By Tom James
TERRE HAUTE — The Indianapolis Colts, who earned their sixth straight trip to the playoffs with a win over the Baltimore Ravens last week, will take an 11-2 record into Sunday’s AFC road game at Oakland, giving them a shot at NFL history.
By knocking off the 4-9 Raiders, the Colts could become the first team in the NFL’s 88-year history to win 12 or more games in five consecutive seasons. They went 12-4 in 2003 and 2004, 14-2 in 2005 and 12-4 last season. Tony Dungy’s squad shares the record of four straight 12-win seasons with Dallas (1992-95).
Indianapolis can clinch the AFC South by winning this week against the 4-9 Raiders. They can clinch the AFC’s No. 2 seed, a first-round bye and home field in the divisional round if they win and Pittsburgh (9-4) loses to Jacksonville (9-4).
For most of the season, though, the Colts have played without the services several starters (including defensive tackle Anthony “Booger” McFarland, strong side linebacker Rob Morris, wide receiver Marvin Harrison, and defensive end Dwight Freeney).
While there’s a chance that Harrison (knee) will be back at some point before the start of the playoffs, McFarland (knee), Morris (knee) and Freeney (foot) are all sidelined for the remainder of the year.
Other key players have also missed various amounts of practice and game time: running back Joseph Addai (shoulder/chest), weak side linebacker Freddy Keiaho (elbow/concussion/inner ear), defensive tackle Raheem Brock (ribs), offensive tackle Ryan Diem (ankle/knee), offensive tackle Tony Ugoh (neck), tight end Dallas Clark (concussion), and wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez (thumb).
Despite the rash of injuries, Indianapolis has gotten quite a bit of help from its bench in 2007. Veteran role players such as outside linebackers Rocky Boiman and Tyjuan Hagler, offensive tackles Charlie Johnson and Michael Toudouze, tight ends Ben Utecht and Bryan Fletcher and defensive end Josh Thomas have been aided by rookie defensive tackles Ed Johnson, Keyunta Dawson, Quinn Pitcock in helping to fill the gaps.
“It’s been great to see. You talk about that really from the start of mini-camp, that we’re going to try to pick a 53-man team that’s going to be good for us, guys that are going to develop into their roles, and everybody has to be ready to play. It has been great to see guys like [running back] Kenton [Keith] come on and really know that you can count on them when they go in there,” said Colts coach Tony Dungy.
“Offensive linemen, defensive linemen, Keyunta Dawson and Quinn Pitcock played really, really well [against Baltimore]. Different guys have had to step in and play, and we have some other guys now. [Recently acquired cornerback] Keiwan Ratliff, I think we can get him involved in what we’re doing. He’s a guy that we like and [we’ll] see if he can grow into the system. But that’s what you need, and you never know who’s going to be that critical guy game in and game out.”
One of the most interesting developments has been the continued progress of Gonzalez, the Colts’ first-round draft pick last spring. Slated to be Indianapolis’ slot receiver this season, he missed some playing time recovering from a dislocated thumb after being moved to an outside receiving spot in taking over for Harrison.
“We went through a stage there when we had Marvin out, Dallas was out for a little bit. We were moving people around and guys were playing at different spots. But we’ve been able to settle down. Anthony [Gonzalez] has gotten comfortable in his role outside and we’re running the ball well. I think guys understand what they have to do,” Dungy said.
“We are looking forward to getting Marvin back and being able to slide Anthony back inside and really get to our full compliment. But I can’t say enough about what guys have done who have stepped in. Charlie Johnson, Michael Toudouze, Kenton Keith, Bryan Fletcher. It just seems like everybody who has gone in has contributed.”
• Keith returns to practice — Running back Kenton Keith (thumb) returned to practice Thursday after sitting out Wednesday’s workout. Offensive tackle Ryan Diem (knee), who practiced on Wednesday, was held out of Thursday’s session.
In addition to Diem, safety Antoine Bethea (knee), defensive tackle Raheem Brock (rib), wide receiver Marvin Harrison (knee), defensive end Robert Mathis (knees), offensive guard Jake Scott (foot) and outside linebacker Clint Session (ankle) also sat out Thursday.
Safety Bob Sanders, meanwhile, was given his usual one day off from practice. Sanders normally does not practice one or two days each week in order to rest old injuries.
“It was good to have (Ryan Diem) back out there (Wednesday). Don’t know how it’s going to progress. We’ll have to see from here. But it was good to have him back,” Dungy said. “This was more getting him back in the flow of practice than really looking at the (Oakland) game. But we’ll see. We’ll see how he does.”
Scott is apparently suffering from the same type of foot injury that bothered cornerback Marlin Jackson earlier in the season. Jackson was able to play the week after he incurred the injury, but no decision has yet been made on Scott’s availability.
“Same type of thing. Very similar to Marlin’s and Marlin didn’t miss any game time. So we are hopeful that will be the case,” the Colts coach said.
• Roster moves — Indianapolis added linebacker Dedrick Harrington to the team’s practice squad. Harrington is a 6-foot-3, 248-pound rookie who played collegiately at the University of Missouri. He initially signed as an undrafted free agent by Dallas and spent training camp with the Cowboys.
The Colts released cornerback Darrell Hunter from the practice squad in order to make room for Harrington.
• Position switch — Due to injuries along the defensive line, rookie outside linebacker Ramon Guzman is getting some work at defensive end. Guzman, who joined the Colts as an undrafted free agent last spring, played the position for the first time in the closing minutes of last week’s game at Baltimore.
“We’re down a little bit in numbers there, so he got in at the end of the game last week and did a pretty good job,” Dungy explained. “It’s something we’ve toyed with. And this week, because of the injuries, we’re going to work him there more so than at linebacker.”
For the first-year player from the University of Buffalo, it’s a chance for more playing time.
“In high school, I played it a little bit. I haven’t played it since before I was in college. I was a linebacker and safety [at Buffalo],” Guzman said Thursday. “They worked it in, trying to get it in nickel situations [at Baltimore] where I just rushed the quarterback. They explained the role a little bit, so hopefully I’m just going to take it and run with it. Definitely looking for more [playing time]. Who doesn’t want to be on the field more? I just hope that I can go out there and make some plays.”
