NFL Week 1 thread: Warren Moon hearts Cam Newton

I'm just wondering why Manning is blaming the lockout and lack of access to the team's trainers for the slow progress in his recovery.
The man has millions of dollars. Couldn't he have hired a private trainer to work with him during the lockout so he'd be ready to go when the season started?

 

And let's take that one step further. If he had a problem, why wasn't he in surgery 36 hours after the 2010 season ended?

 

I don't think it is a matter of taking plays, or games, off. He had a fairly significant surgery on his back, then they had to go back in again because they didn't do all they needed to do the first time. So you've got a guy whose greatest strength is his ability just overpower people and he is entering the season significantly weaker than normal. That ain't good.

 

One of the Grantland NFL previews suggested that if Manning misses the entire season, the Colts could enter the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.

That would be beyond hilarious. Carolina winding up with the No. 1 pick two years in a row might be funnier though... I'm also curious what Luck would do if Cincy winds up with the No. 1 pick. No franchise player in his right mind would go near that franchise. I'd rather go to Oakland. At least Al Davis pays well.

 

I doubt that. While the Colts may be fucked, the whole AFC South is in some state of fucked-up-ed-ness. Hell, with Kerry Collins, the Colts could still win the division. It might be at 8-8, but that could be good enough.

 

I could see the Colts being 6-10 or 7-9 if Manning missed the whole season. It's still a good team without him, but I don't see them going to the playoffs if he misses much more than a month or isn't 100 percent when he comes back.

 

I am going to be very curious if halfway through the season people start accusing teams of tanking to get Luck or Barkley.

Maybe teams are just banking on Carolina or Cincy getting the pick and then having to trade it.

 

Colts are 6-10 or 7-9 if Collins can play a full season and Manning cannot.

If the Colts don't have either of them, they might be lucky to win four.

 

Looking at their schedule, the Colts could easily go 4-2 in the division, and beat Carolina, Cleveland and Kansas City at home, and Cincy on the road. That's eight wins. If the Colts win one of these -- Pittsburgh, at Tampa Bay, at New Orleans, at New England, home to Atlanta, at Baltimore (there's your first-place schedule) -- it's 9-7, and a likely division title.

Not saying that will happen. And if Collins gets hurt, look out below. But the Colts might not be done for.

 

I've been asking that question for many years.

So many times I've seen a story where an NBA player undergoes surgery 2-3 months after the season is over and then has to miss a month or two of the regular season.

 

There are a lot of guys (cough... Brett Favre) who would schedule procedures so they would miss a chunk of training camp.

I would almost guarantee you that was not the case with Manning, but it is possible that he wanted his contract taken care of before he knew the true extent of the injury. I'd be curious what the timeline was on what was known at what point.

Based on what Schefter was reporting yesterday, it sounds like Manning aggravated the injury while trying to do too much too soon...

 

With Collins

3-3 in division with a hedge to 2-4
3-1 at home with a hedge to 4-0 on the Cincy group
2-4 against the tough teams with a hedge to 1-5

8-8 at best with Collins and 7-9 at worst

Without Collins or Manning or Favre, three, maybe two wins.