MONDAY NIGHT RECAP: CAN DUO

For the first time since Coach Dungy had taken over the Colts, doubt had crept in whether this truly was a Super Bowl contender. Back to back losses, including a trouncing by Jacksonville, had dropped them from AFC number one seed to battling for a bye. Could this historic offense carry such a historically poor defense? Every team has a weakness, but the Colts may be too large to overcome. With the red hot Bengals coming in to face the ice cold Colts, it was a must win for Indianapolis to prove that they were still among the league's elite. 34 points later and thanks to two NFL legends, the Colts are back where they belong.

Magic and Kareem. Montana and Rice. Hakeem and Drexler. There are some athletes who's name will always be associated with another. The latest and possibly the greatest is Manning and Harrison. They've set all kind of QB and WR records together, and one without the other would most likely be a great player but not a legend. When the team was on the ropes going into last night's game, the two of them stepped up and delivered like they had so many times before. Before you knew it, they had connected on 3 TD passes and had the Colts comfortably ahead in the third quarter. The game plan for every defense is to stop Manning and Harrison in order to win the game, but with such a dynamic duo, such an idea has become almost completely unrealistic. That's why no matter what the circumstances are, you can never truly count the Colts out.

Carson Palmer- In such an important game, it was clearly one of Palmer's worst performances of the year. While some of the blame must go to the QB himself, his offensive line must shoulder some of the responsibility. The Colts were able to get all sorts of pressure on Palmer, and once the Bengals lost tackle Willie Anderson, the night went from bad to worse for Palmer. Carson finished 14 for 28 with 176 yards and a lost fumble. It was the first time he hadn't thrown a TD pass since week 4, and he almost surely left several fantasy owners disappointed.

Rudi Johnson- The whole Bengals offense let their fantasy owners down, however the way Rudi Johnson started, it's almost shocking to see the numbers he finished with. In the first half Johnson had over 60 yards rushing, but he finished the day with only 79 yards and a TD. I was expecting much more from Johnson going up against such a weak defense, but the Colts were clearly out to show that they were better than they showed last week which is the reason for the improved play on defense. Next week against Denver should be a struggle for Rudi.

Chad Johnson- When Carson plays poorly, Chad is unhappy, and we saw that on Monday night. Johnson was only able to total 37 yards on 3 catches. It was his worst performance since week 9, and it came at the worst possible time for both the Bengals and fantasy owners. The entire offense was a huge disappointment on Monday, and it left many people across the country upset.

Peyton Manning- After two below average performances for Peyton' standards, Manning bounced back for by completing 29 of his 36 passes for 282 yards and 4 TD passes. Peyton was sharp all game, and his receivers helped him out by not dropping passes like they had recently. It was a huge game for Peyton who showed that if the Colts don't make the Super Bowl, it will be in no way his fault. With Houston and Miami the next two weeks, Peyton should finish strong and top 30 TDs for the third time in his career.

Joseph Addai/Dominic Rhodes- Addai was off to a hot start after running for 50 yards on 8 carries, but he was forced to leave the game with an ankle injury. Getting the bulk of the carries after that, Rhodes had 52 yards on 19 carries. Addai's ankle may force him to miss next week's game and even more time. With a matchup against the Texans next week, Rhodes could be a viable fantasy option.

Marvin Harrison- After a one catch day earlier in the season, Harrison had complained that he was not receiving his normal amount of targets in the offense. Since that game, Harrison has busted out and regained the form he had when he was at the top of his career. Monday night, Harrison had 8 catches for 86 yards and 3 TDs. The only concern is that Harrison hurt his hand late in the game. However, the injury does not appear to be too serious, and I'd be shocked if he didn't play next week.

-David Cassilo
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