Mark wrote:
How would you evaluate your team after about a 1/3 of the season?
I'm absolutely delighted so far!
With so many rookies on the squad, and a head coach laid up with cancer, things are always going to be difficult, but right now we're legit playoff contenders in the AFC!
Offensively, Andrew Luck is going to be something special, it's amazing how composed he is for a rookie, and a first road win yesterday will only aid this further. It looks as though slowly but surely we're starting to be able to run the ball, this largely due to starting Vick Ballard who offers a lot more than Donald Brown. I still think Luck could do with some extra offensive weapons in his arsenal. Apart from Reggie Wayne he hasn't really got any other go to guys, although Coby Fleener and Donnie Avery have made some nice plays.
Defensively we're a lot more sound than we have been of late. We seem to have adjusted pretty well after the switch to 3-4, and have been missing key players such as Mathis and Angerer who are making their way back for the business end of the season. Also, Jerrelle Freeman has been a superb pickup from the Canadian Football League and has helped to sure us up around the middle.
I think there's a real chance that we end the season 10-6, which would be more than enough for a playoffs spot in the AFC this year. I can see us getting wins against Miami, Jacksonville, Buffalo, Detroit, KC and Tennesse but losing to New England and Houston x2 between now and the end of the season.
But as they say, Rome wasn't built in a day, and we're certainly heading back to where we need to be after a difficult couple of years!
