Colts Gab

Well, so much for the pre-game hype. Peyton Manning and Kurt Warner the focus of this much anticpated matchup between one of the better AFC teams in the Indianapolis Colts and the Super Bowl runner-up Arizona Cardinals.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals faithful, Manning – as he tends to do with regularity – exploited the Cardinals’ secondary as Indianapolis manhandled Arizona in Glendale, AZ 31-10. Again, so much for the pre-game hype.

How dominant was Manning in his debut in Glendale? Consider the fact that he threw three touchdown passes in the second quarter alone. And as per custom, the Colts’ pass rush was in Warner’s face all game – or so it seemed. Things were slow initially for the Colts and Manning; the Cardinals drew first blood as kicker Neil Rackers converted a 38-yard field goal, giving Arizona an early 3-0 lead late in the first quarter.

But then Manning would warm up to the occasion as he threw a trio of touchdown passes, a 20-yard strike to wide receiver Reggie Wayne, a 10-yard scring pass to tight end Dallas Clark and a 53-yarder to WR Pierre Garcon. By the time the Cardinals got the license number to the Mack truck that was the Colts, Indianapolis was up 21-3 going into halftime.

Although Warner would toss a 10-yard TD pass to WR Anquan Boldin with 10:50 left in the third quarter, Manning would match Warner with a TD pass of his own, this time a 3-yard pass to RB Joseph Addai, boosting Indianapolis’ cushion to 28-10, more than enough to help the Colts coast to the easy victory.

Manning had a typical night – at least for him – as he went 24-of-35 for 379 yards with 4 TD’s and an interception while Warner did alright himself, going 30-of-52 for 332 yards with a TD and 2 INT’s. Neither team ran very well as Addai led all Colts rushers 63 yards on 13 carries while Indianapolis’ run defense performed a stellar job, holding the Cardinals’ Tim Hightower to 22 rushing yards, although to Hightower’s credit, he also caught 5 passes for 39 yards.

Wayne led all Colts receivers with 7 receptions for 139 yards and a score while RB Donald Brown caught one for 72 yards; Garcon caught 3 balls for 64 yards and a TD while Clark caught 7 for 62 yards and a score. Steve Breaston led the Cards’ receivers with 7 catches for 94 yards while Boldin caught six for 83 yards and a TD; Larry Fitzgerald caught seven passes for 76 yards. Indianapolis (3-0) returns home to host the Seattle Seahawks while Arizona (1-2) returns home and will have their bye week; they do not play again until October 11 when they host the Houston Texans.

It’s that time again to start talking about free agency, and we’ll spend some time breaking down positions, and today we are going to start with maybe the most important position on the field – quarterback. Here are our rankings of Free Agent QB’s, and what we think will be the end result for some of these players.

1. Kurt Warner – Cardinals: The Super Bowl QB is going to be a free man, but expect the Cardinals to make a more than fair offer to keep Kurt around, win or lose the big game a week from Sunday. Kurt could have been the MVP this season without a doubt, and while a couple other teams will likely flirt with the idea of grabbing him, I can’t see him anywhere else but in the desert.

2. Matt Cassel – Patriots: Look for Cassel to be franchised, meaning he’s not going anywhere in 2009. The Pats need to protect themselves just in case Tom Brady is not going to be ready to go at the start of the season. Again, he’ll get plenty of interest in the open market, but don’t expect him to make it there unless teams are willing to give up two #1 picks.

3. Jeff Garcia – Buccaneers: Even at 39, Garcia can be a stop gap for some team on the steps of being a possible playoff or Super Bowl contender. With the coaching changes in Tampa Bay, it wouldn’t be a big surprise to see Garcia take his game elsewhere, but there is always the chance he may retire.

4. Kerry Collins – Titans: The Titans had a great season with Collins, but even as the #1 seed in the AFC were not able to get by the Ravens. Collins played tough when the team needed it, beating the Steelers late and Ravens early in the year. He’s the perfect QB for the Titans system, and giving him two years at $10 mil per year would not be out of the question.

5. Rex Grossman – Bears: Rex in effect should get a fresh start and bail from the situation that is the Bears. The team appears to have made a commitment to Kyle Orton as their QB of the future, and if Grossman wants to be a starter, he’ll likely have to go somewhere as a backup and then hope for poor play or an injury to be in the starting lineup.

6. Luke McCown – Buccaneers: McCown is still young enough to where he could be a decent player in this league, as he’s shown flashes but has never fully taken it to the next level. Look for him to go somewhere and be a backup with the hopes of being a starter down the road.

7. Kyle Boller – Ravens: This may be a shot in the dark, but I wouldn’t mind seeing Boller somewhere else with a fresh start. He wasn’t ever able to live up to the level of the pick the Ravens used on him, and with Joe Flacco taking them to the AFC Title Game, there is no question who the long term starter will be in Baltimore.

8. Ryan Fitzpatrick – Bengals: The former Harvard QB started the year awful, but by the end was playing much better, but won’t have that shot again with the Bengals as Carson Palmer will be back under center in 2009. Wouldn’t doubt if another team or even the Bengals locked him up as their back-up. He’d be smart to stay in Cincy if the offer is there.

9. J.P. Losman – Bills: Not a big fan of Losman, but someone will give him a job as a 2nd QB on their roster. I wouldn’t doubt if he’s in camp with a team that has an unstable QB situation come July.

10. Byron Leftwich – Steelers: The former starter with the Jags has found a nice home with the Steelers, and has played well when called upon. With that, he’d be well served to stay in the Steel City, but with the desire to compete, my guess is he moves on to another squad.

Other Free Agent QB’s:

David Carr – NY Giants
Brett Ratliff – NY Jets
Brock Berlin – St.Louis
Charlie Batch – Pittsburgh
Dan Orlovsky – Detroit
Chris Simms – Tennessee
Joey Harrington – New Orleans
Brian St.Pierre – Arizona
Brooks Bollinger – Dallas
Gibran Hamdan (RFA) – Buffalo
Jared Lorenzen – Indianapolis
Tim Rattay – Arizona
J.T. O’Sullivan – San Francisco
Charlie Frye – Seattle
Patrick Ramsey – Denver
Craig Nall – Houston
Marques Tuiasosopo – Oakland
Lester Ricard – Carolina
Bret Basanez – Carolina
Todd Bouman – Baltimore
Jamie Martin – San Francisco
Anthony Morelli – Arizona