1 Indianapolis COLTS
IF THE Colts were a publicly traded company, they'd pace the S&P 500. For most of the last decade they have been the gold standard in the NFL, winning at least 12 games in each of the past seven seasons. But while Indianapolis's 31--17 loss to the Saints in Super Bowl XLIV last February might be viewed as a sign that its bubble is about to burst—of the previous nine Super Bowl losers, six failed to reach the postseason the following year, and six finished under .500—nobody at training camp in Anderson, Ind., seemed to be panicking, a phenomenon that can be explained by the Colts' corporate culture. Asked to explain the team's low-key professionalism, second-year coach Jim Caldwell sounds like someone who's been studying the lingo of middle management: "We're pretty good at compartmentalizing." He'll be asking for TPS reports from his assistants next.
Everything starts at the top in Indy with team president Bill Polian, who built the Bills into a minidynasty as general manager in the early 1990s. Buffalo made it to each Super Bowl from '91 through '94 (losing all four), in part because Polian was able to keep the nucleus of his team—including stars such as quarterback Jim Kelly, wideout Andre Reed and defensive end Bruce Smith—intact, a benefit of building the team through the draft instead of with flashy acquisitions on the free-agent market.
Polian's approach has been much the same in Indianapolis, which is why the roster remains mostly untouched from a year ago. The Colts' biggest off-season move was re-signing eighth-year middle linebacker Gary Brackett, a fast and heady leader on the field, to a five-year, $33 million deal hours after he hit the free-agent market in March. They will likely lose Jeff Saturday for at least one game while the two-time All-Pro center rebounds from off-season knee surgery, but they get back All-Pro safety Bob Sanders and fourth-year wideout Anthony Gonzalez, who missed a combined 29 games a year ago, as well as the entire postseason. Both the offense and defense performed well in their absence—the Colts allowed the third-fewest yards per pass attempt (6.23) and threw for the second-most yards per game (282.2)—but they gain enviable flexibility and depth with their return.
Indy is now grappling with how best to reintegrate Gonzalez, a speedy and cerebral receiver, who had to watch from the bench as Pierre Gar√ßon and Austin Collie, both 24, combined for 1,441 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. With those three targets and a pair of All-Pros in wideout Reggie Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark, the Colts—whose 601 pass attempts ranked second in the league last year—will remain deadly through the air. "People say that [ball distribution] is a problem, but it's a good situation," says Gonzalez, who insists he is 100% after undergoing surgery last November to clear loose particles out of his right knee. "Now we have so many guys with experience starting in big games. There shouldn't be any wide eyes."
A year after naming quarterbacks coach Caldwell to replace the retiring Tony Dungy, Indy has tapped two more company men to succeed retiring offensive line coach Howard Mudd and offensive coordinator Tom Moore (who is stepping down to a less-time-consuming role as the team's senior offensive assistant). Offensive quality control guru Pete Metzelaars will coach the line, and eighth-year assistant Clyde Christensen will call the plays. "Howard allowed Pete to run a lot of the meetings the last few years, and Clyde organized a lot of our red zone and third-down packages," Caldwell says. "Systemwise, we haven't changed, so that adds a lot of continuity in itself."
The Colts' most glaring weakness remains their ground game. Last season they finished last in rushing (80.9 yards per game), but that's largely because they also had the second fewest attempts (22.9 per game). Nevertheless, Indy has set the audacious goal of improving last year's 3.5-yard rushing average by at least one yard per carry. A more selfish feature back would certainly chafe at the limited workload, but fifth-year vet Joseph Addai accepts his place in the Indianapolis org chart. "When you have a quarterback like Peyton Manning, you want him to throw the ball," says Addai. "You could argue that he's the best quarterback to ever play."
As long as Polian keeps talent in-house, with Manning under center, the Colts will be recession-proof.
PROJECTED STARTERS
WITH 2009 STATS
COACH JIM CALDWELL
OFFENSE
2009 Rank: 9
QB PEYTON MANNING
G 16
ATT 571
COMP 393
PCT 68.8
YARDS 4,500
TD 33
INT 16
RATING 99.9
RB JOSEPH ADDAI
G 15
ATT 219
YARDS 828
AVG 3.8
REC 51
YARDS 336
AVG 6.6
TTD 13
WR REGGIE WAYNE
G 16
REC 100
YARDS 1,264
TTD 10
WR PIERRE GARÇON
G 14
REC 47
YARDS 765
TTD 4
WR AUSTIN COLLIE
G 16
REC 60
YARDS 676
TTD 7
TE DALLAS CLARK
G 16
REC 100
YARDS 1,106
TTD 10
LT CHARLIE JOHNSON
G 12
HT 6'4"
WT 305
LG MIKE POLLAK
G 14
HT 6'3"
WT 301
C JEFF SATURDAY
G 16
HT 6'2"
WT 295
RG KYLE DEVAN
G 15
HT 6'2"
WT 306
RT RYAN DIEM
G 15
HT 6'6"
WT 320
DEFENSE
2009 Rank: 18TH
DE ROBERT MATHIS
G 14
TACKLES 37
SACKS 9½
INT 0
DT ANTONIO JOHNSON
G 15
TACKLES 34
SACKS 1
INT 0
DT DANIEL MUIR
G 16
TACKLES 52
SACKS ½
INT 0
DE DWIGHT FREENEY
G 14
TACKLES 24
SACKS 13½
INT 0
LB CLINT SESSIONS
G 14
TACKLES 103
SACKS ½
INT 2
LB GARY BRACKETT
G 14
TACKLES 99
SACKS 1
INT 1
LB PHILIP WHEELER
G 16
TACKLES 61
SACKS 1
INT 0
CB KELVIN HAYDEN
G 9
TACKLES 50
SACKS 0
INT 1
FS ANTOINE BETHEA
G 16
TACKLES 95
SACKS 0
INT 4
SS BOB SANDERS
G 2
TACKLES 3
SACKS 0
INT 1
CB JERRAUD POWERS
G 12
TACKLES 65
SACKS 0
INT 1
SPECIAL TEAMS
P PAT MCAFEE
PUNTS 64
AVG 44.3
NET 37.8
K ADAM VINATIERI
FG 7--9
XP 17--18
POINTS 38
PR BRANDON JAMES (R)
RET 44
AVG 5.5
TD 0
KR SAM GIGUERE
RET 5
AVG 24.4
TD 0
New acquisition
(R) Rookie: College stats
TTD: Total touchdowns
2010 SCHEDULE
2009 Record: 14--2
September
12 at Houston
19 N.Y. Giants
26 at Denver
October
3 at Jacksonville
10 Kansas City
17 at Washington
24 BYE
31 Houston (M)
November
7 at Philadelphia
14 Cincinnati
21 at New England
28 San Diego
December
5 Dallas
9 at Tennessee (M)
19 Jacksonville
26 at Oakland
January
2 Tennessee
(M) Monday (T) Thursday
SCHEDULE STRENGTH
NFL Rank: 11
Opponents' 2009 winning percentage: .516
Games against 2009 playoff teams: 5
ANALYSIS
The Colts are set up for one of their patented runs to start the season: Indianapolis doesn't face a 2009 playoff team until Week 9. Then, however, it gets five of them in a row. The league just loves that marquee Pats-Colts game in November. This is the sixth straight year for such a midseason showdown; Indianapolis has won four of the previous five.
SPOTLIGHT
Bob Sanders, Strong safety
THE QUESTION that looms over Sanders is always the same. "Will he stay healthy?" wonders Colts president Bill Polian. "The odds tell you he's probably going to miss some time." Through six NFL seasons the closest the two-time All-Pro has come to playing a full schedule was in 2007, when he started 15 games, earned NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors and helped Indy win Super Bowl XLI. But the two years since have seen Sanders sidelined for 24 games with a litany of ailments, including a high ankle sprain and a knee that required off-season arthroscopic surgery in '08. He tried to play through both injuries but lasted just two games before returning to the injured list with a torn biceps tendon.
Sanders compensates for his lack of size (he's listed at 5'8" and 206 pounds) by playing the game with reckless abandon, leaving him more susceptible to getting hurt. The Colts have learned to make do without him so far. Fourth-year man Melvin Bullitt had a career-high 77 tackles in 2009 while playing alongside Antoine Bethea, who finished third on the team in that department (95). Bethea also picked off four passes and forced two fumbles, emerging as a defensive playmaker in his fourth season.
With Sanders back, the Colts can deploy all three safeties when they go into their nickel package. At which point a different question might be asked of Sanders: Can he keep up?
PHOTO
AL TIELEMANS
GOLDEN GUN By choosing to forgo free agents, Indy has kept its stars, including Manning.
PHOTO
ANDY LYONS/GETTY IMAGES