24-year old Austin Collie looked solid as a rookie last season.  He played in all 16 games for the Colts in 2009 and he caught 60 passes for 676 yards (11.3 avg) with 7 TD grabs.  But this season, Collie is taking his game to a whole new level.  Peyton Manning has targeted Collie 54 times in the first six games completing an amazing 44 of them (81.5%)!  Collie has caught 44 passes for 503 yards (11.4 avg) with 6 TD grabs so far this year.  With Dallas Clark out for a while look for Peyton Manning to throw the ball even more to Austin Collie.

UPDATE:  (10/21/2010) – Austin Collie will miss the next several weeks due to hand surgery.   This is a big blow to the Colts’ offense.

The Colts can’t blame QB Peyton Manning for being 2-2 on the year.  The Colts are averaging 29.3 points, 335.5 yards passing and 411.0 total yards per game so far this year.  Colts’ opponents have been running the ball a lot more than usual in a effort to keep Peyton Manning and the Colts’ offense on the sidelines which makes his numbers so far even more incredible.  Manning has completed 120 of 172 passes (69.8%) for 1,365 yards with 11 TD passes and 1 INT (112.2 QB Rating) so far this year.  The Colts need to get the rest of the team up to speed because Manning can’t win all by himself.

31-year old WR Reggie Wayne is off to another solid start for the Colts.  In the Colts first three games of the year, Wayne has caught 18 passes for 260 yards (14.4 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Peyton Manning has been spreading the ball around so Wayne isn’t a go-to man anymore despite putting up good numbers.  Wayne has now played in 144 games in his career with the Colts and he has caught 694 passes for 9,653 yards (13.9 avg) with 65 TD grabs.  I look for Wayne to keep piling up big numbers the rest of the year.

24-year old WR Austin Collie is off to a great start this year.  In his first two games, Collie has caught 15 passes for 188 yards (12.5 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Collie and Manning are definitely on the same wavelength as Manning has completed 15 of his 16 throws to him so far this year.  Look for Collie to easily top his impressive rookie numbers of last year when he caught 60 passes for 676 yards (11.3 avg) with 7 TD grabs as long as he can stay healthy.

23-year old WR has taken advantage of the single coverage he has been getting in the playoffs.  He has caught 16 passes for 185 yards (11.6 avg) with a TD grab so far in the playoffs.  I see no reason to think that Garcon won’t be huge in the Super Bowl as I would think the Saints would go all out to try to stop Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark.  Garcon also had a breakthrough regular season for the Colts.  He played in 14 games this year for the Colts and he caught 47 passes for 765 yards (16.3 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 10 yards (5.0 ypc).  This is just the beginning for Garcon who has the speed and hands to just get better for the Colts with experience.

Peyton Manning is coming down to Miami, Florida which is where he won his first Super Bowl Championship against the Bears.  He’s looking to repeat that feat this weekend against the Saints.  Manning’s job just got tougher with the injury to DE Dwight Freeney.  His injury makes it more likely that the Super Bowl will be a offensive shootout putting a lot of the pressure on Peyton Manning to have a big game.  That seems to be when he plays his best football however so look for him to turn in a superhuman effort this Sunday.  Manning has completed 56 of 83 passes (67.5%) for 623 yards with 5 TD passes and 1 INT (104.6 QB Rating) in his two playoff games already this season.  The great thing about Manning’s numbers is that he produced them against the Jets and Ravens who both have better defenses than the Saints do.

33-year old Peyton Manning keeps rolling along as he became only the 4th QB in NFL history with over 50,000 passing yards this year.  He started all 16 games for the Colts this season and he completed 393 of 571 passes (68.8%) for 4,500 yards with 33 TD passes and 16 INTs (99.9 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 19 times for -13 yards (-0.7 ypc) this year.  Manning has now played in 192 games in his NFL career and he has completed 4,232 of 6,531 passes (64.8%) for 50,128 yards with 366 TD passes and 181 INTs (95.2 QB Rating).  Manning has also carried the ball 328 times for 704 yards (2.1 ypc) with 17 TD runs in his career.  Manning is now #4 all-time in passing yards behind John Elway (51,475 yards), Dan Marino (61,361) and Brett Favre (69,329 and counting).  He is also #3 all-time in TD passes behind only Dan Marino (420) and Brett Favre (497 and counting).  I would have to think that Manning will be the all-time leader in both TD passes and pass yards if he can just stay healthy and that shouldn’t be a problem as he has never missed a game in his NFL career yet.

24-year old rookie Curtis Painter was pathetic when he was on the field.  He played in 2 games for the Colts this season and he completed 8 of 28 passes (28.6%) for 83 yards with 0 TD passes and 2 INTs (9.8 QB Rating).  Painter also carried the ball 3 times for 4 yards (1.3 ypc) this season.  Painter will likely be the #3 QB on the Colts next season if he even makes the final roster.

UPDATE:  Peyton Manning won his 4th MVP of his NFL career this year becoming the first player in NFL history with that many.  His trophy case now has MVP Awards from the 2003, 2004, 2008 and 2009 seasons.

30-year old TE Dallas Clark is having by far his best year in his NFL career.  Clark has caught 82 passes for 902 yards (11.0 avg) with 8 TD grabs.  He will be adding to career highs in both catches and yards receiving the remainder of this season.  He did catch 11 TD passes in 2007 so he has some work to do if he’s going to set a new career high there.  With Anthony Gonzalez missing the whole year and Marvin Harrison not around anymore the Colts needed someone to step up and Clark answered the call.

31-year old WR Reggie Wayne is showing no signs of slowing down and that’s great news for the Colts.  Wayne has played in 13 games for the Colts this season and he has caught 87 passes for 1,078 yards (12.4 avg) with 9 TD grabs.  He has now played in 138 games in his nine years with the Colts and he has caught 663 passes for 9,207 yards (13.9 avg) with 62 TD grabs.  If Wayne can play at least three or four more years at a high level he will no doubt be joining Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison in the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

24-year old RB Chad Simpson is third in line for carries on the Colts behind Joseph Addai and Donald Brown, but, he’s still making the most of his opportunities to play.  He has played in 10 games for the Colts this season and he has carried the ball 15 times for 102 yards (6.8 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  Simpson also has caught 1 pass for 2 yards this year.  Simpson also has helped out on special teams for the Colts this season.  He has returned 26 kickoffs for 553 yards (21.3 avg) and he has 2 tackles this year.  The Colts have to feel good about having Simpson around as he helps out whenever he’s called upon.