It's Painting Time!

           Curtis Painter will make his first NFL start tonight against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This is Painter’s third season in the NFL and with the Colts, but he has always been a backup to Peyton Manning. Manning had surgery in the off-season that has taken him out for the whole year, so the Colts decided to sign Kerry Collins to be the starter. Collins got injured in the last game, so now it’s finally time for Painter to prove he was worthy of a Colts draft pick.

Here are the keys for a Colts victory

Stop the run- Tampa Bay’s quarterback, Josh Freeman, stunned people last season when he led the Buccaneers to 10 wins and almost made the playoffs. He is a quarterback with a strong arm and can also beat you by scrambling. So why focus on stopping the run? Because this is what the Colts defense did against the Pittsburgh Steelers and it nearly worked. Stop the run and force Freeman to drop back and look for open receivers, then hope Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis can get to him.

Strong running game- It is imperative for the Colts running backs to have success on the ground. A strong running game will help Painter and the passing game. This also means the offensive line needs to play like they did against the Steelers. Joseph Addai ran for 86 yards and one touchdown last week so a repeat performance would be great.

Stay Calm- This one is for Curtis Painter. This is his first start in the NFL and it occurs on the national stage. He needs to remember that this is like any other game and he has been practicing all week for it. Get the ball out to his receivers and move the ball down the field. Prove to the world that I (and Reggie Wayne) know what we’re talking about when we stand up for you.

            
             If the Colts play like they did against the Steelers than they will have a chance. The Buccaneers are a very good team though. Their only loss was losing to the undefeated Lions by a touchdown. It will take an entire team effort by the Indianapolis Colts to bring home the first victory of the season.

Predicted score: Indianapolis Colts- 14, Tampa Bay Buccaneers- 27

By the time you read this the game will probably already be decided, and I apologize for that. Monday's are hectic for me!
UPDATE 10/4/2011 at 11:48 a.m. - Buccaneers defeat the Colts 24-17. Flip those first digits around and my predicted score is right on!