Soft Schedule Early

Wasn't there a book called "A Tale of Two Seasons"?It's a question I should know the answer to, seeing as I was an English major during Reagan's second term. But my time now is spent watching football, following football news and then writing about football. So with that in mind, I tried to analyze the ' 2006 schedule. 2010 pro bowl Vikings 4 Brett Favre jersey
And this year could truly turn out to be a tale of two seasons.This Sunday the Colts will beat up, I mean play, the Tennessee Titans -- a squad they manhandled 35-3 the last time they met. The matchup follows games against the Giants, Texans, Jaguars and Jets. After the Titans game, Indianapolis gets a week off to rest. Not exactly the toughest start to an NFL season, eh?Despite struggles in several of those contests, the Colts won all of their first four games and should, by all accounts, go into their bye with a 5-0 record to look back on.But looking ahead it's an entirely different scenario.First, the Washington Redskins come to town, a team just waking up and still clawing their way up the NFC East division standings. After that the Colts travel to Denver to play against the Broncos, who always play well at Mile High. Next they head to New England to try and avenge a few recent playoff losses to the Patriots. Then it's home against Buffalo, away at Dallas and home against Philly.To top it off they play three of their final five games on the road, where all football teams play a little bit better -- even the Titans.That stretch has to concern the team's top brass, to put it mildly. With the defense still missing standouts Corey Simon and Bob Sanders, and with Dwight Freeney not at 100 percent yet this season, there's reason to be worried. The Colts have not shut down an opponent's running game yet, and they've only succeeded in their own ground game against Houston and the Jets, two teams that haven't stopped anyone's backs.The 6 Sanchez White Jersey
Redskins, Broncos and Cowboys all run and defend against the run very well. Indianapolis should have a good gauge on how the season might turn out by the time those three contests are over in mid-November.Rest up, boys -- you're gonna need it. That undefeated feeling won't last long after the bye week.Original insights