, no quarterback has ever faced a secondary as savvy as the one assembled in the Mile High City. Brian Dawkins, Ty Law, and Champ Bailey have combined for 130 career interceptions and 20 Pro Bowls.
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