Peyton Manning isn’t concerned about his new surroundings in Indianapolis, new Colts coach Jim Caldwell has “assured” him he has plan.

He will need one.

Head coach Tony Dungy has retired, wide receiver Marvin Harrison is no longer with the team and Tom Moore, Manning’s only offensive coordinator since his rookie year, will have a reduced, as-yet unspecified role as a consultant.

With that trio surrounding Manning, the Colts have won 12 or more games for an NFL-record seven consecutive years.

“Even though Tony Dungy won’t be on the sideline, I feel like the winning atmosphere and the environment he created in our building will carry through,” Manning said Friday. “Coach Caldwell assured me he’s got a good plan. Hopefully August 2 we’ll be able to hit the ground running.”

Peyton spoke at the Manning Passing Camp, a prep football skills camp he has directed with older brother Cooper, younger brother Eli and father Archie for the last 14 years.

Manning could not run at all after the camp last year. An infected bursa sac in his left knee required surgery twice in 18 days, forcing him to miss the Colts’ training camp and all five preseason games. Although he kept his streak alive of starting every regular-season game in his NFL career, Indianapolis lost four of its first seven games.

“Not being able to go through training camp definitely caused me to have a slow start to the season,” Manning said. “I’m a big believer that training camp is where you form the foundation of your team. Hopefully we can go through with no hurdles this year and get off to a fast start.”

The Colts lost to the San Diego Chargers for the second consecutive year in their first playoff game. That gave Peyton something else in common with younger brother Eli, whose New York Giants were upset by the Philadelphia Eagles in their playoff opener after matching the Colts’ 12-4 regular-season record.

Both would like to get back to the Super Bowl. Peyton was the MVP-winning quarterback of the Super Bowl in 2007. Eli was the MVP-winning quarterback of the Super Bowl in 2008.

But neither was eager to talk about the prospects of an All-Manning Super Bowl.

“I know the media would love it and have a field day with it,” Eli said. “There’s no better feeling than winning a Super Bowl … to know your brother is going through a loss would make it really hard to enjoy the moment.”

The Mannings expressed shock at the recent death of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair, who was shot by 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi on July 4 before she shot herself.

Peyton Manning played against McNair numerous times, including twice in the playoffs.

“I’ve never seen a greater competitor in all my years of playing football than Steve McNair,” Peyton Manning said. “It?s been a terrible loss, and just truly my heart and thoughts go out to his family.”

Article from ESPN, via Associated Press – http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4320260

This was a tough off-season for the Indianapolis Colts. Not only did Peyton Manning lose his favorite target in Marvin Harrison, but his entire coaching staff has decided to leave when Tony Dungy retired. The rest of the coaching staff walked for personal reasons just a short time ago. With all of that said, what can we expect to see from Peyton Manning and the Colts this season? Even though the Colts played a good portion of the season without Harrison due to injuries and successful I might add, the loss of the coaching staff that understood and shared the same views on a lot of the game as Manning will be the biggest hurdle to overcome.

That said, the coach replacing Tony Dungy has been on the staff for the last eight seasons. Manning and the offense doesn’t lose everyone that understood them, but Dungy was a one of a kind coach and with all due respect to Jim Caldwell, he’s not quite on the same level as Dungy was. How will the Colts fair this season? It all depends on how well the running game does. Only the Arizona Cardinals had a worse rushing game than the Colts did last season. Usually one would say that the offense can’t be successful without a running game, but with Manning as your quarterback, anything on offense is possible. However, it would still be nice if the running game could get going this season.

  There is really nothing to report on about the Colts, so I’ll use this blog to write about the games to watch this week, and then I will amuse you all with my picks to win in week 6.

 Here are some games to watch.

Redskins @ Packers – How will Favre rebound from the loss last week, and will he even be the QB of the game?

Patriots @ Cowboys – Two 5-0 teams heading into this one. And oh yeah, there’s another battle between Moss and Owens.

Looking through the schedule, I really don’t see any other games that stick out. Giants @ Atlanta really doesn’t seem worthy enough to be on MNF.

All there is to do now is make my picks, and I am in 10th place in my pick em’ league, so don’t take too much into these.

Bengals @ Chiefs – Bengals

Texans @ Jaguars – Jags

Dolphins @ Browns – Browns

Redskins @ Packers – Redskins

Rams @ Ravens – Ravens, this was an easy one to pick

Vikings @ Bears – Vikings

Eagles @ Jets – Eagles

Titans @ Bucs – Titans

Panthers @ Cardinals – Cardinals

Pats @ Dolphins – Pats

Raiders @ Chargers – Chargers

Saints @ Seahawks – Seahawks

Giants @ Falcons – Giants

 There they are ladies. Hope I didn’t waste too much of your time.

D.S.

 Well, it appears that the Indianapolis Colts read my last blog. In my last blog, I wrote about how the Colts should indeed rest Marvin Harrison, Joseph Addai, and Bob Sanders. Seeing them on the sidelines yesterday was a bittersweet moment. You always want to see you star players perform, but Tony Dungy and I agreed that sitting them was for the best.

 Going into yesterdays game, the Bucs were one of the hottest teams in the NFC, which may not being saying a whole lot, sorry NFC fans. The Bucs, who were 3-1, owned the league’s 5th ranked defense allowed only 24 points in their previous 3 games, zero in the first half. Colts scored on their first drive. And on the drive after. Get my drift? The Colts did what they normally do. Score, and then score some more. And all of this was without Marvin Harrison and Joseph Addai. Speaking of Addai, his backup wasn’t too shabby yesterday, rushing for 121 yards. And the Bob Sander-less defense also did alright, holding the Bucs to 14 points and 17 rushing yards.

 But give Tampa Bay credit. They are only the second team to pick one of Manning’s passes, and they don’t back down so easily. They also have a rookie who knows how to make a big hit, for those of you who saw what happened to Dallas Clark. I think the Bucs will be alright, and they can make the playoffs in the NFC. Nearly everyone has a chance in the NFC, except maybe the Rams and Saints.

 So the Colts improve to 5-0. The Patriots improve to 5-0. The Packers lost, and cost me 13 points in my pick em’ league. Dallas will presumably improve to 5-0 as well, but it is not 100%. This season has already had it’s share of upsets. But if Dallas does improve to 5-0, it’s still all about the Colts and Patriots right now. But I will get into that at another time. For Colt fans, it’s the bye week, which means I have to search for something to do until the 22nd, when they play again.

D.S.

 I can be reached at david.tunafishsandwich@gmail.com

 I know the term “better safe than sorry” is a little corny, but for this situation, it’s true. Last week, while the Colts were beating up the Broncos, they were also getting beaten up themselves. Rob Morris is done for the season, Marvin Harrison left in the second quarter and didn’t return. Addai bruised his shoulder. Sanders sat out the second half. And Ben Utecht was also hurt during the game. So when I say “better safe than sorry”, I am suggesting that the Colts sit out these players for next week’s game against Tampa Bay. And there are several reasons.

 The main reason is that a win against Tampa isn’t as important as keeping our players healthy, especially when they are key players. The Colts play Tampa, then they have their bye week, so resting Harrison, Addai, and Sanders for two weeks will keep them nice and rested for the tough stretch of games that follow the bye week. Let me show you what I mean. These are the first four games that follow the bye week.

 @ Jacksonville

 @ Carolina

 New England

 @ San Diego

 I feel the Colts can beat Tampa Bay without their injured players, but wether they win or lose this game isn’t that important to me. This is a long season, and we need our players to be as healthy as possible. And like I said, the Colts could still pick up the win. I like Kenton Keith, the backup for Addai. His 80 yard rushing game last week was mainly because even I could rush for 80 against the Broncos. But he has shown bursts of speed and potential, and I am interested to see how he would play in a full game.

 If Harrison is out, we still have players who can catch a football. Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark, Anthony Gonzalez, Aaron Moorehead, and Brian Fletcher. Gonzalez is starting to show what he can do, and Moorehead and Fletcher, despite not being common household names, are pretty decent receivers. Not to mention, Tampa is dealing with their own share of injuries. Also, by resting these players, the Colts aren’t throwing in the towel against Tampa Bay. They will still play hard, and can pick up the win. Resting these players, even if they are able to play, seems like the smarter thing to do. Better safe than sorry.

D.S.

 I can be reached at david.tunafishsandwich@gmail.com