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November 25, 2009

Tough-luck Texans stand in Colts’ way of clinching AFC South

Indianapolis also needs a Jacksonville loss to San Francisco

By Tom James

Indianapolis — As the Indianapolis Colts begin preparations for Sunday’s road trip to Reliant Stadium and a matchup with AFC South rival Houston, there is a lot to be playing for.

The 10-0 Colts can clinch the AFC South title this week with a win over the Texans and if Jacksonville losses to San Francisco. And Indianapolis is shooting to tie the New England Patriots’ record of 21 straight regular-season victories. But both are big ifs, however.

Houston has traditionally played tough at home in previous meetings with Indianapolis. The Texans are coming off a 20-17 home-field loss to another divisional opponent, Tennessee, on Monday night.

And if the Texans want to get back into the hunt for a potential wildcard spot in the upcoming AFC playoffs, they need to get a big home field win against the Colts.

“We won’t approach this game any differently than we do each and every game we’ve had. We’ll look at it and measure it for what’s it worth. It’s important for us to get a victory. We’ll add them up at the end. We kind of look at all those scenarios once we finish, to see where we are and what the circumstances have dictated and go from there,” Colts coach Jim Caldwell said earlier this week.

“It’s kind of amazing when you think about it, 10-0, but then you say, ‘OK, what have we accomplished?’ Obviously, it’s a great record. But when you really look at it, you don’t have your division locked up, you’re not in the playoffs. None of those things have been decided.”

Even though Indianapolis has a four-game lead in the division and a three-game lead over its closest competition for playoff positioning, nothing has really been decided as of yet.

“Here’s the other thing, I think most coaches in this league look at Thanksgiving as kind of a line of demarcation. They feel that if you’re .500 at Thanksgiving, you have a shot to be a real factor in the playoffs and beyond. There are a number of teams that are .500 or above, and we just happen to be one of those. We still have our work cut out for us, because I think everybody is looking at it as if they still have a chance, which is indeed true,” the Colts coach pointed out.

Adding fuel to this week’s game is the fact that it hasn’t been all that long since the two teams faced each other. Indianapolis pulled out a 20-17 win over the Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium three weeks ago.

Caldwell knows exactly what his team is getting itself into Sunday.

“Number one, they’ve had a good look at us. They had an opportunity to play us once. You can kind of formulate a pretty good plan of what you’re going to do the next time around. Teams within our division gain a familiarity with us that most teams don’t have an opportunity to do within the same year. Year-to-year, yes, but often times you change enough during the course of the year where everything might be somewhat new,” he added Wednesday.

“When they’re only weeks apart, in terms of your preparation and play, that’s good and bad. You’re very, very familiar with the opposition, in terms of their personnel, and I think schematically, you can come up with a fairly decent package to handle them. We both have to look at what we do and adjust and see if we can come up with a better plan than we have before.”

Indianapolis will take a 3-0 AFC South mark into Sunday’s game. The Colts have a 35-10 record in AFC South play since the start of the 2002 season and hav either owned or shared the AFC South lead in 105 of the 129 weeks of the division’s existence.

And Indianapolis has won five AFC South titles from 2003-07, the best divisional-title streak in franchise history.

• • •

• Big injury report Wednesday — It might have been the biggest daily injury report for the Colts in recent memory.

Twenty-five players were listed after Wednesday’s workout, including quarterback Peyton Manning, defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis, and wide receiver Reggie Wayne.

Full participation included running back Joseph Addai (knee), defensive tackle Raheem Brock (neck), running back Donald Brown (shoulder), safety Melvin Bullitt (shoulder), wide receiver Pierre Garcon (ankle), cornerback Tim Jennings (ankle), Mathis (neck), cornerback Jerraud Powers (knee), tight end Tom Santi (hip), center Jeff Saturday (calf), tight end Jacob Tamme (quadriceps), and offensive tackle Tony Ugoh (knee).

Limited participation were Manning (glute) and offensive tackle Charlie Johnson (foot). Sitting out the workout were Freeney (abdomen), Wayne (foot), safety Antoine Bethea (foot), defensive end Keyunta Dawson (knee), safety Aaron Francisco (ankle), wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez (knee), cornerback Kelvin Hayden (knee), linebacker Ramon Humber (calf), tight end Gijon Robinson (concussion), quarterback Jim Sorgi (right shoulder), and placekicker Adam Vinatieri (right knee).

• Roster moves — The Colts waived second-year running back Mike Hart on Tuesday and signed veteran defensive end Josh Thomas. Thomas was brought in due to the sprained right knee of defensive end Keyunta Dawson, who was hurt at Baltimore last Sunday.

Hart has since been re-signed to Indianapolis’ practice squad.

“We are not certain how long he [Dawson] will be out and we need a little help in that area,” Caldwell said Wednesday. “It’s a day-to-day issue [for the return of Sorgi to practice]. He’s resting and rehabbing. We are just pushing things forward and anticipating he’ll get better. Nevertheless, we are taking different looks at it as well from a medical standpoint just to make certain we’re not missing something, or if something further needs to be done.”

• Holiday practice — Indianapolis will have a short late morning workout today. Caldwell hopes to have everything done by 1:30 p.m. so that players, coaches and locker room staff can get home for Thanksgiving.

“That’s one of the things this time of the year that’s a difficult task. First of all you want the guys to have the opportunity to spend time with family. It’s obviously a special time of the year. You certainly have a lot to be thankful for. We do have opportunities to make those types of expressions and not have them feel as if it’s a loss, but yet we cutting into their preparation time,” the Colts coach said.

“I think the good teams are able to do both. They are able to have a real delicate balancing act that allows us to really perfect our craft in terms of our week’s preparation, and then also have the opportunity to spend some time with family. We do some things in terms of our scheduling. [Today] for example, we will come in earlier and finish a little bit earlier so guys will have the opportunity in the afternoon to be with their family.”

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