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A little reminder that this team won't relinquish top spot easily
Bob Kravitz is a columnist for The Indianapolis Star.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Good morning, America. Remember the Colts?
Right, the Indianapolis Colts. They're the ones with the gaudy diamond-and-blue-sapphire rings, the defending Super Bowl champions. If you ask them nicely, they'll even let you look at the Lombardi Trophy, just as long as you keep your grimy paws off it.
The Colts didn't just push around the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday night, reasserting both physical and mental dominance over the perpetual AFC South wannabe's in a 29-7 beatdown, they also made a statement. And it was loud enough to be heard above the din being created by the Pats Bandwagon and the Tom Brady Hallelujah Chorus.
We're still here.
They're still here, sitting at 6-0, unbeaten just like the 7-0 Patriots and playing better football than they played most of last season. They're running the ball better. They're passing the ball better. They're better, far better, defending the run and the pass. And they're as good as ever on third-down conversions.
So here comes the Colts-Pats talk. One week early.
"All the stuff about the Patriots, it's OK, all that talk is for the fans,'' Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney said. "Trust me, I know the Patriots are concerned about their next opponents (Washington at home) and so are we (Sunday at Carolina).''
Listen, the Patriots love is understandable. They've been ridiculously good -- even without much of a running game. Brady deserves all the encomiums, showing what he can do when surrounded, for the first time in his storied career, with excellent receivers. Randy Moss has been the best offseason acquisition in the NFL.
Unless the Patriots get upset by the Redskins (they won't) or the Colts fall in Carolina (they won't), the Game of the Century So Far will happen Nov. 4 at the RCA Dome, Colts and Patriots, and the joint might just come down before the wrecking ball comes.
First things first, though:
Some of us (blush) thought Jacksonville would come out Monday pounding the run, and would continue pounding away at the Colts' defense. Remember 375? Nobody could have imagined the Jags would go for 375 yards rushing again -- 175 seemed like a reasonable expectation -- but 117 yards and just 45 in the first half?
Are you kidding?
This should have been a shutout. Take away the long kickoff return by Maurice Jones-Drew, and Jacksonville might never have sniffed the end zone.
Give the Colts massive credit, of course. Bob Sanders, as you may have noticed, makes a mountain of difference. Ed Johnson and Raheem Brock were stout in the middle. Freeney, who always knows where the cameras are, made big-time noise, burying the Jags' backup quarterback, Quinn Gray, for a safety. Kelvin Hayden had an interception.
Some of it, though, I feel compelled to drop at the feet of the Jags' coaching staff. What were they thinking Monday night? The Jags have historically shown they can run on the Colts; shown they can run on everybody, averaging more than 150 yards rushing this season. So how do they attack the Colts' defense in a game being billed as the franchise's biggest in years?
By passing, of course. Lots of passing. The Jags ran just 10 times in the first half.
When the Jags had a massive fourth-and-1 at the Colts' 49 late in the second quarter, instead of playing a power game, they ran a reverse with Jones-Drew, who was quickly erased by Sanders.
It was even more curious in the second half. After a Jones-Drew kick return set up the Jags at the Colts 40 -- ah, special teams -- they ran 10 straight times and scored a touchdown.
So, on their next possession, standing at their 4-yard-line after Colts punter Hunter Smith pinned them, the Jags had their backup quarterback throw twice. Second time, he was consumed by Freeney. Safety.
At least Jags coach Jack Del Rio looks good in a suit.
You could never tell that the Jaguars have been the Colts' staunchest opponent this side of the Patriots.
Since the 2002 formation of the AFC South, the Colts came into the game with a 7-3 mark against the Jags. That doesn't sound like much until you consider the Colts have lost just six AFC South games during that period. In the 10 games against Jacksonville, the margin of victory has been an average of 1.3 points.
The truth Monday was, these teams didn't belong on the same field. On the occasion of the Jags' biggest game in Del Rio's five-year tenure, a night when the perpetually whiny Jaguars stood poised to show they belonged in the Colts' league, we found out again that the Colts (and the Patriots) are clearly in a league of their own.
The Colts simply executed the Jags into submission. They ran. They threw, mostly to Reggie Wayne. They swarmed and they tackled.
That was impressive, what the Patriots did to the hopeless, hapless Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
And that was pretty awe-inspiring, what the Colts did to the Jaguars on Monday night, on the road, on national TV.
Nov. 4 cannot arrive soon enough.
I say we petition the league to cancel next week's games and give us two full weeks to turn up the hype.
Good morning, America. Remember the Colts?
