Know the Enemy: Indianapolis Colts vs Denver Broncos, Part 1
In one of the most anticipated NFL regular season games of all time, Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos travel to face the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night. For more from the Denver side of things, I reached out to Kim Constantinesco, who covers the Broncos for Predominantly Orange.com. Listed below is the first part of our conversation.
Naptown’s Finest – How is the feeling around the Denver Broncos media and fans, for this monumental match-up?
Predominantly Orange – We know Manning’s return is not going to be like Brett Favre’s return to Lambeau. The Colts and their fans will really embrace his “homecoming.” I would venture to say that Manning feels more at home playing at Lucas Oil Stadium rather than at Sports Authority Field in Denver. After the comments made by Jim Irsay earlier this week, I could see Manning having the best performance of his career.
Even aside from Manning’s return, this is a huge game for the Broncos. The Colts are a very good matchup and everyone is excited to see how the Broncos perform on the road against a 4-2 team.
NF – What was the feeling around the team, after Peyton threw a Manning-esque interception, to lose last year’s playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens? What if the Broncos dominate the regular season this year, but go one-and-done in the playoffs again?
PO -There were so many things that had to go wrong in the playoff loss to the Ravens and they all did. It wasn’t just Manning’s interceptions that threw the game. It was the Broncos’ inability to run and convert third downs, it was the defense giving up nearly 500 yards, it was kicker Matt Prater missing a field goal, it was John Fox taking a knee and playing for overtime rather than going after the win in regulation, it was Rahim Moore getting “too excited” and letting that 70-yard touchdown go, it was Tony Carter not bumping Jacoby Jones at the line on the same play. You get the point. Anything short of a Super Bowl appearance would be a disappointment right now. Another one-and-done would probably spell some big coaching changes.
Stay tuned to Naptown’s Finest for more of my discussion with Kim, concerning the Colts and Broncos.