26-year old QB Curtis Painter has been terrible lately for the Colts.  In his last four games, Painter has completed 61 of 112 passes (54.5%) for 509 yards with 0 TD passes and 6 INTs.  Painter has now played in 8 games for the Colts this year and he has completed 117 of 214 passes (54.7%) for 1,315 yards with 5 TD passes and 7 INTs (67.4 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 17 times for 107 yards (6.3 ypc) so far this year.  The Colts have only scored 27 points in their last four games, so they should seriously think about replacing Painter as the starting QB.

27-year old safety Antoine Bethea has been really solid this year at the back end of the Colts’ D this year.  He has played in 10 games for the Colts this year and he has 84 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 6 passes defensed and 1 fumble recovery.  Bethea has now played in 85 games in his first six years for the Colts and he has 541 tackles, 9 tackles for a loss, 1/2 a sack, 3 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 33 passes defensed and 12 interceptions.  The Colts hope that Bethea actually starts making less tackles, because it’s never good when a safety is making as many tackles as he is.

The Colts have placed 24-year old PR/WR Blair White on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season due to a knee injury.  White played in 7 games for the Colts this year and he returned 7 punts for 22 yards (3.1 ypc) but they didn’t throw him any passes this year.  He has now played in 20 games in his first two years with the Colts and he has caught 36 passes for 355 yards (9.9 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  White also has returned 17 punts for 102 yards (6.0 avg) so far in his career for the Colts.  They won’t miss him too much with the way this year is going.

The Colts sunk to a new level yesterday as they couldn’t get anything going against the Jaguars’ D.  Curtis Painter was awful again as he completed 13 of 19 passes for 94 yards with o TD passes and 2 INTs.  The Colts yanked Painter in his game and replaced him with Dan Orlovsky.  Orlovsky completed 7 of 10 passes for 67 yards without a TD pass or INT.  Donald Brown led the way on the ground in this game for the Colts with 53 yards rushing on 14 carries (3.8 ypc) and he also caught 4 passes for 12 yards (3.0 avg).  TE Jacob Tamme (6 rec, 75 yards), WR Austin Collie (4 rec, 31 yards) and WR Pierre Garcon (3 grabs for 30 yards and 1 carry for 18 yards) led the way for the Colts in the passing game.  The Colts rushed for 84 yards on 23 carries (3.7 ypc) and they also completed 20 of 29 passes (69%) for 128 yards as they had possession of the ball for 24:39.

The defense played better than usual yesterday.  Safeties David Caldwell (11 tackles) and Antoine Bethea (9 tackles and 1 QB hit) led the way for the Colts on D in this game.  LB Pat Angerer (7 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and 1 pass defensed) and CB Jerraud Powers (5 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception) also pitched in for the Colts on D in this game.  The Jaguars finished up with 141 yards rushing on 41 carries (3.4 ypc) and they also completed 14 of 21 passes (66.7%) for 110 yards in this game.  The Colts are now a perfect 0-10 on the year.

The Indianapolis Colts have been pathetic this year.  But, in the last three weeks they have sunk to new lows as the Colts have been outscored in those games by a combined score of 120-24!  The Jaguars have played a lot better the last three weeks as they look like an improving team.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Colts have the ball:  I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but this is the type of game the Colts can win if they run the ball a lot.  Delone Carter and Donald Brown could split carries and handle a heavy workload in this game.   But, everyone knows the Colts are acting like Peyton Manning is still under center as they are throwing the ball around 60% of the time.  The Jaguars have a decent secondary, so Curtis Painter is going to have to be careful throwing the ball this weekend.

When the Jaguars have the ball:  The Colts are going to have to be ready for a very heavy dose of RB Maurice Jones-Drew.  That makes perfect sense as the Colts are allowing 146.1 yards rushing per game and 4.1 yards per carry so far this year.  The Colts will try to get a good pass rush on rookie QB Blaine Gabbert in an effort to cause him into making some big mistakes.  The Colts must pay special attention to WR Jason Hill, as he has gotten into a groove with QB Gabbert as of late.

PREDICTION:  JAGUARS 24, COLTS 10

The Colts will be without 24-year old TE Brody Eldridge for multiple weeks has he has had surgery to repair an injured hand.  Eldridge played in 9 games for the Colts (5 starts) so far this year and he has caught 6 passes for 33 yards (5.5 avg).  He has now played in 23 games (13 starts) in his first two years with the Colts and he has caught 11 passes for 72 yards (6.5 ypc).  Eldridge will be missed more in the running game than the passing game for the Colts.

The Colts have waived 28-year old DT Daniel Muir.  Muir played in 4 games for the Colts last year and he had 11 tackles.  He played in 40 games in his four years with the Colts and he had 104 tackles, 6 tackles for a loss, 1/2 a sack and 1 pass defensed.  This is a surprising move when you consider that the Colts are giving up 146.1 yards rushing per game this year.

The Colts have placed 25-year old G/C Seth Olsen on the Injured Reserve List, ending his season due to a hand injury.  Olsen played in 6 games (1 start) for the Colts this year.  He has now played in 9 games (1 start) in his first two years in the NFL.  This will hurt the depth of the Colts’ offensive line and that’s not good news for Curtis Painter.

The Colts have signed 25-year old cornerback Morgan Trent.  Trent played in 6 games earlier this year for the Bengals and he had six tackles.  He has now played in 30 games in his first three years in the NFL and he has 60 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 fumble recovery, 1 interception and 7 passes defensed.  The Colts need all of the help in the secondary that they can get, as they are giving up 260.0 yards passing per game this year.  With that in mind, I like this signing for the Colts.

UPDATE:  (11/15/2011) – The Colts have released Morgan Trent.  He didn’t get into any games for them.

56-year old head coach Jim Caldwell looks lost this year.  He has that deer in headlights look in his eyes right now and it’s the same look that he had when he screwed up with clock management in the playoffs last year.  This man is simply not a good coach, period.  The Colts are 0-9 on the year and they have been terrible on both sides of the ball.  The Colts should be running the ball in an effort to control the clock and keep his lousy defense off the field.  Instead, he is running the same exact offense with Curtis Painter at QB instead of Peyton Manning.  The Colts are now 24-17 (58.5%) during the regular season in Caldwell’s three years in charge, and it’s starting to look like it was all Peyton Manning’s doing in his first two years as the head coach.  He needs to get the boot after this season is over.