Lots and lots of love. Photo: Reuters

Yes, I know the Bengals are the Colts opponent this week. And no, I am not dismissing them. I just came across this article from Yahoo, and it re-affirmed pretty much what I already knew: The Colts and Patriots still absolutely hate each other.

Keep your Cowboys v. Giants. You can shelve your Chiefs v. Raiders. Tell Steelers and Browns fans to take a back seat, because THE greatest rivalry in the NFL (and all of professional sports) is still Patriots v. Colts.

You'd think that this year, with the loss of Tom Brady and the injury to Peyton Manning, that the friction between Patriots and Colts players and coahces would simmer down. Um, no. They still f&@king can't stand the sight of the other:

And with all due respect to the Jets, the feelings of bitterness run deepest for the Colts, who have found a myriad of reasons to loathe the Patriots coach. From the postseason history to Spygate to his annually frigid handshakes with Colts coach Tony Dungy, it’s a recycled hatred that has reached self-sustaining proportions.

This year’s moment didn’t get a lot of media attention, but it irked the Colts just the same. It took place when, during the run-up to the Nov. 2 game at Indianapolis, Belichick seemed to make a subtle hint that the Colts weren’t being honest with their injury report.

It seems ole Billy Boy took a subtle dig at how the Colts listed Peyton Manning on the injury report leading up to Indy's game over New England, which Indy won (of course). Colts players found Bill's dig on Tony Dungy's injury reports amusing, especially Dwight Freeney:

"Coming from Bill Belichick, that’s frickin’ hilarious," Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney said. "Tony’s not going to do that. He’s not that type. That’s the type of stuff Bill does. That’s just the type of mentality Bill has and they have as a team. Every week last season, frickin’ Tom Brady was on the damn injury report with an ankle or whatever, and he was playing every week. That’s just the kind of stuff they do. So don’t come out and try to act like we’re doing something with our report."

Ah yes, count on Dwight to let Bill and the Pats know how he truly feels. Look, it is pretty well known that most of the NFL dislikes Bill Belichick. He is a known cheater and often tries to skirt rules in order to gain a competitive advantage. It is a win at all costs attitude, rules and integrity be damned. Some admire this mentality. Most loath it. And when Tony Dungy, a man who is viewed as an out-and-out saint both within and outside the NFL, gives you an icy handshake, it pretty much means you are the lowest form of life on the planet. Slugs make fun of you. Such is Bill Belichick.

But, that said, this season might be the best coaching job both Belichick and Dungy have ever done. Both have dealt with devastating injuries. Yet, do you really think a team like the Tennessee Titans are "better" than a Bil Belichick coached Patriots team? Seriously, would anyone here be surprised if the Pats and Matt Cassel walked into Nashville and plastered the Titans for a big, fat "L" in the playoffs? I know I wouldn't.

This latest tiff is yet another log on the fire for this burning, seething rivalry; a rivalry that the NFL very much needs to stoke. If I'm wearing my Colts hat in NY and a transplanted Pats fan crosses my path, more often than not we give each other "the look." This look is one that says, "My team just kicked your team's ass... and I banged your sister last night, chump. How you like them apples?"

Fortunately, we have a great blog rival in Pats Pulpit who provides us with the necessary foil we Colts fans need. The Pats v. Colts rivalry is still alive and well, and now it is more Belichick v. Dungy than Brady v. Manning.

Tyjuan Hagler has had a rough 2008 season. After stupidly injuring himself lifting weights in the off-season, he lost his starting SAM backer job to Clint Session. Hagler spent the first 6 weeks of the season on the PUP, and since coming off PUP has played mostly special teams. With Gary Brackett going down with a leg injury, everyone assumed Freddie Keiaho would slide to MIKE, Session to WILL, and Hagler would regain his old job at starting SAM. According to Phil B at the Indy Star, Hagler himself was excited about the prospect of playing more.

Then, Tony Dungy did something unexpected:

Colts coach Tony Dungy reversed his Monday position [Wednesday] in naming Buster Davis as the middle linebacker to replace Gary Brackett, who has a broken fibula in his lower right leg and is probably out for the month (my conservative guess). The Colts say he's out at least two games.

I have no clue about this. I'm actually flabbergasted, as I'm sure Hagler is. Hagler was jacked up about the chance to play more. Instead, it looks like the nine-game starter these past two seasons is headed back to playing special teams.

One of the excuses Dungy gave in having Buster Davis start instead of Hagler is that Hagler is somewhat injured. Turns out, that isn't the case. Hagler is fine. Apparently, more lies beneath the surface. See below (emphasis mine):

Dungy said Hagler was nicked up, but I respectfully disagree it has anything to do with this. I spoke to Hagler Tuesday and he repeated he was fine, he was sound, he was ready to go.

I'm rewriting my final summation because it was a bit confusing the first time. First, it's obvious the Colts have soured on Hagler. Maybe it's because he's in a contract year and won't be back, so they want to look at other guys. Another reason could be that because Freddy Keiaho is already dinged up and wears a knee brace, they don't want to go into the game with a MLB who could exit early, then that requires thrusting Davis or somebody else in there who isn't prepared. This way, Davis prepares to play from the get-go. Plus, there's the radio in the helmet deal. They will have one for Davis and another for Keiaho, should he need to replace Davis at MLB for some reason.

So you get Davis ready. You tell Hagler to be ready if Keiaho is hurt or can't go at weak side. You leave Clint Session alone on the strong side. Like I said, I don't understand how Davis emerges as the guy, but that's the way they are handling it. And I guess we could end this by saying the Colts should beat the Bengals with anybody playing MLB.

Very interesting, indeed.

Rookie Jamey Richard (#61) has caught the attention of some people Photo: Colts.com

Contrast our team with Jacksonville. The Jaguars have been decimated with injuries to their offensive line, one injury was the tragic (but thankfully not fatal) shooting of Richard Collier. But, for much of the season, the Jags have played without their starting interior linemen. The results are a stagnant running game, and putrid offense, and a 4-8 record. Now, look at the Colts. For much of the year, they have played without the best center in football (Jeff Saturday) and have not had their best guard (Ryan Lilja) at all throughout the year. Last year's other starting OG, Jake Scott, left via free agency and plays for a division rival. So, like the Jags, the Colts have played much of the 2008 without their starting interior linemen from the previous year. The results have been an inconsistent running game, but not a bad team. Currently, the Colts are one of the best pass blocking teams in football, and when their backs have been healthy, they've run the ball effectively.

The reason Indy has been able to stem the tide of injuries on the o-line has been the excellent play of rookies Jamey Richard and Mike Pollak, and shake n bake's Mecca of stats goodness (Football Outsiders) has taken notice.

Let's be honest about these rookies before we shower them with praise: They were awful to start the season. In both the Bears and Vikings games, opposing defenders lived in our team's backfield and Peyton was taking a lot of hits. Pollak, who played very inconsistently in preseason, was annoyingly injured during this stretch. He'd also lost the starting job (which had practically been handed to him the day he was drafted) to Charlie Johnson, a tackle converted to guard. Richard, meanwhile, had to step into starting at center, and he clearly did not know all the line calls the center needs to make in this offense. This forced Peyton to make both the line and skill position audibles, resulting in some very shaky offense to start the season.

But, after this little trial by fire, these two rookies have really come into their own. Without them, this team would have Jacksonville's record right now.

FO took particular interest in how Jamey Richard played this past Sunday against one of the better playing DTs in the league now, Cleveand's Shaun Rogers:

Richard has a nice "dropback" in pass-blocking; there was a short pass over the middle to Addai with five minutes left in the first quarter where he held the point very well on a double-team of Rogers with Johnson. That play took time to develop, and Richard took the furious charge to his left and back again, as Addai slipped through the hole he made. One advantage I saw early on for Richard was that he comes up from the snap and gets in blocking position as quickly as any center I've recently seen. This prevented him from getting overwhelmed by Rogers' initial attack, which is quickest at his position in the NFL.

Clearly, Richard has been the most impressive of the rookie linemen, and he was drafted the latest (7th round). This is yet another lesson to draft gurus: Every position in the draft is important, and you can no longer afford to bust even seventh rounders, let alone first or second rounders. This past draft, Bill Polian was prophetic in stocking up on linemen. Why?

Perhaps Bill Polian felt ready to stockpile depth under [Jeff] Saturday; of the six centers selected in the 2008 draft, three went to the Colts: second-rounder Mike Pollak of Arizona State, who played right guard against the Browns; sixth-rounder Steve Justice of Wake Forest; and Richard, the former Buffalo Bulls standout. Rated by more than one analyst as a sleeper with pro potential, Richard caught on quickly at the next level.

So, while we wait for Jeff Saturday to heal, we have a pretty good rookie center developing and handling things very well.

We've been talking about Buster Davis for over a year. I was high on him coming out of Florida State, touting him as a Gary Brackett clone. At 5'9, 235 pounds, Buster was all heart and all hustle in college. For whatever reason, the Arizona Cardinals, who run a 3-4 Blitzburg system on defense, drafted Buster in the 3rd round. Obviously, he did not last long in Arizona, but was quickly picked up by Detroit, who are coached by Rod Marinelli and use a Cover 2 style defense. Detroit seemed a perfect fit for Buster to develop. Marinelli once said this about Davis:

"He's short, he's not small,'' says Marinelli of the 5-foot-9, 240-pound linebacker.

But, for seemingly no reason whatsoever, Buster was cut by the Lions after pre-season this year. He was quickly picked up by the Colts, and now (because of a leg injury to Gary Brackett), Buster Davis is starting at MIKE backer for the Colts.

So, the million dollar question here is Why did Detroit cut Buster Davis?

A rumor I have heard circling about has to do with Buster getting into a fight with Detroit's now-injured QB, Jon Kitna. I blogged about this incident a few months ago, but didn't give it much thought as to it relating to Buster getting cut from Detroit. I just assumed Buster was cut because Matt Millen was still running Detroit's football operations then, and Matt Millen (now since fired) was a completely incompetent football team manager. But, with the rumors swirling that Buster was cut because he pissed off Jon Kitna, I did some research into this, and I found some interesting info on SB Nation's Pride of Detroit blog:

Seifert also posted the most detailed version of what caused Jon Kitna to lose his temper during yesterday's morning practice.  Basically, the practice had already been very fierce and the defense was not holding back at all.  Dwight Smith was talking smack to Casey FitzSimmons, Ernie Sims put a big hit on Mike Furrey, and Buster Davis laid out Dan Campbell right after a Kitna pass came in.  And then Davis did the same thing to John Owens, causing Kitna to lose it.

"Do something, Buster! Do something!" Kitna screamed, over and over, after the play. (We're guessing he meant, "Do something in this league before you start throwing players around in practice.") Getting angrier with each yell, Kitna started walking toward Davis before a few coaches got in his way. Fists never came close to flying, but rarely do you so much as see a quarterback advance in a threatening manner.

I can understand where Kitna is coming from as I doubt he likes to see his receivers getting hit so hard in practice, but he's got to understand where Buster Davis is coming from.  Davis is fighting for a spot on the roster with other linebackers, and he's got to show the coaches that he deserves to make the team.  Letting up and gently running into offensive players is not that way to do that, so what does Kitna expect?

After practice, Kitna spoke to the media and basically blamed the little temper tantrum on the entire team being a little cranky as they don't get to play their next preseason game until Sunday, which comes 10 days after their first one.

"I'm not going to get into specifics, that's how competitors are,'' Kitna said. "Today's really the last day and we're ready to start seeing other people on a weekly basis. You usually don't go more than seven days without a game in preseason and this is our seventh day -- and we've still got three more days until we play. The guys are just ready to hit somebody else.''

In the grand scheme of things this little conflict means nothing, but I do like the aggressiveness Buster Davis showed in practice.  He knows that he has to do everything possible to try and make the team, and if that means popping a couple of tight ends then so be it.

A week and a half later, Buster was cut.

I also have to agree with PoD's SeanYuille on the incident. Buster is fighting for a job. Maybe if Kitna didn't lay his receivers out, they wouldn't get jacked by the LBers. But whatever, Detroit's loss was our gain. Buster Davis is a quality, young LBer and he should excel in a Cover 2 scheme under Ron Meeks and Tony Dungy.

Normally, I put announcements like this in a FanShot. But for this, I wanted to make an exception. Robert Mathis is AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his 2 sack, fumble return for a TD performance against the Browns last week. This season, Robert Mathis has been playing out of his mind. Remember, the plan for Mathis this season was for him not to start. Robert has only started 2 games at DE, but he has played a ton of snaps and made the most of his opportunity. He looks healthy, rested, and ready to destroy people.

Oh, and Robert Mathis better make the flippin' Pro Bowl this year. He should have been there last year, but this year he already has 42 tackles, 9 sacks, 4 forced fumbles, and 1 fumble recovered for a TD. He could post career numbers this year, and if some dude like Aaron Scobel or Kyle Vanden Bosch gets a Pro Bowl nod over Robert, I might lose it and eat someone's kid.

Robert Mathis is totally THE man. He will also have a few drinks with you down in Broadripple, if you are lucky. Robert is now #2 on the Colts all-time sack list, behind Dwight Freeney. Mathis and Freeney are the best DE tandem in football. Still my favorite quotes from Robert Mathis:

KingRichard: I just wanted to come over and say we appreciate what you do and wanted to say good luck next year!

Robert Mathis: Thanks a lot homie, we appreciate you guys too.

...much later, and several drinks later...

yellowsnow: Sack Tom Brady!

Robert Mathis: Already did. Twice!

Again, the man.

Greetings Bengals fans from your friends just up I-74. This Sunday, our teams will meet again. This is the third meeting in four years between the Colts and Bengals. Back in 2005, the game was a very entertaining shoot out between both offenses. I'll admit that I have always been a fan of Carson Palmer. When he is healthy, he is right behind Peyton and Brady. He is better than Brees, Eli, McNabb, and Roethlisberger. Losing him for much of the season really hurt Cincy's chances. QBs going down has been the theme all year for the NFL. Tom Brady, Carson, Vince Young, etc.

I'm here to answer any questions you might have about the Colts. I actually think this will be a tough game because... well, I don't subscribe to this notion that team are supposed to team someone else. Any team can beat anyone, anywhere, anytime in this NFL. The Bengals still have good players like Peko and TJ. If you want to know more about the Colts, ask away. I'm here to answer.