When the team cut Peyton Manning and just about every other recognizable veteran (besides Robert Mathis, Dwight Freeney, and Reggie Wayne) it was pretty clear that the team that fans would get in 2012 would be far different from the one they were accustomed to watching. 

The change is going to be much more than in personnel this season. The philosophy is going to be different as well; something that had to be expected when defense-minded Chuck Pagano was hired to take over as head coach. 

I could tell you what it's going to be, but I think it might come best from the head man (Pagano, not owner Jim Irsay) himself:

"[We will] See who will put their hat on people, strap the 'Riddell' on and see who's going to put the screws of that 'Riddell' on people and take people on. Guys that will come off and fire off the offensive line and we talked about we've got to be able to run the football and stop the run period. That's our mindset and that's the mindset we are trying to develop." 

Before anyone wants to cry foul and compare him to anyone that was once on the coaching staff of the New Orleans Saints, he is not promoting helmet-to-helmet hits or anything dangerous like that. What he's saying is he wants a team that is going to be aggressive and hard-hitting.

What football players are supposed to be like.

Sounds good to us Chuck; make it so.

Lately we've seen the Indianapolis Colts in the news a little bit more. I have to say I think I like the angle these guys are trying to work. The things that have caught my interest of late specifically are Dwight Freeney and Mike Jenkins.

Of course we all know Dwight; resident bad *ss on the defensive line for the better part of the last decade. The man has been a terror to offensive lineman and a nightmare for QBs coming off the edge. However, now the man is going to be stepping off the line a little but and going from the up position.

To the average man that may seem like nothing big. So he has to back up and stand up;that should make the job easier, right? Not necessarily.

There is a pretty big difference in going from the down position to the up position. From his stance the job was pretty straight forward--tee off on the guy in front of him and kill the QB and/or running back. Now he has to read the play to see if he needs to drop into coverage or something else.

Dwight Freeney is a stud and will get it figured out, but the man is already preparing himself to be yelled at quite a bit as he gets adjusted to his new position.

Back in the day when I was still playing I had the chance to play linebacker one game after having only been a down lineman my entire career. I had a blast, but in the process of trying to adjust I either got my behind handed to me or was in on the play; very cool, but man was I sore the next day.

On another note, I love that the team appears to be going after Mike Jenkins, current Dallas Cowboys cornerback. The 'Boys are talking as if they are going to keep him, but with the additions they have made of late there really is no reason to. Since Jenkins is young and a pretty decent player they could get something worthwhile for him.

Dallas is acting as if he is vital to their plans, but the fact is that Jenkins is expendable now. The man doesn't even want to be in Big D anymore either. I imagine the 'Boys are just doing what they can to drive up the asking price for Jenkins before parting ways with him.

What I like here is that the Colts are actually making a fairly decent size free agent move in attempting to get Jenkins, not something the team is known for doing. That tells me that they are looking to not suck as quickly as possible. That bodes well not only for Chuck Pagano's job, but for the fans that want to see their Indianapolis Colts get back to the winning ways they have grown accustomed to (thanks Peyton).

For the duration of the 2011 NFL season fans of the Indianapolis Colts had one thing and one thing only to get excited about--the No 1 pick in the coming draft. Now that they have that wrapped up, it's been hard to get excited about much. Most of the people that were considered as one of the 'faces of the franchise' are now gone. For the first time in years fans are going to have to really study the roster in order to figure out who they are cheering for.

With so many holes to fill the outlook appears a little bleak for the Colts, but there is one guy that is poised to have a career year--outside linebacker/defensive end Dwight Freeney.

The man who the team was rumored to be among the many vets that were on the chopping block is primed to have a career year thanks to the new system he'll play under courtesy of new head coach Chuck Pagano. When the team goes to a 3-4 he will often be used as an outside linebacker; in a 4-3 he'll line up in his usual spot at defensive end.

I think this move is overdue and brilliant. Freeney has always been on the small side for a defensive lineman (6-foot 1-inch, 268 pounds). His athleticism has made him the well-known and highly feared pass rusher that he is. Now imagine that rather than line up over a monstrous offensive tackle and getting double-teamed by the tight-end as well--kind of hard to do much, but Freeney has managed.

Now imagine Freeney coming from a standing position where he can see everything at the snap of the ball, room to work with rather than having to take the brunt of an o-lineman's hit, and the space to make use of the God-given talent and athleticism that he has.

Not enough to get you excited?

Well, consider what happened to Denver Broncos defensive end Elvis Dumervil when he was switched from his life-long positions to outside linebacker. The man went from getting five sacks in '08 to leading the NFL with 17 in '09--his first year as an outside linebacker.

When Dumervil came out of college he was compared to Freeney due to his small size (5-foot 11-inch, 258 pounds). I see no reason that we can't make a similar comparison now. If Dumervil can have a career year after switching to a 4-3, so can Freeney.

Recently I read an article about how a guy working with Andrew Luck (and happened to work with Cam Newton prior to last year's draft) was telling the Colts (and whoever was reading/listening) that it would be a mistake for them to pass up on his boy Andrew in the draft.

This news has risen since there has started to be some doubt as to whether the Colts are thinking of going with Luck or Robert Griffin III. George Whitfield, Luck's tutor, is speaking up thinking that he's protecting Luck's interest, but he might want to shut his mouth.

The Indianapolis Colts are going to be a shell of a team next year. Next to Reggie Wayne the only name person they've managed to keep is Dwight Freeney (whom was rumored to be on the block) and Robert Mathis. The exodus of talent out of the Circle City has been exhaustive.

Why should this matter to Luck?

Andrew is going to need a whole lot of luck if he is going to survive his first season with the Colts. The offensive line has more holes than a block of Swiss cheese after its been attacked by mice. Reggie Wayne is going to be triple covered since Austin Collie will likely be on the sideline with concussion like symptoms. Brody Eldridge is a sub-par blocker and decent pass catcher at best. The running game is non-existent.

I'm not so sure the defense is going to be able to give him much relief either. Most of the name talent has already left; linebacker Phillip Wheeler can be added to the list now as well. Dwight Freeney is listed as the team's outside linebacker at the moment. It will be interesting to see if him playing off the line will work as well as how it will affect his partner in crime, Robert Mathis (who will now get doubled on almost every play.

When it comes down to it, the Colts are shaping up to get another high draft pick in 2013 as well. As for Luck, assuming that the Colts pick him, he might be lucky if he can still stand up by time the season is over.

Wow!What a week! Right guys?

When the lockout ended it was kind of nice to have so much action in such a short time frame. Teams had no time to waste if they wanted to prepare for the coming season so it was either time to make the deal or not--in other words, time to poop or get off the pot.

This year it could have returned to business as usual, but instead it appears that teams are still in the same mindset as when the lockout ended; they aren't wasting much time at all in making deals. While there are other divisions that have been affected more so than the AFC South, there have been a number of developments that could become significant.

With the Houston Texans losing Mario Williams you would think that the team would be weakened severely. That is actually far from the truth. Mario is a tremendous player; he brought a lot to the Texans defense and has been a major part of it the last few years. Unfortunately, the NFL is a business and the team just couldn't come close to affording to pay him. That's okay. In case you didn't notice the team did absolutely fine without him last season. Would it be great to have him? Of course. Will it hurt not to have him? Not at all.

Jacksonville made an addition to quarterback. It can't really be called an improvement, but it's something. The team has signed former Michigan star and Miami Dolphin Chad Henne to the roster. They said it was to give Blaine Gabbert some competition. Sadly, Henne is probably the better of the two right now, but there is a reason why the Dolphins made no effort to keep him. If the Jaguars are smart they will leave Blaine in the line-up, but will give him some actual talent to throw to.

Tennessee has been overly vocal in its pursuit of Peyton Manning, and it looks like that could be all for naught. The former Indianapolis Colts QB is in Denver today do private workout with John Elway. This could mean nothing, but that tells me that Denver must be the front-runner for the Peyton Manning Show to come to town.

I'm not really sure why Manning would want to go there. The Denver defense is a shade below average (20th in the NFL), but probably better than what he is accustomed to working with. I would honestly say the talent at wide receiver for Denver and Tennessee is about the same, but in Tennessee Peyton gets to work with one of the best running backs in the game--something he has never been able to say either.

Apparently the Titans will get to see him workout as well. It will be interesting to see if the former Colts QB will end up travelling to Lucas Oil Stadium next year as a Titan or not.

So far the Colts have been a head scratcher. It's been a challenge to figure out what in the heck these guys are doing. There was one move that made a lot of sense this week. The team has added Cory Redding to the roster. Redding is a defensive end that has played under new head coach Chuck Pagano while both were in Baltimore. Over the last two seasons he has tallied 7.5 sacks and has 25.5 in his career.

The addition of the 31-year old should give the Colts a pretty fierce pass rush off the ends with Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney (who the Colts appear no longer interested in trading) sharing time with Redding.

Some folks need to be ashamed of themselves. The amount of talk I have heard from fans and even some analysts that actually think the Colts should not try real hard on Sunday so they can stand a better chance of locking up the No 1 pick in the draft is ridiculous! You play the game to win--always! What are we? The freaking 'Black Sox' of the NFL?

Yes, I know I am comparing a World Series scandal to a football game between two teams with more holes than a block of swiss cheese. If you have any respect for the game and/or the guys that will take the field on Sunday you'll chastise yourself for even thinking that the Colts should lose.

Go on. Chastise away.

Okay. Now with that whole mess out of the way we can move on to the business at hand. Can the Colts win their third game in a row?

Not only do I think they can, I believe I can say that they will and I won't have to stretch the truth all that much!

A few weeks ago when these guys met the Jacksonville Jaguars controlled the game pretty well en route to a 17-3 win. Things are a little different for both teams now. Jacksonville is working with an interim coach and a staff that doesn't know if the new owner plans on keeping any of them once this season ends.

While there is plenty of reason for the Jaguars to be floundering at this time of year, they aren't doing half bad. The defense is ranked No 5 in the league still. Offensively they have done better in recent weeks when they finally started having Blaine Gabbert pass the ball to Maurice Jones-Drew more. MJD is shaping up to be the season rushing champ as well.

On the Colts side of the game the biggest change personnel-wise of course is Dan Orlovsky. If you just look at his stats (minus the New England game), you'd think that these guys must still suck pretty bad. However, they have managed to gain something else these last couple weeks; something vital to the efforts of every athlete in every sport at every competitive level in creation:

Confidence.

These guys finally believe they can win. What makes it even crazier is that they are playing like it for a complete game now.

The offense is still sputtering along, but Orlovsky and his roommate, Donald Brown, have done enough to keep the offense on the field more (giving the defense some much-needed rest) not to mention actually scoring.

These last two games are proof that a little confidence can go along way. Against Houston they may have not faced the offensive juggernaut that the Texans have been, but there was nothing wrong with their defense. That fourth quarter drive against the No 2 defense in the country to win the game was a thing of beauty.

Jacksonville's defense is nowhere near as good as Houston's. I know it; you know it; the Colts know it. When they go into Sunday's game Dan and Donald are not going to be sweating the No 5 defense in the league; they are going to be thinking about how they are going to celebrate their third straight win.

On defense, Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis are going to have a field day putting pressure on Gabbert. Pat Angerer (coolest football name ever) is going to get to show why he should have been voted into the Pro Bowl as well.

And it all comes from the confidence they have developed over the last couple weeks and the pride that they have as hard-working professionals.

For much of this season I've had to get a little creative to justify some scenarios in which the Colts could actually beat someone. This week is different. These guys don't suck, but the Jaguars--well...