i definately wouldn't say we are the team to beat, but i think we are the team with the best shot. does that make sense?...probably not, let me explain.

we cannot be classified as the "team to beat" because although we return 21 of 22 starters, we have the second hardest schedule in the NFL, which is definately going to wear on us. i look at this as a battle of 4 teams in the AFC: us, NE, SD, and JAX. Jax hasn't proven to me that they can beat us, so i don't buy it until i see it. plus, their schedule is almost as hard as ours. SD has beaten us the last 3(?) times we have played them, and were also the team to end our "perfect season" hopes a few years ago. i don't know how difficult their schedule is, but they beat us twice last year, so i don't see how you can rank them below us going into this season. NE, as much as i fully despise anyone on their team (including now husker alum bo ruud), has one of the easiest schedules in the nfl next season, which to me would make them the team to beat, because they will likely end up with the best record.

how this would break down would be 1 - NE, 2 - SD, 3 - IND, 4 - CLE/PIT, 5 - JAX, 6 - PIT/CLE.

now, i think this is actually a very good thing for us. first off, our hard schedule will keep us sharp all season long, meaning we will definately be in form when the playoffs roll around. NE on the other hand will be rested but not nearly as sharp as they will be able to coast to most of their victories. plus, the last time in recent memory the colts failed to have a first round bye was the year we won the super bowl. coincidense (i know i spelled it wrong but im too lazy to fix it)? i dont know that it is. i'm not sure that the bye week is as big of a favor as we are made to believe, because it ends up costing you a game of fine tuning. sure, it lets you rest up a little more, but it also loosens your team back up, and it shows for the first part of the game. look at the giants last year. everyone thought they should rest their players in the regular season patriots game because the outcome had no effect on either's playoff status. still, the giants got themselves amped up for that game, and came out and gave the patriots a challenge. they lost, but i think some of that adrenaline carried over into the playoffs (no bye week...not favored in any game), and hence their run through the playoffs to gain a rematch with the patriots, once again with hopes to spoil their quest for history, and because of their momentum, they were able to do it. resting our players in the last weeks of the season, and the bye week, severely hurts our momentum, and it allows the cobwebs to grow all over our players, meaning they have to shake them off in the first game of the playoffs against a very good team, which doesn't seem ideal to me.

anyways, appologies for the rambling. later-

cirknick

cryohiocry

IU

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