Face it the Ravens beat a team on the decline. The Colts aren't declining...they are going to deliver a complete smack down on the Ravens.

Face it the Ravens beat a team on the decline. The Colts aren't declining...they are going to deliver a complete smack down on the Ravens.

Uh, no ... BAL 24, IND 21 ... and the Colts can enjoy another seven months of resting up and protecting themselves from owwies.

I love reading the comments...last week The Brady Bunch were going to tear the Ravens a new one even with Welker out. Let's not forget that his replacement caught 11 passes after Welker got hurt and caught 2 TD passes Sunday.

Now, after the Ravens physically pushed then all over the field, the Pats were a "team on the decline". I seem to remember that 'team on a decline' darned near beat the not-declining Colts in Indy this year and well might have if Coach Hoodie hadn't screwed the pooch on that 4th down call. Brady passed for 375 yrds and 3 TD's that day and the Pats got into the red zone 6 times on Indy.

I don't do many predictions and I'm not doing one now but I watched the Ravens get on a roll in 2000 with a great game in the first round and it snowballed from there. They beat the top 3 offenses in the AFC to make the SB that year.

Indy could come out hot or they could come out cold because of the lay off. One thing I do know is that the Ravens are going to come out hitting.

As an Orioles fan, I read almost all of Peter's blogs. As a Colts fan, it has also led me to articles and blogs for Saturday's game. Almost all of the Ravens/Colts games have been tight. I expect the same on Saturday. Ray Lewis always brings it and Peyton will have to be at his best. As a Colts' fan I'm confident but certainly not in trash talking mode.

Waspman, you say that like the Colts players wanted to sit out those games. Did you see how ticked off Peyton and company were when they got yanked?

If you expect anything but a full effort out of the Colts your nuts.

Anyone who thinks the Ravens are going to beat the Colts is living in a dream world. Their only chance is if Caldwell gets confused and, thinking he's still needs to rest his stars, has Painter start at quartback instead of Manning; then, and only then, will the Ravens have a chance.

Waspman, you say that like the Colts players wanted to sit out those games. Did you see how ticked off Peyton and company were when they got yanked? - Micah

Yes, I was watching the game live when it happened. I couldn't find my sarcasm font.

If you expect anything but a full effort out of the Colts your nuts. - Micah

I am nuts but I do expect a full effort. I never implied anything different or even said anything close in sarcasm.

However, the Colts started the season with all of their precious rest and protection of the players with a skimpy 14-12 win over the Jaguars.

The next week, it took a lot of big plays to pull out a 27-23 win over the Dolphins. Miami's running attack allowed them over 45 minutes of time of possession. The Colts will have some big plays but I doubt as many as against them. Plus, the Ravens rushing attack will set up a better-than-Miami's passing attack which will lead to more points.

The Colts after their bye week played the worst team in football. The next game was an 18-14 squeeker over San Francisco. The Ravens are better than the 49ers.

The week after that they barely beat Houston, another non-playoff team, 20-17. Both of those games were home games for the Colts as was the Jaguar game.

Everyone knows the only Super Bowl appearance Indy has ever made was the one year they had to play the full schedule straight-up.

I guarantee the Colts will not be playing in the Super Bowl. I'd bet big money on it. The Ravens, Jets or Chargers will take them out.

That's not a knock on their players. Indeed, their 14-0 run was something to behold. They won in different ways -- their marvelous QB, their bend-don't-break defense, etc.

All of that is as ancient history as their undefeated season. A team like the Colts need teamwork. Practice alone doesn't make it work.

And the Colts won't be playing Jacksonville, Miami, San Francisco or Houston. They'll be playing Baltimore. And the Ravens will win if they don't beat themselves. And if they do beat themselves, the Jets or Chargers probably won't.

Caldwell is an idiot for what he did. For Indy's sake, Manning should say something once the Colts have secured their loss.

BAL 24 IND 21

waspman - Ravens over the Colts? Wait till I find my guffaw font!

That's not to say the Ravens aren't a good team who deserve to be in the playoffs; they just aren't up to Indy's stature. Baltimore's a team that lost twice to the Bengals, which lost to the Jets at home to open the playoffs, and the Jets are a team that would have lost to the Colts had Jim Caldwell not decided to give them a belated Christmas present by pulling his starters in the third quarter.

You try to build a case by pointing out the close games the Colts won, but what you fail to mention are the circumstances. To be with, Indianapolis has been playing hurt all season. In the season opener they were already playing without former NFL Defensive Player, saftey Bob Sanders, one of the key members of the defense (and a player who, like Ray Lewis, makes everyone around him better), when wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez went down in the first quarter and didn't play the rest of the year.

Losing Gonzalez like that was a signifcant blow to the Colts, because he is, after Reggie Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark, the most experienced pass catcher on the team. He was the starter opposite Wayne, so the team was forced to go to two inexperienced young receivers, second year player Pierre Garcon and rookie Austin Collie.

Although Peyton Manning quickly got in sync with both of them, it took a while before he felt as comfortable throwing to them as he did Gonzalez, who had two full seasons under his belt.

As for the Dolphin game, it was more a matter of the Colts not being used to defending a Wildcat formation than anything else. Against S.F. Manning had a very rare off-day and the team turned to running back Joseph Addai to throw a game-winning fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Wayne.

But going into Saturday's game the Colts are going to be as healthier than they've been all season. No Sanders, no no Gonzalez, no Adam Vinatieri, but otherwise nearly everyone ready to roll.

Two key performers who are returning from injuries and benefited from the not playing against the Bills and then having the off week on top of that are defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathies, two of the best pass rushers in the game.

If the Colts are able to jump out to a 14-point lead early, watch out, because a Ravens team that gets away from running the ball is playing right into the Colts' hands. And we'll all have pity on Joe Flacco, if he's dropping back every down, because he's going to have a lot of company back there with him wearing blue and white. If Freeney, Mathis and the Colts' pass rush are teeing off on him, he's going to be Joe Not-So-Cool or Joe Lost-His-Cool.

Oh, and this game's in Indy, where the dome's going to be so loud Flacco won't be able to hear himself think, much less have his teammates hear him bark signals. Expect quite a few offsides oand/or illegal motion penalties against the Ravens, so the self-destruct mode is going to be present for them, too.

I know a lot of people are predicting a close game, like the first one between these teams, but I don't see it. I think the Colts are going to get out ahead early, take the Ravens out of their running attack and then pull away.

FINAL SCORE
Colts 31 Ravens 16

Please note that I take credit (or blame, depending on your point of view) for the reply to "waspman" ending with a 31-16 Colts over Ravens prediction.

In my haste I neglected to add my screen name, which also explains the many typos. My bad.

One way the Ravens may upset the Colts...their secret weapon. You've got to read this story, really, truly heartwarming.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=reilly_rick&id=4825585&sportCat=nfl