Despite the lousy QB play the Colts have gotten this year, 25-year old WR Pierre Garcon is having a career year.  He has played in 12 games for the Colts so far this year and he has caught 55 passes for 805 yards (14.6 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  Garcon already has a career high in receiving yards and he has had at least 125 yards receiving in a game three times already this year.  He has played in 54 games in his first four years for the Colts and he has caught 173 passes for 2,377 yards (13.7 avg) with 16 TD grabs.

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.

24-year old middle linebacker Pat Angerer and 24-year old outside linebacker Kavell Conner have been really playing well this year for the Colts so far in 2011.  Angerer has played in all six games for the Colts so far this year and he has 73 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.  Conner has also played in all six games for the Colts so far this year and he has 58 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, 2 passes defensed and 1 forced fumble.  The Colts are allowing 136.7 yards rushing per game so far this year, but only 3.9 yards per carry.  The Colts need the kids to keep up the good work.

Veteran WR Reggie Wayne was right, 26-year old QB Curtis Painter is better equipped to handle running the Colts’ offense than Kerry Collins is.  The Colts have scored 41 points (20.5 avg) in Painter’s two starts at QB so far this year.  Painter has played in 3 games (2 starts) for the Colts so far this year and he has completed 33 of 68 passes (48.5%) for 618 yards with 4 TD passes and 0 INTs (100.0 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 1 time for -1 yard so far this year.  The Colts hope Painter keeps up the good work, because if they are going to win some games…it’s likely going to be due to the offense.

25-year old WR Pierre Garcon really had an outstanding night in Curtis Painter’s first start at QB.  He caught 2 passes for 146 yards (73.0 avg) and both of his grabs went for TDs.  Garcon has played in 4 games this year for the Colts and he has caught 14 passes for 295 yards (21.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Garcon without a doubt has the speed to be the go to man on the deep stuff for the Colts, and Painter is going to be looking for him when he has time to throw the ball.

24-year old linebacker Pat Angerer burst onto the scene as a rookie in 2010 with the Colts.  He played in all 16 games for the Colts last year and he had 88 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble and 2 passes defensed.  Angerer has taken his game to a higher level so far this year and that is very impressive.  Angerer has played in all 3 of the Colts games so far this year and he has an amazing 42 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 forced fumble and 1 fumble recovery.  The Colts hope that Angerer can keep up the good work as they are going to have to play good defense if they want to win some games this year, because the offense has been awful.

34-year old QB Peyton Manning certainly didn’t have his best season in 2010.  He played in all 16 games for the Colts last season and he completed 450 of 679 passes (66.3%) for 4,700 yards with 33 TD passes and 17 INTs (91.9 QB Rating).  He looked more like his brother (Eli) than the indestructible Peyton Manning of the past.  But, to be fair, most QBs would love to have his final stat line of 2010.  Manning also carried the ball 18 times for 18 yards (1.0 ypc) last season.  Manning has now played in 208 games in his first 13 years with the Colts and he has completed 4,682 of 7,210 passes (64.9%) for 54,828 yards with 399 TD passes and 198 INTs (94.9 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 346 times for 722 yards (2.1 ypc) with 17 TD runs so far in his career. 

25-year old Curtis Painter is the Colts’ #2 QB and he didn’t get into any games last season.  Painter has played in 2 games (0 starts) in his career with the Colts and he has completed 8 of 28 passes (28.6%) for 83 yards with 0 TD passes and 2 INTs (9.8 QB Rating).  Painter has also carried the ball 3 times for 4 yards (1.3 ypc) in his NFL career.  He is not very good, plain and simple.

VERDICT:  Peyton Manning has never missed a game for the Colts so it’s going to be near impossible to get a decent veteran willing to back him up.  That means the Colts must use a draft pick on a QB this April to give Curtis Painter competition for the back up job behind Mannning.  The reason being is that Manning isn’t getting any younger and at some point his body won’t be able to continue to take the pounding it has so far.

29-year old Robert Mathis and 30-year old Dwight Freeney still have a lot left in the tank for the Indianapolis Colts.  Mathis has played in 15 games for the Colts so far this year and he has 56 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 11 sacks and 1 forced fumble.  Mathis is the better all around player because he’s also a solid run defender which Freeney really isn’t.  Mathis has now played in 118 games in his first 8 years with the Colts and he has 348 tackles, 10 passes defensed, 74 sacks and 36 forced fumbles  Dwight Freeney has played in 15 games for the Colts this year and he has 24 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 9 sacks, 2 passes defensed and 5 forced fumbles.  He has now played in 132 games in his first 9 years with the Colts and he has 266 tackles, 14 passes defensed, 93 sacks and 41 forced fumbles.  The Colts have to be glad that Mathis & Freeney are showing no signs of slowing down as they are the two biggest impact players that they have on defense.

The Colts needed a TE to step up after the season ending injury to Dallas Clark and Jacob Tamme has answered that challenge.  He didn’t catch any passes in his first six games of the year for the Colts.  In the last five games for the Colts, Tamme caught 38 passes for 369 yards (9.7 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  The Colts need Tamme to keep up the good work but they still miss Dallas Clark who was Peyton Manning’s right hand man.

55-year old head coach Jim Caldwell led the Colts to a 14-2 record and he got them to the Super Bowl where he was badly outcoached by Sean Payton of the Saints.  His bad coaching has carried over to this year as the Colts are only 6-3 on the year despite having one of the best offenses in the NFL.  The Colts are now 20-5 (80%) during the regular season under Caldwell is his first two years.  Caldwell got a cush job with a full cupboard of good football players so this year has been disappointing so far.