Colts Gab

Colts defensive end Robert Mathis practiced today to prepare for Sunday’s game against the Denver Broncos. Mathis made the Pro Bowl last year.

He missed practices on Wednesday and Thursday due to a quad injury and is labeled as questionable.I hope Mathis will play, who could well be on his way to another Pro Bowl, alongside with Dwight Freeney.

Other Injury News

• Ryan Diem did not practice, labeled as questionable.
• Charlie Johnson practiced today after not playing last week. Questionable
• Out for game: Donald Brown, Aaron Francisco, Anthony Gonzalez, and Adam Vinatieri

I have always been a fan of Robert Mathis. It’s not because he has the same birthday as me (February 26), it’s just that I like how he plays. He is just a fun player to watch when he is on the field.

Countless times, you see sacks every Sunday coming from no other then this fool right here. It also makes the Colts look more dangerous alongside with Dwight Freeney on the other side of where Mathis stands.

Let’s break it down, of Robert Mathis.

Robert Mathis looked like one of those players that might just play and be a second-string or third-string player for

the rest of his career, by being drafted in the fifth round as the 138th selection of the 2003 NFL Draft.

It turned it wasn’t the case if you have seen his career, and his skills. In his first year as a Colt, he really didn’t produce that much for Indy, but hey, it was pretty good for a guy of where he was selected in the NFL Draft. I mean come on, seriously.

He had 20 tackles as well as producing about four sacks in 2003. He played all 16 games that year and many people were expecting a powerful pass-rush specialist out of him.

It turned out the experts were right as Mathis entered his second year making a name for himself. He had 36 tackles and had about eleven sacks, which was truly amazing due to the fact he only started one game and played as a special-teamer.

That’s when in 2005, Mathis started to become a star. He had 54 tackles and about twelve sacks. It was truly an amazing thing to see. But still, Mathis wasn’t a star in the NFL, only with one team.

People still didn’t know who Mathis was or what his abilities were. Probably the only thing people may have saw popular from him on the news was in the 2005 season when he became one of the highest-paid defensive ends in the league, signing a five-year $30M contract.

That’s when in 2006, Robert Mathis fully became an actual starter and becoming one of the faces of the Indy’s defense, as well as one of the faces in the NFL.

It was probably his best year overall, recording 65 tackles and about ten sacks. The year also came off with a Super Bowl ring when Indianapolis beat the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI, 29-17. Mathis took his part in that game, showing tackles and torturing Rex Grossman as well.

2007 was a little of a dissappointment to many Colts and NFL fans from around the world as Mathis only produced 32 tackles and seven sacks. It wasn’t a good year for Indy either as they lost to the San Diego Chargers, 28-24, in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs that year.

Although the stats weren’t what you’d expect out of Mathis in 2007, you can’t blame him for all of it. Injuries took a big part as he missed some of the season. Number 98 look to prove he was still a dominant pass-rusher as 2008 drew near.

During the the 2008-09 season, Mathis earned his his first Pro Bowl invite, which was truly suprising due to the fact of all the sacks he had in his previous years. He had 48 tackles for about twelve sacks that year, going to his first Pro Bowl, alongside with Dwight Freeney.

Now, here we come into the 2009-10 season. Can Robert Mathis still provide some good stats for the Colts? Well, of course. If he can produce ten sacks or more while being a backup he can surely be much more impressive coming into the new year of football.

So you are still wondering why that I put the title of Mathis being “underrated” as a pass-rusher. Well, come on, nobody talks about him a lot. With Bob Sanders, Dwight Freeney, and Gary Brackett on the roster, Mathis is behind in the shadows as people pay much more attention to those three players much more than the player who brings the most effort to his defense.

Mathis is one of the fastest and most athletic defensive ends we have ever seen. Even with his small size at 6?2? and 245 pounds, he is still able to get past players who weight over 50 pounds more than him. Heck, we can Mathis play linebacker if we wanted to because he is capable of doing so.

Mathis is also in the Top Five in the most sacks produced in over a five-year span. And yet, he’s still very underrated. Many of you have to agree with Mathis being underrated.

But despite being underrated, he still keeps making everyone happy in Lucas Oil Stadium. All he has to do is sack the quarterback, and that’s what he’s been doing his entire career.

If Mathis keeps doing what he is doing, a second Super Bowl ring may be coming his way.

While the Colts offense is getting a lot of kudos for Sunday’s 35-3 trouncing of the awful Bengals, let’s remember how impressive this Indy defense has played the last two weeks. Yes, it’s been against subpar teams in the Browns and Bengals, but they have not allowed a TD in two games, and Sunday Kelvin Hayden took a pick to the house, the second straight week the D has scored.

“We did a great job game planning, and we knew their quarterback would get rattled if we got some pressure,” Hayden said. “I just tried to take advantage of it.” Hayden picked off two passes, and all day they made sure that whoever was at QB for the Bengals didn’t have much in the way of opportunity to throw or scramble.

“Those close games are good for morale. They build character,” Colts defensive end Robert Mathis said. “But you also want to win like this, everybody having fun and you just pin your ears back and go.” Mathis along with Dwight Freeney are making this Colts team one that no one wants to play in the playoffs.

Now it the time for this club to keep building on this current momentum. Even though they are not the South champs, have the feel of a team that can go a long way in January, and that’s all that you can ask for.

Typically, one would think that if the Indianapolis Colts and Cleveland Browns would hook up, then there would be lots of offense by both sides; if you thought that, then you would have thought wrong. Both teams got together Sunday at Browns Stadium and combined, there was a grand total of 408 total yards of offense. Both teams sputtered on the ground and in the air; but when the smoke cleared, it was the Colts’ defense that came through as defensive end Robert Mathis scooped up Browns’ quarterback Derek Anderson’s fumble and ran 27 yards for a touchdown, the game’s lone score as Indianapolis escaped with a 10-6 win over Cleveland.

Both teams exchanged field goals to round out the scoring in the first quarter; both teams suffered offensively during the second quarter as well as the lone score was courtesy of a 25-yard FG by Phil Dawson which gave the Browns a 6-3 lead which they would take into halftime. The third quarter was fifteen minutes of attrition as neither team scored. But alas, there was finally a score to account for in the fourth quarter.

With Cleveland holding onto their 6-3 lead, Anderson was setting up to throw on third down at his own 45 when he was hit from behind by the Colts’ Dwight Freeney; the ball squirted into the hands of Mathis, who ran 37 yards for the game’s only touchdown, giving Indianapolis a 10-6 lead. The Browns had one last shot at paydirt as Anderson was dropping back to pass when offensive tackle Kevin Shaffer was knocked back into Anderson. Anderson tried to leave the field under his own power but was unable to; it was discovered that Anderson suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament. Ken Dorsey replaced Anderson for the final last three plays – the last play being an interception by the Colts’ Antoine Bethea.

As previously mentioned, offense was in short supply and that was indicative of the final stats as Peyton Manning had easily his worst game of the season, going 15-for-21 for 125 yards and 2 INT’s while Anderson was 16-of-26 for 110 yards. Joseph Addai led all Colts rushers with 57 yards on 15 carries while Dominic Rhodes added 35 rushing yards; Jamal Lewis led the Browns rushing attack with 77 yards on 24 carries. Reggie Wayne led all Colts receivers with 4 receptions for 46 yards while Braylon Edwards led the Browns receivers with 36 yards on 2 receptions. Indianapolis (8-4) plays again next Sunday when they host the Cincinnati Bengals while Cleveland (4-8) travels to Nashville to take on the Tennessee Titans – also next Sunday.

The Colts and defensive end Josh Thomas have come to terms on a one-year deal according to the Indy Star.  The paper is reporting that his role on the D-line will likely be what it was, meaning that he will be the third end behind both Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis.  Thomas was an unrestricted free agent, but as the Colts like to do, they signed one of their own instead of going out and having to grab a guy off the market or developing a player through the draft.  Thomas has been in 52 games in his career, with 137 tackles and six sacks.