Colts/Lions Preseason Game Three Breakdown

Sorry for the tardiness with this post, but we've been plagued by an addiction to Madden '08 on the 360 we finally broke down and purchased this past weekend. Confession time: we've been using the Colts a lot, and it's tough to win with them against other real players. Addai doesn't have the strength to run up the middle and everyone uses outside contain defenses to negate the vaunted stretch play. Thus, we are forced to pass. And anyone who knows anything about the new Madden knows the new defensive playmaker option makes it near impossible to go an entire game without throwing a couple picks. Anyway, onto the game.

We sat down Saturday night after a long day of late-summer cleaning, Heineken Light in hand, ready to watch the Colts impress against a shitty NFC team (a shitty NFC team, mind you, we've maintained could reach .500 this season). Perhaps we set our goals a bit low. Let's just say we were more than satisfied with the outcome. Here's what we learned:

1.) Anthony Gonzalez - fumble and all - is going to be a big factor in the passing game
- We know, our receivers simply CAN'T fumble the ball, but we're willing to forgive that small transgression. Why? Because Gonzo drew a key pass interference penalty and made a sensational catch in traffic to set up the Colts final score of the first half.

2.) Peyton Manning may throw 40 TDs this season
- Everyone thinks 2004 was an aberration. Not so. This season, with Harrison, Wayne, Gonzalez, Clark and Addai all chipping in, Manning should clear the 40 mark easily.

3.) Freddy Keiaho, the biggest impact player no one knows about
- Colts Nation knows Keaiho, of course, but few outside that realm realize how special a player he has the potential to be. He's a playmaker, pure and simple.

4.) Calvin Johnson does not like to be hit, thank you very much
- For those of you who have yet to draft your fantasy team, be wary of the number two overall pick. He's a specimen, no doubt, but two or three strong hits from the Colts secondary left him with the Reche Caldwell look. He'll learn to take those hits, but not overnight.

5.) Joseph Addai should be good for 60+ catches in 2007
- Those 10 catches in the Super Bowl were not a fluke. Expect Addai to resemble LT circa 2003 this season. Yes, we realize what that means.

6.) Bob Sanders didn't make a tackle. So what?
- To be honest, we're glad he didn't have much contact. He got a taste of game speed and what to expect week one against New Orleans. That's just fine with us.

7.) Ryan Diem, we're watching you
- Yes, there were a few negatives in the Colts 37-10 blowout win. Diem, the veteran RT, whiffed badly on two blocks in the first half, resulting in a sack and a tackle for loss, respectively. We have a rookie starting on the left side, we can't have issues on the other side, too.

8.) Marlin Jackson continues to impress
- He's a Pro Bowler at the halfway point of our season on Madden. Wouldn't be a stretch to see it happen in real life this season. Yes, we mean that.

9.) Sep. 6 can't get here fast enough
- Nine days and counting. Does anyone else feel like it's taking forever?

10.) The Colts defense is not to be messed with
- Call us optimists, but we think this is going to be a top-15 unit by December. There's a rather large chip that resides a couple feet from the neck of the Colts defense, and the longer it stays there, the better.

The Titans just can't help themselves

Enjoy that slab of sloth you just signed. If he plays 10 games and/or makes more than 30 tackles consider yourselves lucky.

Your "no shit" moment of the day: Larry Johnson ends holdout

But why did he only sign a five-year extension? We hope the deal's worth a lot of money, because he's not getting another one. Not the way the Chiefs are running his ass into the ground. In other news, we can't wait to see how this plays out on Hard Knocks.

Now, let's travel back in time to before Johnson's sky began to cloud:

Colts/Bears preseason game two breakdown

Honestly, did anyone not involved in the advertising of this game really see it as a Super Bowl rematch? Doubtful. Though if you watched the first quarter, we wouldn't blame you if you thought you were watching a replay of it. The Colts defense harrassed Rex Grossman into turnover after turnover, the Colts offense moved the ball at will on the Bears defense, and a red zone Colts breakdown/Bears stiffening kept the game a lot closer than it had any right to be. Anyway, here are the 10 things we learned from last night's game:

1.) Rex Grossman is not an NFL-caliber starting QB
- We don't want to be mean, but Grossman simply doesn't have the composure or the mental capacity needed to be a quality player in this league. He has talent, no doubt, but his decision-making and inability to take care of the football more than cancels that out. The Bears may be stuck with him, though, and that sucks for them.

2.) Preseason games are meaningless, but Marlin Jackson may be a future star
- Not to slobber, but Jackson was sensational in the short amount of time he was on the field last night. Five tackles, an interception, and a physicality the Colts haven't had on the outside edge in some time. We're not saying he'll make the Pro Bowl, but we'd be shocked if he didn't have a breakout season.

3.) The Colts special teams are horrendous
- Other than the onside kick that did work, there wasn't much to take solace in last night. Two long, back-breaking runbacks and a fumbled return in a six-minute span lost the Colts this game. That just can't happen.

4.) Freddy Keiaho continues to impress
- Scouts and commentators use the term "high motor" way too frequently, but that's what Keiaho has. He stuffs the run at the line and his lateral movement has been a pleasant surprise. He'll lead this team in tackles by 20 or 30, easy.

5.) Dede Dorsey may not be ready for "real" NFL action
- He looked great late against the Bears third-stringers, but he couldn't even get back to the line of scrimmage against their starters. Not good.

6.) Tony Ugoh is continuing to improve, but is he doing it fast enough?
- The rookie left tackle is obviously an impressive run blocker, but his pass protection skills are still raw. He didn't allow a sack last night, which is good, but he was beaten several times. The skills are there, the question is how fast can he put everything together.

7.) The Colts are simply better than the Bears
- The Bears defense is great, it's just not in the same class as the Colts offense. And, all Grossman jokes aside, the Bears don't have the offensive weapons necessary to exploit the Colts defensive weaknesses.

8.) We have a Sorgi sighting!
- The Colts backup QB proved last night he can capably pick apart second-string defenses. Congratulations. Luckily, we shouldn't ever have to find out if he can do the same to first-team units.

9.) Ed Johnson may be able to replace Booger
- We've still only seen him play for a couple quarters, but last night he had good penetration and recovered a fumble. The jury's still out, though.

10.) Our Antoine Bethea mancrush is growing
- He's going to be a Pro Bowl safety very, very soon. We don't think it's a stretch to say that Sanders and Bethea could end up as the defense's version of Harrison and Wayne. Call us crazy if you like.

Is it Halo 3 day yet?

Please say it is.

Because you just can't have enough McLovin'

Seen Superbad yet? If not, start quietly coughing, built it to a hack, then break out the sneezing, then retreat to the bathroom and rub some hot water in your eyes. Head into your boss's office, say you're not feeling well and that you're going to head home to lie down. Instead, you're heading to a theater to watch arguably (seriously, it's neck-and-neck with Knocked Up) the summer's funniest comedy.

We've never seen a movie that made us so wistful over high school. It makes you realize just how much you took that time in your life for granted. Ah, to go back to the times when your biggest problems were not biting on the halfback pass and not using two hands to take off a bra. Now you have a job, a car payment, rent/mortgage, relationships that last more than three months...Basically, life's a bitch. Don't mind us, we're just throwing ourselves a casual pity party. Things could be worse, a girl could have danced with us and then left a bloodstain on our thigh. You have to see the movie to get that one.

So what are you waiting for? Go see this bitch. You'll thank us later.

Your mother warned you about trading for defensive tackles

There's no sense elaborating much on this little NFL tidbit: Broncos DT Gerard Warren was traded to the Raiders today for a ham sandwich (or an undisclosed draft pick, we're not sure). As Big Blue Shoe writes over at the estimable Stampede Blue, it's hard to understand why the Raiders would give up anything for a player who was going to be cut eventually, but that's why they're the Raiders. It's likely just a second-day pick, but when those second-day picks turn into the Antoine Betheas of the world, they're nice to have around.

For fallout purposes, this could mean Warren Sapp is on his way out in Oakland. We sure hope so; we'd love to have Sapp on this team. Sapp + Dungy = True Love. Or maybe just a top-15 defense. You make the call.

Obviously, he never copped a feel on Parcells

Sorry for the wealth of NFL information today, but we haven't posted in nearly a week and our excitement for the upcoming season knows no boundaries. Anyway, Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, in his bid to become an NFL head coach has decided that the best way to do so is by dropping a few waist sizes. We might have suggested simply contacting the Bucs at the end of the season, but whatever. This story in the Baltimore Sun informs us that at one point Ryan was consuming 7,000 calories a day, or roughly three times our daily intake(we're 6'2, 185 pounds, for comparative purposes).

While it's true that grotesquely overweight coaches aren't the norm in the NFL, Ryan seems to have spent too much time watching Herman Edwards running wind sprints on HBO.

There's not too many fat guys that are coaches. I don't see how weight can make you a better coach," Ryan said. "But I guess if you're the face of the franchise, then that is important as well."

Let's see: Andy Reid, Mike Holmgren, Romeo Crennel, Wade Phillips...shit, he's right. When did this happen?

Vick...is done for

We're sick of Vick, but this tidbit from one of his former associates who entered his guilty plea this morning is as damning as it gets:

According to the statement of facts signed Friday, "Peace, (Quanis) Phillips and Vick executed approximately 8 dogs that did not perform well in 'testing' sessions at 1915 Moonlight Road by various methods, including hanging and drowning. All three participated in executing the dogs. Peace agrees and stipulates that these dogs all died as a result of the collective efforts of Peace, Phillips and Vick."

Yeah, we think it's safe to go ahead and not drat him for your fantasy team.

David Beckham vs. Al Pacino, round one

Where people think this shit up, we do not know.

We swear we're not lazy, we've actually been busy.

We apologize for the scarcity of posts recently, but we’ve been swamped at our real gig (and as much as we like this one, those Goggle AdSense dollars don’t pay the rent) and unable to blog beneath our boss’s nose. You understand, right? We’re sure the six of you still with us do. At any rate, to catch up we’re going all out with a hot ass August edition of Things We Know.

1.) The Colts should absolutely NOT sign Tank Johnson.
- Sure, Lovie Smith has talked him up to Tony Dungy and he’s a quality DT, but this is not the solution to the Colts defensive problems. He can’t even play for the first eight regular season games. By all means Bill Polian, take a long look at Gerard Warren and Warren Sapp, just keep away from Tank.

2.) Superbad is going to be the shit.
- We’ll be seeing it tonight or tomorrow, but some friends in the industry have seen test screenings and say it may be the best yet from Apatow and Co. “Better than Virgin?” we asked. “Yep, better than Virgin,” they responded. So there’s that.

3.) Michael Vick is headed for the concrete floor hotel.
- All indications point to a plea deal being struck sometime today. In other news, our Vick dog chew toy is on backorder and should be here by the season opener.

4.) You should NOT go see The Ten.
- We know it’s tempting, because Paul Rudd is in it, but you’ll thank us later.

5.) Monday Night Football is tolerable again.
- We’ve always had a soft spot for Ron Jaworski and his Ivy League-style breakdown of film, but we never imagined how wonderful he’d be in the Monday Night booth. He even makes Kornheiser funny again.

6.) If you’re not psyched for this weekend’s Cards/Cubs series, get fucked.
- Both teams are within 2 ½ games of first place in the NL Central, and they get it on four times at Wrigley. This is as good as baseball gets, people, even if it’s two mediocre teams from a shitty division.

7.) The new Madden is – pardon our cliché – the balls!
- We have yet to take the Xbox 360 plunge (though the price drop has us wavering), but we’ve been playing it at work all week and it’s great. Not late 90’s/early 00’s great, but as great as it gets with an exclusive NFL license.

8.) Did anyone else know that The Invasion comes out this weekend?
- Here’s another lesson kids: stop remaking classic films that were just fine to begin with.

9.) Mercifully, John From Cincinnati was killed in its sleep.
- We watched one episode and gave up. Others were more lenient, patient and forgiving, but what did they ultimately gain?

10.) David Beckham still doesn’t have our attention.
- Even though we live in Los Angeles (Santa Monica, really), we couldn’t care less. And, apparently, so could the rest of you.

Remember, remember, the sixth of September...

As we're sure you've heard by now, the Indianapolis Colts have been shot, killed and left for dead. If they somehow crawl to nine wins this season, they will have exceeded expectations. The defending Super Bowl champions have no shot at repeating, let alone making the playoffs. Don't believe us? Fine, but do you believe these people.

"This will be the headline on USA Today tomorrow." NBC analyst Chris Colinsworth, declaring that the Jacksonville Jaguars would unseat the Colts as AFC South division champions this season. We thumbed through USA Today's sport section this morning - no mention.

"I have one thing to say about the Indianapolis Colts, my Super Bowl pick from June: Uh-oh." Sports Illustrated writer Peter King, reneging on his backing of the Colts following the season-ending knee injury to Booger McFarland.


"It's just hard to expect everything to come together at the ideal time for them like it did at the end of last season." Sporting News writer Vinnie Iyer, in an early July column all but declaring the Patriots Super Bowl XLII winners.

"The single best thing for the league in 2007 is for the New England Patriots to go undefeated through the regular season and the playoffs." Real Football 365.com writer Os Davis, obviously suffering from some sort of debilitating brain condition.

This is just a small sampling, but the message is clear. The Colts are in trouble, and spiraling downward in a hurry. Funny, we didn't get the memo.

Vick done for the year? Not so, says the NFL.

Yahoo! Sports, those news sleuths with the affection for extraneous punctuation, are probably shitting the bed this morning. We say that because the NFL is refuting their weekend report that Michael Vick will be suspended for the entire 2007 season. This in no way means that the sources Yahoo! has on the story are wrong, but merely that the NFL will announce the situation when they damn well please.

Either way, Brian Brohm still looks headed to the Falcons next year.

Benadryl makes your fingers sleepy...

We had a minor allergic reaction this morning to some kind of fruit - what we're not sure - so you'll have to excuse us if we're not operating at 100 percent. On the plus side, we're no longer blotchy and swollen. The downside, of course, is that our fingers feel like little Gilbert Browns banging away. Horrible mental image there, no? We're currently double fisting Red Bulls in an effort to compensate, just the sort of thing a doctor would tell us not to do. Screw doctors.

Steve Carell continues to churn out movies - again and again

We didn't see Evan Almighty, and we don't think we missed anything. But sequels written by Steve Oedekerk notwithstanding, we'll watch Carell in anything - even if Dane Cook's in it. So check out this trailer for Dan in Real Life and let us know what you think. We dislike the emotional ploy of using Pete Townshend and the scant appearance of the great Dianne West, but this seems like a role perfectly suited to Carell's strengths. We shall see.

Box office, why has thou forsaken us?

Over the past two weekends, The Simpsons Movie and The Bourne Ultimatum have ruled the box office with opening weekends of $70 million and $75 million, respectively. Some analysts are suggesting that Brett Ratner's Rush Hour 3 - also known as Turd in the Water - may approach those numbers this weekend.

Rant

If that happens, we may have to boycott the movies until October, when bona fide films again appear on theater screens. We hate Brett Ratner. We hate stupid movies. And we hate all things Rush Hour. That is all.

/Rant

We're a little late on this, but...

The Steelers have a new mascot and his name is...Steely McBeam. Good Lord, that's hideous. Of all the franchises who could pull off something this stupid, we totally would have put our money on the Buzzsaw. We liked the Steelers chances in the AFC North this year, prior to seeing this. No way they make the playoffs with this thing on the sidelines.

Pam Oliver, doing the cockroach

Not only did Pam Oliver have to contend with permanently erect nipples all throughout last night's Colts/Cowboys game, she also had to deal with those practical jokers on the Dallas sideline. Apparently, they slipped a cockroach into the interview. Those scads! Kudos to her for still slipping in the contract question, though. As if Tony Romo were actually going to leave Dallas. He's the starting QB for the Dallas Cowboys! Where else is he going to go, Atlanta?

Quick thoughts on the Colts first preseason game

So, the Colts lost to the Cowboys and it wasn't even close. Surprise, surprise. Were any Colts fans really shocked? No doubt the national media is already formulating a series of "The Colts are dead and buried" stories to lead up to the season opener against the Saints. They'll all conveniently leave out the fact the Colts are 1-10 in their last 11 preseason games. Their regular season and playoff record over that same span? 42-12.

The sky isn't falling. In fact, there were several signs of encouragment from last night's game:

1.) The offense looks great.
- We didn't get to see the first team utilize Anthony Gonzalez and Joseph Addai only carried the ball twice, but they were clicking as usual. The only downside was that disturbing playoff trend of driving down the field and settling for field goals continued.

2.) Tony Ugoh looked like a rookie - an extremely talented rookie.
- He was overmatched on a few plays against DeMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer, but for the most part he held his own without the aid of a tight end. And, most importantly, Manning was not sacked. Mission accomplished.

3.) Antoine Bethea looks outstanding.
- He was a little late in getting to some seam routes dumped over the linebackers heads, but he was mostly solid in coverage and was a run-stopping force. It wouldn't shock me to see the Colts move he and Bob Sanders back and forth in the box this year to cut down on Sanders' workload.

4.) Freddy Keiaho is better than Cato June.
- If you saw the game, no elaboration is necessary. He hits hard - and low! - and is quick enough to gain depth and get into space on play action. It's safe to say we've seen the last of our weakside linebacker bouncing off Maurice Jones-Drew like a pinball.

5.) Jim Sorgi is awful.
- If Manning ever goes down for any extended period of time, we're screwed. He's jumpy, erratic, and has no feel for pressure in the pocket. He looked like a rookie.

6.)The corners played well, for the most part.
- Backup CB Tim Jennings was juked BADLY by Marion Barber on an outside toss, Kelvin Hayden seemed a bit tentative and Marlin Jackson seemed a little overagressive in the running game, but overall their performance confirmed what we fans have thought all along: there will be little to no dropoff in performance from the corner position. Also, how bad did Jason David look in the Saints' secondary Sunday night?

7.) The competition for Addai's understudy is still open.
- DeDe Dorsey is lighting quick, but tiny as hell. Clifton Dawson has nice feet and vision, but doesn't seem to have much burst. If we could somehow take the two and merge them, we'd have a hell of a backup. We need to see more.

8.) The kickoff coverage was much better.
- How this will translate over into the regular season is anyone's guess, but no Dallas return really went anywhere. That's all we can ask for. If we can keep opponents starting behind their own 35 this year, we'll be sitting pretty.

9.) Ed Johnson could be a sleeper.
- He's a rookie DT that we didn't know anything about prior to last night's game. But after watching him tie up Cowboy blockers and sack Tony Romo, we have a good feeling about the Johnson not named Tank or Charlie. We can't take too much away from the first preseason game, but we're hopeful.

10.) Our defense still struggles with the draw.
- They didn't allow any 20+ yard runs like seemingly every week last year, but it still looks like the coaches have some work to do defending the draw. As long as it works, we can expect it on every third down.

Be Kind Rewind, the latest high-concept movie America won't get

Look, Michel Gondry movies - Human Nature, Eternal Sunshine and The Science of Sleep among them - are an acquired taste. We eat the shit out of them, so to speak. And his latest, Be Kind Rewind, with Jack Black and Mos Def, looks nothing short of brilliant. Brilliant because, if you've seen a Gondry film, it will end up nothing like the trailer and philistines will jeer that they didn't get what they thought they were getting.

What you're getting is art, isn't that enough?

Madden, Madden, Madden...

We work for a series of Web sites that includes a video game media portal, so we often play games prior to their release. Thus, we've been playing the new Madden for about a week. Kiss it. What do we think? It's great, mostly because it's Madden, but also because it's football in high-definition you don't have to wait six days a week for. Gametap has released a complete breakdown of the game (which hits stores Aug. 14), along with all the new player ratings.

We're just glad the game was locked before Booger McFarland was lost for the season. In this game, the Colts defense actually has a puncher's chance. Oh, and Randy Moss is ridiculously overhyped, if that's possible.

We doubt this is true, but...

We've never heard of this blog, but then no one has ever heard of us, so...

Anyway, LA Rag would have us believe that Jessica Alba has herpes, which she contracted from - wait for it - Derek Jeter. Who also gave them to David Beckham. Just kidding on that one. Make of this what you will. We think someone's awfully jealous of all the male attention Ms. Alba commands and is trying to damage her pristine reputation as an attractive actress with little talent. For shame.

The NFL preseason is upon us...

We know, technically the NFL's annual spate of meaningless preseason games got underway last weekend with the Hall of Fame Game (where the Steelers made everyone think twice about that Saints secondary), but for us it really starts tonight. The Super Bowl champion Colts will head to Texas to take on the Dallas Cowboys, who beat them there about nine months ago. The Cowboys are a sound football teams, and we think they have an excellent chance of winning the NFC. Truth be told, we'd be shocked if the Colts won this game.

For some odd reason (read: high-priced stars make for shitty second- and third-stringers) the Colts typically go 0-4 or 1-3 in the preseason. Compare that with the regular season - where they've gone 12-4 or better in each of the past four years - and you have yourself a decent wager game. We don't usually recommend betting on preseason games (screams "degenerate!" to us), but this is one case where even we might bet against the Colts.

We'll be watching these game closely. We haven't seen the Colts in action since early February, and they have quite a few new faces who haven't seen the field much. The players we'll be keeping an eye on are Freddy Keiaho, Marlin Jackson, Kelvin Hayden, Tony Ugoh, Anthony Gonzalez and Quinn Pitcock. If these six players - a combined five years NFL experience among them - can be reliable starters, the Colts have a good shot at repeating. If they struggle, 10-6 is starting us right in the face. Are you ready for some Joe Buck?

Rick Ankiel's back where he belongs

We won't go into the long, depressing story of how Rick Ankiel went from the next great Cardinals pitcher to tragic baseball figure; we don't have the stomach for it. We will, however, mention that Ankiel has finally returned to the major leagues, this time as a power-hitting outfielder. Will he stick? He'd better, because if the Cardinals don't keep him on their roster the rest of this season he'll be available for other teams to take a shot at. No Cardinal fan wants that, and the Cardinal organization isn't foolish enough to let it happen.

Ankiel will be a solid, productive outfielder. He'll strike out more often than fans would like. But he's an interesting story, and with the hole the Cardinals have dug for themselves this season, any distraction is welcome.

Who has bigger arms, Jeter or Becks?

Who cares who's the better athlete or who's accomplished more (both on the field and off), what we want to know is "who benches more, Jeter or Beckham?" Judging by this picture, taken during Beckham's recent visit to the Yankees locker room, it's a close race. Of course, Jeter has hit 20 homers in a season before and Beckham can't use his hands. We'll give the nod to the Yankee panty stripper.

Where have all the film critics gone?

Full disclosure: we used to be a struggling - aspiring, you might say - film critic, so we might be a tad biased where the following issue is concerned.

Local film critics are on their way out. The American Journalism Review says so right here. Part of us wants to say this is a good thing, because the trimming of newspaper staffs will allowed the industry to live on in the printed form for another few years. Another part os us thinks this is a travesty and further evidence that the globalization of the American media is the kick in the kneecaps before the death blow to the throat.

We can't decide; all we know is that we enjoy - nay, crave! - film commentary. We ourselves are only mediocre at it at best. We won a few awards in college for our movie reviews, but that was college. Gino Torretta won a few awards in college, too. Local film critics are necessary - for those towns with a local film scene. Our hometown has a population of 3,000 and recently renovated a theater that shows one second-run film per week. Needless to say, their weekly paper does not require a film critic.

But take the town(s) of Bloomington-Normal, Illinois, the metropolis we most often visit when we fly home for the holidays. They have a population of 100,000-plus, five theaters - one of which is an art/classic theater - and two universities that offer film degrees. Their local film scene could be described as sputtering at best, but how will people every become aware of events and films playing in their area without a neighborhood voice?

It's a sobering thought. So is being a journalism graduate in today's job market and economy. But that's what happens when you have parents who support your drive to become a writer.

In case you somehow missed it...

Barry Bonds' 756th home run has landed. And it was nabbed by a Mets fan who's now quite richer than the rest of us. Here's the full video, complete with Hank Aaron's salute:

A little salt in the wound, Illini fans

It's a slow news day both in the sports and entertainment worlds, so we thought we'd let those of you who aren't familiar with Eric Gordon in on a little secret: he's going to be the best player in the nation next year. He plays for Indiana. And he's going to lead the Hoosiers to the Final Four. You heard it here first.




Oh, and he's also loathed by the Orange Crush and Illini fans everywhere.

Our dog's early birthday present is a good one

Yes, we have a dog named Peyton. So what? This is what he'll be chewing on in about a month. You have to love merchandising. If you'd like to pick one up for your loving pet, go here.

Indianapolis Colts, your mission: Disprove this man

This is Skip Bayless. He's known for irrelevance, inanity, and - most of all - contradicting himself. Just a few weeks ago he said on ESPN's First Take that all the pundits picking the Patriots to win the Super Bowl should not discount the defending champion Colts. Today, following the season-ending injury sustained by Booger McFarland, he predicted the Colts would go 9-7 and might miss the playoffs completely.

That's nice. Talk to me in November when the Colts are rolling toward another 12-win season, Skip. McFarland's injury may devastate the Colts interior run defense, but was it really going to be that great to begin with?

Your Super Bowl contenders preview: the New Orleans Saints

Last week, we gave our analysis of the Dallas Cowboys and their potential to end the NFL season in Glendale. One down, nine to go. Next up, destiny's darlings: the New Orleans Saints.

Pros:

1.) Reggie Bush - year two. By all accounts, Reggie Bush had a solid rookie year. Despite a paltry yards-per-carry average and some questionable hole selection early on, Bush turned it on down the stretch. He scored four touchdowns in one game, and his 80-yard-plus touchdown run and catch in the NFC Championship against the Bears gave the Saints momentary hope. This year, with a season under his belt and a more restrained running philosophy, Bush could contend for a Pro Bowl berth.

2.) Sean Payton, the maestro of the South. Not only did Payton outcoach luminaries like Bill Parcells last season, his leadership and willingness to take risks allowed youngsters like Marques Colston and Devery Henderson to far exceed expectations. Will see if he can do that with a first-place schedule this season.

3.) The revenge factor. Let's face it, the Saints were demolished by the Bears in the fourth quarter of last year's NFC title game. Whatever could go wrong, did go wrong. The Bears weren't that much better than New Orleans, and the Saints know it. There's nothing like a devastating loss to get you revved up for a new season.

Cons:

1.) The secondary. Fred Thomas is an awful, awful coverage cornerback. Rex Grossman, of all people, picked him apart last season. Jason David, decent in the Colts' Cover 2 scheme, cannot be counted on without over-the-top help. Last night's preseason opener didn't bode well for his future with the Saints.

2.) The schedule. The Saints open at the Colts and finish at the Bears. In between, they face the Jaguars, Eagles, Seahawks and 49ers. That's six tough games, and we haven't even touched on their two divionsal contest against what should be a much-improved Carolina squad. Getting back to 10-6 is doable, but improving upon that mark may not be.

3.) The Chicago Bears. Yes, the Saints were in the game late in the third quarter. But the Bears still possess the most talent in the conference and, because they play in a much weaker division, are in the driver's seat for homefield advantage. The road to the Super Bowl may go through Soldier Field once again.

Overall:

- The Saints have a tough schedule, defensive questions and lack the element of surprise this time around. No matter, because this team is still talented enough to make the playoffs. Thing is, they won't be able to do much once they get there. We say another 10-6 regular season, a win in the wild card round, and then another long winter.

Don't fret, Glenn Close scares the shit out of us, too...

Sports
Eagles fans also scare us. A lot. [Deadspin]
Darren McFadden, becoming a superstar in a hurry. [Losers with Socks]
At least the Dolphins have injury issues, so there's that. [Phin Insider]
ESPN, you can go ahead and stop with the NOW. [Kentucky.com]

Movies
Which directors out there are older than dirt? [Movie City Indie]
Brett Ratner and gay sex. Yep, you read it right. [The Advocate]
Women in films, 80 years of it. Holy crap. [Miraulam]
E! gets to the bottom of this Eddie Murphy daddy business. [E! News]

TV
Jack Bauer is now fighting the sun. Can he win? [WA Post]
From reality star to homeless, all in a couple years. Ouch. [NY Mag]
Go ahead and download the new Weeds episodes, they want you to. [Ad Age]
GLAAD tells Fox to stick it. Where, we don't know. [Variety]

The Bourne Ultimatum: our short-ass review

Matt Damon is no longer a Streisand; the first two films in the Jason Bourne trilogy established that. But in The Bourne Ultimatum, Paul Greengrass's frenetic third installment of the amnesiac spy series, Damon adds a touch of vulnerability we haven't seen before. In the first Bourne, we saw him fall in love; in the second, we saw him grieve; in this one, we see him grappling with who he is, who he was, and what he's going to become.

It's heady stuff, and that doesn't even touch on the plot, involving a CIA cover-up, agent betrayals, and verbiage even Jack Ryan couldn't decode. Ultimatum is perhaps the least accessible in the series, but it's also the most thrilling. It's a dazzling display of choreography, editing and in-the-trenches camerawork. In other words, it's a Paul Greengrass film. Ultimatum is the best action movie of the year, and on the short list for best of the decade. We don't want to spoil the ending for anyone who has yet to see it, but there's more than a chance we'll see Damon - and Bourne - again soon.

But not soon enough.

The worst movie you'll see all year (and it's not out for months)

We hated National Treasure. Loathed it. Wanted to strangle it. Naturally, there's going to be a sequel. The trailer can be viewed below. How they talked Ed Harris and Helen Mirren into this is beyond comprehension, but not compensation.

Barry Bonds is armed and dangerous (to baseball, that is)

We don't care that Barry Bonds (allegedly) used performance-enhancing drugs to set the single-season home run record. Many players were doing it, baseball wasn't testing for it, and baseball is a competition. In competition, you do whatever you can within the rules to win. Bonds did that. Is he an asshole? Definitely. Are the numbers he's put up over the past seven years faulty when compared to what past legends like Ruth, Mays and Mantle did during their careers? Probably. But honestly, when Bonds hits his next - and 756th overall - home run, we'll be extremely relieved. We can't stand talking and hearing about this record ad nauseam any longer.

We will watch this delightful video, though.

The sky is falling...

How could things get worse for the Colts, you say? Just two weeks ago, the optimism was building to a crescendo. Sure, the Patriots had upgraded many of their weaknesses, but other than the departure of a few replaceable defensive starters, the Colts losses were minimal. Then, the sky cracked and began to tumble. Tarik Glenn retired. Tony Ugoh, a rookie, became the guardian of Peyton Manning's blindside. Next, Corey Simon was cut, ending any thoughts of his acquistion actually fortifying our defensive interior.

And yesterday the sky landed on Colts fans heads: Booger McFarland may miss the entire season with a patella tendon tear. We had just returned from seeing The Bourne Ultimatum last night (phenomenal, BTW) when we turned on the NFL Network and this sentence scrolled across the bottom of the screen: A. McFarland out for season.

Shit. We're not going to say McFarland was a Pro Bowl-caliber player, by any means, but he was a capable run stuffer at the DT position. Those are a rarity for the Colts. His play in the playoffs was a big reason for the defense's sudden turnaround. Losing him for the entire season is, if not a death blow, as close as it gets. Our DT depth was shaky to begin with; those in line to replace McFarland have only a handful of NFL tackles combined. We're not prepared to concede this season or hand the AFC Championship to the Chargers or Patriots, but we're not blind. The Colts are starting the season behind the 8-ball.

We're going to be written off. Analysts will begin to say we'll be lucky to win 10 games, or simply return to the playoffs. Maybe they're right. But we still believe. At this point, when everything seems to be going wrong, what else can you do?

Mark Wahlberg does the Departed dance one more time

Sooner or later he's going to get that Oscar.

Ebert o-philes, rejoice!

We're not sure how obsessed you readers are with Roger Ebert, but we're largely so. And now, if you weren't already aware, you can watch all of he and Siskel and he and Roeper's reviews online. For free! Just give in and get it over with, people.

What will The Borne Ultimatum gross this weekend?

We don't know about you, but we plan on being among the droves of moviegoers visting Matt Damon this weekend. But the question is, how many - and how big - will those droves be? Most box office analysts are forecasting about $60 million. That seems awfully large. Does Bourne have a larger built-in audience than The Simpsons? The animated comedy did $70 million-plus last weekend, though that far exceeded industry expectations. We'll go out on a limb and say Ultimatum does $58 million. Check back Monday for our thoughts on the film and our apology for the inaccuracy.

The Bronx is still burning

Yes, the ESPN miniseries is watchable at best - John Turturro really saves it - but you have to admit George Steinbrenner is the bastard who keeps on giving. Just read this article to see why.

Finally, some clarity on the Corey Simon debacle

It looks like the nightmare that has been the Colts' acquisition of former Pro Bowl defensive tackle Corey Simon is coming to a close. Colts owner Jim Irsay tells the Indianapolis Star the signing was a "bad mistake" and both sides are now looking to reach an agreement that would send Simon packing. Shocker. Look, we're not going to lie about the rollercoaster of emotions we've ridden where Corey Simon is concerned. When he was signed prior to the 2005 season, we were ecstatic. Finally, the run stuffer in the middle the Colts so desperately needed.

Then, the 2006 training camp opened, Simon was shelved with a knee injury and never played another down for the Colts. He supposedly has some mysterious illness that has yet to be revealed to the public. It's doubtful we'll have know what that illness is, but it has effectively ended the relationship between Simon and the Colts. We say good riddance, not because we didn't like the idea of a Booger McFarland/Corey Simon/Raheem Brock DT rotation; we say good riddance because now the Colts can put the situation behind them and it will no longer be a distraction.

It's too bad things worked out this way, but it just continues to prove that the most successful method of NFL roster building is doing so through the draft. The Colts are among the NFL's best at it, so don't expect them to enter the free agent market again anytime soon.

There'll be no Twins games for a bit...

If you haven't seen the footage of the Minneapolis bridge collapse yet, go here. Absolutely awful.

Academy Award winner Halle Berry still gets us

Here's the trailer for the new Halle Berry/Benicio Del Toro drama Things We Lost in the Fire. It's a "family puts itself back together after a tragedy"-style emotional yarn that wears its "look at us, Oscar!" stamp on its forehead. We'll probably still see it, but we don't suggest you do the same.

Blade Runner still kicks ass after all these years...

Sports
Is Boston once again the epicenter of the sports world? [Bugs and Cranks]
Duante Culpepper, a perfect fit for Oaktown and those rowdy fans. [Signal to Noise]
Is Barry thinking about backing off this whole record business? [SI.com]
It ain't about sports, but you'll like it all the same. [Chicago Tribune]

Movies
Woody Allen's penchant for ripping off Ingmar Bergman explored. [Film Babble]
John August talks all about The Nines, his amazing new film. [EW]
Pretty weak crop of new DVDs this week. [Pop Candy]
Check out some clips from the new Blade Runner: Ultimate Edition DVD. [Yahoo! Movies]

TV
A little star gets a big DUI. [TMZ]
Here's your Battlestar fix, if you were jonesing for it. [Sci-Fi]
Ebert & Roeper are going the way of the Web. [USA Today]
Steven Bocho must have one hell of a casting director. [H-Wood Reporter]

Does the Sex Cannon really suck?

Or is it just his predilection for saying, "Fuck it, I'm going deep," that's holding him back from being a competent NFL QB? Deadspin's continuing NFL preview argues that he does not suck, and we generally agreed in a post we just wrote that was eaten by our server. Needless to say, Grossman does not warrant a rewrite. Here's the lowdown in a short burst of prose: good arm, bad mechanics, questionable decision making, wilts under pressure. He's a middle-of-the-road QB, no more, no less. Thank you for your time.

Bless you, Sex Cannon.

Ratatouille - see it now!

Brilliant. There's no other way to describe it. Other than David Fincher's Zodiac, this is the best film we've seen so far this year. We're just a bit ashamed it took us so long. Don't make the same mistake. See it now, dammit!

If you have a heart, please let it bleed for the Cats

The Jacksonville Jaguars, the Colts perennial stepping stone in the AFC South, have sustained a potentially catastrophic injury in the early stages of training camp. They've lost starting center Brad Meester for eight-to-10 weeks to fractured right ankle. That puts his return at around week six. In the loaded AFC, five games without an experienced center could have you playing catchup for a playoff spot. Then again, we didn't think the Jags were a playoff team anyway.