Five Questions on Jaguars vs. Colts with StampedeBlue.com

I guess when he's 40 and has won a 7th MVP and a 4th Super Bowl, Peyton will get bored with kicking the crap out of NFL defenses and take up something that will challenge that massive brain of his. Of course, we Peyton fans worry because the larger his brain gets, the more unstable his forehead region will become. We worry he might lose his balance and tip over.

Typically the Jaguars and Colts play fairly close games with the Colts seemingly always pulling it out at the end. Do you feel this game will be in the same fashion as last year's game in late December?

Probably, but that's also frustrating on my part. Far too often I see favorable match-ups for the Colt, only to see those match-ups get nullified because someone on the Colts forgets how to tackle or another players forgets how to catch the ball. As always, this game will stay close.

Manning has been hit this year more than I can remember in season's past. Are the concerns on the offensive line to the point of worrisome yet?

Yes, very much so. This is the worst offensive line Peyton has ever had to play behind. Bill Polian did a terrible job this off-season 'fixing' it. The line doesn't know how to run block as well, forcing Manning to throw it more. In two of the three games so far this year, Manning has had to throw the ball over 40 times. That's just too much. Last week, the Colts rushed for only 1.8 yards a carry. Simply dreadful.

What's the deal with the Colts running game? It used to be a big part of their offense, now it just seems like an after thought.

The offensive line stinks. That's the deal. Joseph Addai, Donald Brown, and Mike Hart are all quality backs. Addai is all-purpose, Brown has great speed, and Hart is a short-yardage specialist. However, when these guys take a hand-off, they are getting hit behind the line on virtually every running play. The reason is the scrubs the Colts have working up front, especially Mike Pollak and Jamey Richard, cannot sustain blocks. My frustration is the Colts seem kind of 'ho-hum' about it. I'd think that if my team ran for 1.8 a carry in Week Three, we'd start seeing some changes made up front for Week Four. Unfortunately, we haven't.

New season, same story. The Colts rush defense stinks. Given the fact that Maurice Jones-Drew hasn't "broken out" yet this season, are Colts fans worried he will pull an Arian Foster?

Actually, I disagree with you. The rush defense has been good. They were awful against the Texans, but bounced back very well to stuff the Giants (their rushes were in garbage time) and utterly stone the Broncos (less than 40 yards rushing). The Texans game was the fault of the coaches. The team was simply not ready. They were sloppy. They were unmotivated. And, near the end of the game, they quit. It was a gutless effort, no doubt. However, the defense has bounced back nicely. Interestingly enough, the area I'm worried about now is the Colts pass defense. Despite spending a ton of money on him a few years ago, Kelvin Hayden has been awful to start this season. Jerraud Powers has also looked shaky, and Jacob Lacey continues to get burned for big plays in man coverage. There's no reason, other than players incompetence, for the secondary to look this bad. Hayden, Powers, and Lacey all have the talent to play dominant football. Last week, they were touched for 476 passing yards. Time for this group to man up and earn their pay. Right now, they are playing like dog meat.