Who would have thought that the Kansas City Chiefs would be the only remaining undefeated team left so far in the National Football League, clinging on to a 3-0 record after just coming off a bye week.
The Indianapolis Colts, to say at the least, have went off to a pretty mediocre start. It’s rather disappointing. Indy is playing one of there worsts when it comes to the rushing game, both offensively and defensively. They rank 29th in the league in running the ball and 29th with their rush defense, allowing more than 149 yards per game!
This all goes down to a 2-2 record for Indy, third in the AFC South. This is really not expected, but this is something that has been similar before. In the 2008-09 season, Indy started off similar like this. They went off to a 3-4 start, and went on a roll, going on a nine-game winning-streak and finishing as the hottest team entering the playoffs with a 12-4 record.
Why can’t we say that they could pull something off like that this season?
The Chiefs have been playing great, with a solid run game led by Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones, along with fierce returners and playmakers like Dexter McCluster and Javier Arenas. They also have a young quarterback in Matt Cassel, who has so far impressed folks this season.
Last season, it took until November for Kansas City to win three games.
“It feels good. This is what we’ve been talking about in OTAs, minicamp, training camp,” cornerback Brandon Flowers said after a 31-10 win over San Francisco in Week 3. “We just have to keep it going, we can’t settle for 3-0.”
Flowers is also happy that his team was able to have a bye week this early and at this kind of time.
“That means we can get extra film study, extra time to get ready for going against the Colts and Peyton Manning, and that high-powered offense. That can take us a long way.”
The Chiefs hope to become the eighth team to start off the year 4-0 after starting 0-4 the previous season. In the last ten meeting, including the playoffs, the Chiefs have been 1-9 against the Colts. Their only win came in the 2004-05 season, where they won in a 45-35 victory.
The Colts are tough to stop at home. They have only had one home game so far this season, and they look to pump up the crowd and show a different side of their team when they face Kansas City.
The Colts’ offense has overall been doing fantastic. Really, it is the defense’s fault. They should be taking the blame mostly for Indy’s lackluster start.
In last week’s 31-28 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Peyton Manning threw for 352 yards and two touchdowns. What really hurt the Colts, though, was that they made dumb mistakes. They had two turnovers in the end zone. One was a very bad pass to tight end Brody Eldridge, which brought Manning’s first interception of the season. Then came a ten-yard completion to Reggie Wayne, who would fumble the ball later.
It would end with Josh Scobee kicking a game-winning, 59-yard field-goal. He drilled it.
“It’s not what we want to be, it’s not what we set out to be, but it’s what we are,” said Manning, who leads the league with 11 touchdowns and a 112.2 passer rating. “We have to find a way to dig ourselves out of a hole. We are in a hole.”
It’s surprising to see the Colts struggling like this, especially in the running game when they have Joseph Addai and Donald Brown. Then the rush defense, where Indy has the fastest defense.
“There’s obviously, a lot of work to do on that side of the ball and we’ve got to get that straightened away,” Colts president Bill Polian said of his team’s defense. “We’ve got good players there, but they’re not playing well right now.”
Bob Sanders will be out, but there’s no worry because Melvin Bullitt is there, right? Well, no. He will be out for the season along with kick-returner Devin Moore. Many players are ruled. Another reason to the Colts’ losses is that they have been pretty banged up.
Either Brandon King or Dajuan Morgan will fill in at strong safety.
If the Colts can hand the Chiefs their first loss of the season, they would gain momentum. At 3-2, they should start winning again. Also, with the Chiefs down to 3-1, it would be the first time the last undefeated team would be at a 3-0 record since the year of 1970.
Colts better make that happen.
It’s possible.