WILD CARD PREVIEW: CHIEFS-COLTS
With so many possible scenarios of who the Colts would take on in the first round of the playoffs, one would have to believe that they would have gladly taken on any team but Kansas City. When you have quite possibly the worst rush defense in the history of the NFL, you don't really like to see that Larry Johnson will be getting 30 carries against you. The Colts once looked like a team that was a lock for the AFC Championship game, but you can't win every year just because you have Peyton Manning, and now their first round game just got a whole lot more interesting.
QUARTERBACKS: It's quite obvious that you would feel infinitely times safer with Peyton Manning running your team than Trent Green. While much has been made over Peyton's struggles in the playoffs, the main reason why he has never had a trip to the Super Bowl is that he hasn't been paired with a good enough defense. It's expected that Peyton would have slightly worse numbers in the playoffs considering that he would be facing much better defenses every week. His 15 TD to 8 INT ratio, is very un-Peyton Manning like, but numbers like those are not the reason why the Colts struggle in the playoffs. While Manning has started 9 career playoff games, this will be only Trent Green's second playoff start. Oddly enough, his first start also came against Indianaplois in a game they lost 38-31 in 2003. Green played well that game, but with so little big game experience it is hard to judge how Green will do with the pressure on. He struggled a bit down the stretch which has actually started some talk within the team about possibly replacing Green with Damon Huard if Green begins to struggle. EDGE: Colts
RUNNING BACKS: As big a mismatch there is in QBs for the Indy-KC game, there is an equally as large mismatch in RBs. In a little over a year and a half of starting, Larry Johnson has become one of the top 3 RBs in all of football. He is almost guaranteed to receive 30 carries as the Chiefs will look to win the game by pounding the rock. As noted before, Indianapolis has the worst rush defense in football, and the Chiefs would be best suited to just run the ball right at the middle of the defensive line while also controlling the clock in the process. The Colts have used Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes to run the ball all year, but when they are faced with a big game Addai usually sees the bulk of the carries. While Addai is clearly not at the level of Larry Johnson, he is a budding star who will need to have a big game in order to make things easier for Peyton Manning and the passing game. If the the Colts cannot run the ball, Kansas City will drop several players into coverage to make it a lot harder for the strength of the Colts.
EDGE: CHIEFS
RECEIVERS: The duo of Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison could quite possibly be one of the best in the history of the NFL. They are both WRs who need to be double teamed, but because they play together it is virtually impossible to do so. Wayne started off the season hot, but Harrison ended the year as Peyton's go to guy again. The Chiefs secondary is experienced but old, so the Colts may lean heavily on the younger legs of Wayne on Saturday. For the Chiefs, their best WR plays TE. Tony Gonzalez has been one of the most consistent players in the NFL, but Saturday will be only his third trip to the playoffs in his career. The Colts have a bit of trouble covering TEs, so Gonzalez could be poised for a big day. The WR tandem of Eddie Kennison and Samie Parker should be adequate, but nothing news worthy once the game comes to an end. EDGE: COLTS
DEFENSE: The glaring headline about the defenses in this game is clearly that nobody has a worse rush defense in football than the Indianapolis Colts. Their opponents average 173 rushing yards a game against them, and the Colts have also given up 20 TDs on the ground. Statistics wise, their pass defense is a lot better, but the hidden reason behind this is why would teams pass the ball when they could pick up such huge chunks on the ground with the likes of Ron Dayne. This defense is clearly not good enough to win a Super Bowl, but the question is whether they can play well enough to at least allow the Colts to play another week. The Chiefs defense was once just as bad a few years back, but under Herm Edwards it has seen an improvement in 2006. A veteran defensive backfield coupled with a fairly young front seven has given the Chiefs an adequate defense. They rank 18th in both pass and rush defense this year. One of the forgotten story lines of the game is that Peyton Manning will once again see Ty Law on defense in a playoff game. Law has caused havoc in several big games against Manning in the past. While the Chiefs defense is nothing to brag about, it still is a better than what the Colts have to offer. EDGE: CHIEFS
SPECIAL TEAMS: In the playoffs, games can be won and lost in the special teams. If you don't believe me, just ask Mike Vanderjagt and the 2005 Colts. While Vanderjagt was a very accurate kicker, he was too shaky in the big spot to be relied on, and that is why the Colts upgraded over the offseason. They brought in Adam Vinatieri for games just like these. He's arguably one of the best pressure kickers of all time, and now that he plays his playoff games indoors he's a virtual lock for every field goal. The Chiefs kicking game is a bit shakier with the inexperienced Lawrence Tynes. He's been a solid kicker thus far in in his NFL career, but it's a virtual unknown how he will fair in the big spot. You would say that that the x-factor for the Chiefs special teams is Dante Hall, but since his breakout season in 2003, Hall has been relatively quiet. He has become one of the most overrated kick returners in the game, and he should be a non-factor oin Saturday. EDGE: COLTS
FINAL THOUGHTS: As a fan, this is the most compelling matchup of the first round. It'll be very interesting to see how the Colts will try to stop Larry Johnson. Also, while we all expect Johnson to have a big day, this is his first playoff game. He faces about as much pressure as Peyton Manning because everyone in the world knows that he is supposed to have a big day against such a bad defense. When all is said and done, I believe that the Colts defense will play inspired on Sunday. Last time they heard this much talk was before the Bengals game on Monday night, and they put together one of their better games of the season. I also cannot see Peyton Manning allowing his team to lose a game like this. I expect to see the Colts playing the Ravens next week, in a game that will showcase Baltimore's former and current teams. PREDICTION: COLTS 34 CHIEFS 24
With so many possible scenarios of who the Colts would take on in the first round of the playoffs, one would have to believe that they would have gladly taken on any team but Kansas City. When you have quite possibly the worst rush defense in the history of the NFL, you don't really like to see that Larry Johnson will be getting 30 carries against you. The Colts once looked like a team that was a lock for the AFC Championship game, but you can't win every year just because you have Peyton Manning, and now their first round game just got a whole lot more interesting.QUARTERBACKS: It's quite obvious that you would feel infinitely times safer with Peyton Manning running your team than Trent Green. While much has been made over Peyton's struggles in the playoffs, the main reason why he has never had a trip to the Super Bowl is that he hasn't been paired with a good enough defense. It's expected that Peyton would have slightly worse numbers in the playoffs considering that he would be facing much better defenses every week. His 15 TD to 8 INT ratio, is very un-Peyton Manning like, but numbers like those are not the reason why the Colts struggle in the playoffs. While Manning has started 9 career playoff games, this will be only Trent Green's second playoff start. Oddly enough, his first start also came against Indianaplois in a game they lost 38-31 in 2003. Green played well that game, but with so little big game experience it is hard to judge how Green will do with the pressure on. He struggled a bit down the stretch which has actually started some talk within the team about possibly replacing Green with Damon Huard if Green begins to struggle. EDGE: Colts
RUNNING BACKS: As big a mismatch there is in QBs for the Indy-KC game, there is an equally as large mismatch in RBs. In a little over a year and a half of starting, Larry Johnson has become one of the top 3 RBs in all of football. He is almost guaranteed to receive 30 carries as the Chiefs will look to win the game by pounding the rock. As noted before, Indianapolis has the worst rush defense in football, and the Chiefs would be best suited to just run the ball right at the middle of the defensive line while also controlling the clock in the process. The Colts have used Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes to run the ball all year, but when they are faced with a big game Addai usually sees the bulk of the carries. While Addai is clearly not at the level of Larry Johnson, he is a budding star who will need to have a big game in order to make things easier for Peyton Manning and the passing game. If the the Colts cannot run the ball, Kansas City will drop several players into coverage to make it a lot harder for the strength of the Colts.EDGE: CHIEFS
RECEIVERS: The duo of Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison could quite possibly be one of the best in the history of the NFL. They are both WRs who need to be double teamed, but because they play together it is virtually impossible to do so. Wayne started off the season hot, but Harrison ended the year as Peyton's go to guy again. The Chiefs secondary is experienced but old, so the Colts may lean heavily on the younger legs of Wayne on Saturday. For the Chiefs, their best WR plays TE. Tony Gonzalez has been one of the most consistent players in the NFL, but Saturday will be only his third trip to the playoffs in his career. The Colts have a bit of trouble covering TEs, so Gonzalez could be poised for a big day. The WR tandem of Eddie Kennison and Samie Parker should be adequate, but nothing news worthy once the game comes to an end. EDGE: COLTS
DEFENSE: The glaring headline about the defenses in this game is clearly that nobody has a worse rush defense in football than the Indianapolis Colts. Their opponents average 173 rushing yards a game against them, and the Colts have also given up 20 TDs on the ground. Statistics wise, their pass defense is a lot better, but the hidden reason behind this is why would teams pass the ball when they could pick up such huge chunks on the ground with the likes of Ron Dayne. This defense is clearly not good enough to win a Super Bowl, but the question is whether they can play well enough to at least allow the Colts to play another week. The Chiefs defense was once just as bad a few years back, but under Herm Edwards it has seen an improvement in 2006. A veteran defensive backfield coupled with a fairly young front seven has given the Chiefs an adequate defense. They rank 18th in both pass and rush defense this year. One of the forgotten story lines of the game is that Peyton Manning will once again see Ty Law on defense in a playoff game. Law has caused havoc in several big games against Manning in the past. While the Chiefs defense is nothing to brag about, it still is a better than what the Colts have to offer. EDGE: CHIEFS
SPECIAL TEAMS: In the playoffs, games can be won and lost in the special teams. If you don't believe me, just ask Mike Vanderjagt and the 2005 Colts. While Vanderjagt was a very accurate kicker, he was too shaky in the big spot to be relied on, and that is why the Colts upgraded over the offseason. They brought in Adam Vinatieri for games just like these. He's arguably one of the best pressure kickers of all time, and now that he plays his playoff games indoors he's a virtual lock for every field goal. The Chiefs kicking game is a bit shakier with the inexperienced Lawrence Tynes. He's been a solid kicker thus far in in his NFL career, but it's a virtual unknown how he will fair in the big spot. You would say that that the x-factor for the Chiefs special teams is Dante Hall, but since his breakout season in 2003, Hall has been relatively quiet. He has become one of the most overrated kick returners in the game, and he should be a non-factor oin Saturday. EDGE: COLTS
FINAL THOUGHTS: As a fan, this is the most compelling matchup of the first round. It'll be very interesting to see how the Colts will try to stop Larry Johnson. Also, while we all expect Johnson to have a big day, this is his first playoff game. He faces about as much pressure as Peyton Manning because everyone in the world knows that he is supposed to have a big day against such a bad defense. When all is said and done, I believe that the Colts defense will play inspired on Sunday. Last time they heard this much talk was before the Bengals game on Monday night, and they put together one of their better games of the season. I also cannot see Peyton Manning allowing his team to lose a game like this. I expect to see the Colts playing the Ravens next week, in a game that will showcase Baltimore's former and current teams. PREDICTION: COLTS 34 CHIEFS 24
posted by The Answer Man @ 8:42 AM
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