Colts Gab

By and large, the Indianapolis Colts have been an high-octane offensive team, with a bend-but-not-break defense. But with some astute signings on the defensive side of the ball (Gary Brackett, Antoine Bethea, Dwight Freeney, Robert Mathis and a finally healthy Bob Sanders) totalling in the neighborhood of $242 million since 2006, the Colts should finally be able to reap some benefits.

Fortunately for the team, their defensive coordinator Larry Coyer has a system in place that will enable the defensive line and subsequently the secondary to be able to be more aggressive than in the past.

As in any professional team sports, with so much money invested in the defense, playing time will be hard to come by, save for the usual suspects.

Assuming that Freeney, Sanders and Mathis remain healthy through the entire 2010-11 season, the Colts’ defensive line can be lethal, especially in passing situations. And Sanders – we already know about his pass coverage abilities; that goes without saying.

The defensive line, for the most part, is set with Freeney and Mathis as bookends with wither Eric Foster and Daniel Muir spelling each other at defensive tackle.

Linebacker is likely going to consist of Brackett, Clint Session and either Phillip Wheeler or Cody Glenn starting. Fortunately, the Colts have many options at LB, so this is a position of strength.

The secondary, depending on the health of some players, will probably have Bob Sanders and Melvin Bullitt at safety and Jerraud Powers and probably Jacob Lacey at cornerback.

But when the smoke clears, there will be battles at all of the defensive positions, save for the DEs, a couple of the LBs and certainly playing time in the secondary. Suffice it to say, the secondary is deep. And let’s not forget about Jerry Hughes. Although one would assume he is a defensive end, there is the possibility that he can also do some pass rushing at one of the linebacker slots.

If Coyer can whip the defense into decent shape and resemble or even improve over last year, they will make Peyton Manning’s job that much easier.

After all, that’s what they’re supposed to do, right?

Photos: Colts.com

Reggie Wayne has already made it clear that he’s not happy with his deal and isn’t going to show up till there’s something more on the table for him. As for Robert Mathis, the Indy Star reports today that he may just follow in the wide outs footsteps.

It’s uncertain whether Colts Pro Bowl DE Robert Mathis will follow Reggie Wayne’s lead. A source with knowledge of the situation said recently Mathis also is dissatisfied with his contract and wants it addressed. Mathis has not participated in the OTAs. He was involved in a charity softball game at Victory Field on Thursday evening but declined to comment on his situation.

Three Colts, all Pro Bowlers last season—are skipping another round of voluntary workouts. Receiver Reggie Wayne does not traditionally show up until the mandatory offseason workouts. Indianapolis police are investigating credit card charges after Wayne told them an ex-girlfriend may have used his credit card number to make more than $93,000 in online purchases.

Defensive end Robert Mathis reportedly wants to renegotiate his contract and did not attend any team workouts in May. Safety Antoine Bethea has not signed his one-year tender with the Colts.

Coach Jim Caldwell says he isn’t sure if any of the players will attend this weekend’s mandatory three-day mini-camp but that he hopes they’ll participate.

For the 31st pick of the NFL Draft, many expected the Colts to draft an offensive tackle or someone like that. People were just hoping for someone who can contribute on offense.

But I guess the Colts will do that in the later rounds, picking up Jerry Hughes, defensive end/linebacker from TCU. In my opinion, I really don’t see this as that bad of a pick.

I say Hughes could be one of the futures of the Colts. I think the Colts will rotate him at many positions. He could be a very valuable asset to the franchise. Before we get into this, let’s take a look at his career profile in college and such.

Hughes was probably the anchor of this Horned Frogs’ defense. His last two seasons have been the most significant of his career, putting up 31 tackles and 15 sacks in 2008 and 32 tackles and eleven sacks in 2009.

For his career, Hughes has had 142 tackles, 28 sacks, and three interceptions. Hughes is also a fast athlete for his size at 6′3″ and 260 pounds.

After seeing his stats, it seems like he is one of those combo 3-4 linebackers you see today. Putting up tackles and sacks. But since Indy has lost Raheem Brock, the Colts will look to replace him with Hughes.

The Colts are known for fast defenders. I mean, just look at Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney, possibly the fastest defensive-end combo in the league. Hughes will be just another one of them. He will look to pair up with Mathis, Freeney, and Daniel Muir.

The Colts could also do this, too: put Mathis at left defensive end, Hughes at right defensive end, and Freeney and Muir as the tackles. It might fit better. But the Colts probably might not be look towards that.

Just an idea.

Indy sometimes does a rotation with their ends. Hughes could play DT and sometimes replace Mathis and Freeney at end when they need breaks throughout the game. We seen it happen last season. Sometimes Mathis and Brock went into rotations.

The Colts also do more with Hughes.

They could use him as a DE/LB combo. He could play some minutes at the linebacker position. Since TCU played a different defense, I believe, Hughes will probably have to adjust to the 4-3.

Like I said before, he is playing defensive end as the Colts announced. Bill Polian says the Colts have been looking for third pass-rusher for a while. It could work with Hughes at linebacker sometimes.

The Colts could use him in a blitz package when they put him at LB.

It’ll look pretty good to me.

But as the day ended yesterday, the Colts got who they got and they’re happy to have him. I am, too. I say it’s an excellent pick.

The Colts should get him into business right away. Probably start him somewhere or be in a rotation with Mathis and Freeney. But whatever they do, Hughes is gonna make a difference.

Get excited Colts fans.

This year is gonna be different.

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.