The Colts will be without starting DE Dwight Freeney for the next 2-3 weeks with a right quadriceps injury.  He has played in all three games for the Colts this season and he has 10 tackles, 4 sacks, he has forced 1 fumble and he has defensed 1 pass.  The Colts’ defense will definately suffer without Freeney as he is the best player on that side of the ball for the Colts. 

The Indianapolis Colts (3-0) took down the defending NFC champion Arizona Cardinals (1-2) Sunday at Arizona.  After going scoreless in the first quarter and down 3-0, Peyton Manning and the Colts rallied off 21 straight points in the second quarter to put the Colts up 21-3 at halftime.  Manning had an excellent game as went for 379 yards and had four touchdowns with one interception on 24/35 passes (69%).  The Colts running game was also pretty solid, as Joseph Addai and Donald Brown combined for 103 yards.

The Colts defense, particularly their guys up front, had a great game.  Kurt Warner was pressured all game and never was able to get much going for the dangerous Cardinals’ offense.  While Manning had great protection, Warner was rushed and forced out of the pocket countless times and threw two interceptions.  Warner didn’t even finish the game, as he was too banged up to finish it out and Matt Leinert came in for the battered 38-year-old.

The Cardinals looked pretty good early, as they went up 3-0 and looked to make it 10-0 before Tim Hightower fumbled at the 5-yard line.  The Colts then drove 95-yards for a touchdown and never looked back.  The Colts had a dominant performance tonight and look like Super Bowl contenders this year.

The Indianapolis Colts (2-0) are in Phoenix this weekend taking on the defending NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals (1-1).  Although the Colts are unbeaten so far, they have had some close games against sub-par competition.  The Colts have Peyton Manning though, and he is one of the best at bringing his team to comeback victories.  He now has 37 comeback victories in his career which only trails the much older Brett Favre in comeback wins for active quarterbacks.

The Cardinals are coming off a big win last weekend, as they looked like the team that went to the Super Bowl last year.  Kurt Warner broke the NFL’s single game completion percentage record, as he went 24-26.  The Colts need to get pressure on the old quarterback, as he is not the best at moving out of the pocket and making plays off balance.

Peyton Manning needs to have a typical Peyton Manning game to win this one, as it will be a high scoring game.  Reggie Wayne will be getting a lot of attention from the Cardinals defense so look for TE Dallas Clark to get the ball the most.  Pierre Garcon had a huge 48-yard touchdown catch last week ended up being the game winner for the Colts, so look for Manning to go to Garcon as well.

This game will be en exciting one to watch, as both offenses have some of the best quarterbacks in the game.  It will be high scoring and back forth.  I think the Colts are going to be able to come out with the victory, getting a late field goal to win it.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Cardinals 34, Colts 37

The Colts needed someone to step up with WR Anthony Gonzalez going down to injury.  TE Dallas Clark has responded to the challenge as he has already caught 11 passes for 222 yards (20.1 avg) with a long TD on the opening play of Monday Night football against the Dolphins.  This is the season that Clark will prove that he is one of the best TEs in the NFL and I wouldn’t be surprised if he made it to the Pro Bowl.

Rookie RB Donald Brown is pushing Joseph Addai for his starting job.  He has carried the ball 15 times for 59 yards (3.9 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 3 passes for 40 yards (13.3 avg) so far this year.  Brown’s TD run against the Dolphins was amazing as he refused to go down until he was in the end zone.  Addai better pick his game up or he will be watching Brown run from the sidelines.

The Colts have released 23-year old TE Tom Santi.  Santi did not play in any games this season for the Colts.  Last year as a rookie, Santi caught 10 passes for 64 yards (6.4 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The Colts shouldn’t miss Santi too much as they have three TEs on the roster that they like better than him.

The Colts will be without leading tackler Gary Brackett on Sunday Night against the Cardinals due to a knee problem.  Brackett has 17 tackles already this season for the Colts.  Freddie Keiaho will start in Brackett’s place and he has 2 tackles this season but he has a lot of starting experience with the Colts.  It’s hard to say if this will hurt the Colts’ D or not as they have allowed a stunning 176.5 yards rushing per game this season.

Peyton Manning showed his greatness tonight as the Colts only had the ball for 14:53 of this game but they still rolled up an amazing 356 total yards on offense (61 rushing, 295 passing).  Things were looking bad for the Colts with 3:50 left in the game as Dan Carpenter of the Dolphins put them up 23-20 with a 45 yard field goal.  Peyton Manning then tossed a 48-yard TD pass to WR Pierre Garcon (his only catch of the game) 32 seconds later to give the Colts a 27-23 lead.  The Dolphins then drove right down the field getting to the Colts’ 30 yard line which is where the game ended.  Peyton Manning completed 14 of 23 passes for 303 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 interceptions.  Joseph Addai didn’t get much work in this game as he carried the ball 6 times for 32 yards (5.3 ypc) and he also caught 1 pass for 7 yards.  Rookie RB Donald Brown had a solid game carrying the ball 4 times for 26 yards (6.5 ypc) with a TD run and he also caught 1 pass for 24 yards.  TE Dallas Clark was the biggest impact player for the Colts on offense other than Peyton Manning last night.  He caught 7 passes for 183 yards (26.1 avg) with a 80-yard TD catch on the first play of the game.  The Dolphins did shut down Reggie Wayne who only caught 3 passes for 37 yards (12.3 avg).  The Colts were the first team to ever win a NFL game only having possession of the football for 14:53.

The defense was pretty awful for the Colts last night.  LB Clint Session (9 tackles) and S Antoine Bethea (8 tackles, interception) “led” the way for the Colts on D.  The Dolphins finished up with 403 total yards on offense (239 rushing, 164 passing) in this game.  The Colts are now 2-0 on the season.

The Colts will have a much tougher time dealing with the Dolphins in Miami than they did last week with the Jags at home.  That means they must protect the football.  The Colts need more out of the running game from Joseph Addai and Donald Brown against a Dolphins’ D that held Michael Turner and the Falcons to 68 yards rushing and 2.5 yards per carry.  If the Colts can’t run the ball the Dolphins will be sending a lot of blitzers at Peyton Manning.  The Fins will no doubt be doubling Reggie Wayne the whole game but that doesn’t mean the Colts won’t be throwing to him.  In any event, Tony Gonzalez had a huge game against the Dolphins last week so look for Dallas Clark to be more heavily involved in the offense this week.

The Dolphins like to run the ball and throw short passes.  They need Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams to have big games against the Colts’ D which allowed 114 yards rushing and 4.4 yards per carry.  If the Dolphins have success running the ball then look for Chad Pennington to attack them deep with some play action passing.  Pennington will stay with the short passing game if the Dolphins are not running the ball well. 

PREDICTION:  DOLPHINS 21, COLTS 20

The Colts have signed 27-year old WR Hank Baskett.  Baskett played in the season opener for the Eagles catching 1 pass for 6 yards.  He has now played in 48 games in his NFL career and he has caught 72 passes for 1,052 yards (14.6 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  Baskett came to the perfect place to jumpstart his career as Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie are the only things between him and a starting job.  This was a good move by the Colts.