NFL indianapolis Colts

There's never a good time to have half of your defensive backfield hurt, but having it happen immediately before facing the Houston Texans' powerful passing attack is close to the worst possible situation during the regular season. But that is exactly what's happening in Indianapolis.

News broke Thursday that Marlin Jackson would be out for the season with a torn ACL -- for the second consecutive year. Friday, the Colts learned that Bob Sanders needs surgery to repair his injured elbow -- which will end his season, according to Adam Shefter of ESPN -- and that starting cornerback Kelvin Hayden has been definitively ruled out for Sunday's game as well.

Most teams will play their eighth game this week, meaning that we're hitting the halfway mark. Already, there's talk of 16-0 teams and teams that have played themselves out of serious contention.

We previewed this weekend's big games, got your predictions, and found out who you think has the better shot of running the table among the remaining unbeatens. Read all about it after the jump.

In what will surely be a big blow to the Colts' very solid pass defense, Indianapolis starting cornerback Marlin Jackson confirmed Thursday that he has torn his ACL and will miss the rest of the season. The unfortunate injury reportedly occurred on the last play of Wednesday's practice -- it's the second straight year that Jackson's suffered a season-ending ACL injury.

The timing is especially bad for the Colts, as they gear up to face the league's third-ranked passing attack this weekend, in the Houston Texans. This also further jumbles the situation as to who will guard superstar wideout Andre Johnson, considering Kelvin Hayden is also banged up for the Colts.

The timing for Jackson is actually worse than it is for his team. He's scheduled to be a free agent at the conclusion of the 2009-2010 season and he likely won't be healthy enough to prove himself until most teams will have filled their most pressing depth chart needs.

Much has been made about the Indianapolis Colts and their 7-0 start. As I pointed out in the power rankings, they are actually 82-21 in the regular season since the beginning of 2003. They are an absolute juggernaut. Thus far this season, we've heard lots of talk about how Peyton Manning looks better than ever and the Colts are firing on all cylinders. This week, we're bound to hear a lot about how the Colts are the biggest test yet for a Houston Texans team looking to visit the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.

The funny thing is, in a movement worthy of Bizarro-World status, the Texans are actually the first big test for the Colts.

Still missing wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez because of a knee injury, the Colts' offense suffered another setback Sunday at St. Louis when running back Donald Brown exited Indianapolis' game with a first-half injury. Receiver Reggie Wayne also left, limping off with a groin injury, but returned after halftime.

On the other side of the ball, defensive back Bob Sanders, who continues to make his case for "Most Fragile Player in the NFL", walked to the locker room with a trainer early in the fourth quarter.

Even with all the injury issues, Indianapolis smoked St. Louis, 42-6, to move to 6-0 on the year.

---

---

It's been a long wait for Bob Sanders. The 2007 NFL Defensive Player of the Year hasn't suited up since last Dec. 18 against the Jaguars, but he'll be back for the Colts this Sunday in St. Louis. In fact, as of right now, he's able enough to start the game. He's close to finally being recovered from offseason surgery on his right knee.

Sanders, when on the field, is one of the best defensive players in the NFL. Back in 2006, the year the Colts won the Super Bowl, they had severe problems stopping the run late in the season. When Sanders returned for the playoffs, they were -- all of a sudden -- able to stuff the run. That's the element he brings to the defense.

Some Titans fans weren't amused when coach Jeff Fisher wore a Peyton Manning jersey at a Nashville fundraiser, and he joked "I just wanted to feel like a winner today." Fisher seemed surprised anybody would be angry about this, even after his 0-6 team just got humilated by the Patriots 59-0.

He gave the "apology to those I've offended" non-apology, saying he wore the jersey in honor of former Colts coach Tony Dungy who he was introducing, it was all in fun, and even with what he knows now, he would do it again. Really?

How about if he knew some Bud Adams-hating Houston Texan fans got pictures of him in the jersey and decided to do their own Photoshop fun? The video of the result is after the jump. I have to give a Celine Dion warning, and tell you that the video starts off a little slow but then gets very wrong, which means it gets very funny.

Jeff Fisher's Tennessee Titans are 0-6. This week the Titans are on a bye, and Fisher appeared at a Rocket Town fundraising event alongside former Colts head coach Tony Dungy. In so doing Fisher chose to make light of the Titans failure. How? By taking off his trench coat to reveal that he was wearing a Peyton Manning jersey underneath.

Seriously.

As if that weren't enough, he then said, "I just wanted to feel like a winner today."

The Montana-Young 49ers, the '70s Steelers, the '70s Dolphins, the '90s Cowboys, the Belichick-and-Brady Patriots: what do they all have in common? They are all-time great NFL teams that racked up many wins in a handful of seasons. You know what else they have in common? None of them have ever put together as impressive a regular season resume as the current Peyton Manning-era Colts.

That's right, after beginning this season 5-0, the Manning-era Colts are now 80-21 since the beginning of 2003. The '70s Steelers went 87-27-1 from 1972-1979. From 1981-1998, the 49ers were always pretty stout, but they never put together a six-plus season run where they played close to .800 ball like the current Colts (they came closest from 1987-1992 when they went 75-20). The '90s Cowboys went 70-20 in their best stretch. From 2001-2007, the Patriots went 86-26. Shula's '70s Dolphins, at 67-16-1, check in as the best competition.

So, these Colts should go down as one of the best teams of all-time, right? Uh, no. Not yet, at least.

Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri was forced to undergo surgery on his right knee to remove some cartilage. Early Wednesday, the Colts announced the surgery has been successfully completed and they expect the 37-year-old to miss four to eight weeks with the injury.

In his absence, the Colts have signed 41-year-old Matt Stover to take over field goal and extra point duties. Stover had previously kicked for 18 full NFL seasons, all with the Baltimore/Cleveland franchise -- 13 for the Ravens after five for the original Cleveland Browns. He's a very accurate kicker, having made 83.7 percent of his career field goal attempts and 99.5 percent of his extra point tries. Believe it or not, Colts fans, losing Vinatieri for Stover actually doesn't hurt the team much, if at all.