Indianapolis Colts' 2009 Projection: 11-5

Colts' QB Peyton Manning is healthy and hungry. Colts' fans hope he stays that way throughout the regular season and well into the post-season. (AP Images)"]

The Indianapolis Colts will start a season without future Hall of Fame receiver Marvin Harrison on the roster for the first time since 1995, but Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Joseph Addai and Dallas Clark are all back, meaning this again will be one of the more effective offenses in the league. In all kindness to Harrison, he wasn't much of a contributor to last year's club.

Manning, by the way, is completely healthy, which he wasn't last year in camp in dealing with his knee issue.

Of course Indy also opens this season without coach Tony Dungy, who has been replaced by Jim Caldwell. The team also lost offensive coordinator Tom Moore and offensive line coach Howard Mudd, both in their roles since 1998 and both of whom Manning is a big fan of, to retirement over a pension issue. But both returned to the team late in the offseason, and both should return to their former roles even if they technically are called consultants.

Bet on the Indianapolis Colts.
Get all your NFL odds and NFL futures at Bodog.

One big key to this season will be the offensive line and its run blocking. Last year, the Colts finished 31st in the NFL in rushing, averaging just 79.6 yards per game. Injuries were a big role, but Indy also drafted UConn rookie Donald Brown, rather surprisingly, to complement Addai, who was not very good in 2008 with just one 100-yard game and a 3.5 yards-per-carry average. The team doesn't have much receiving depth behind Wayne and Anthony Gonzalez.

On defense the key is also health, mainly of end Dwight Freeney and safety Bob Sanders, who played only six games last year. It seems Sanders does stay healthy in odd years, however, playing 15 games in 2007 (when he won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year) and 14 in 2005. The run defense wasn't great last year, but Indy took two huge defensive tackles in this year’s draft.

Basically, as long as Manning, the reigning NFL MVP is upright, this team is in the Super Bowl mix.

Here is the Colts' 2009 schedule, and we'll break it down after:
Sept. 13 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 p.m.
Sept. 21 at Miami Dolphins, 8:30 p.m.
Sept. 27 at Arizona Cardinals, 8:20 p.m.
Oct. 4 vs. Seattle Seahawks, 1 p.m.
Oct. 11 at Tennessee Titans, 8:20 p.m.
Week 6: Bye
Oct. 25 at St. Louis Rams, 1 p.m.
Nov. 1 vs. San Francisco 49ers, 1 p.m.
Nov. 8 vs. Houston Texans, 1 p.m.
Nov. 15 vs. New England Patriots, 8:20 p.m.
Nov. 22 at Baltimore Ravens, 1 p.m.
Nov. 29 at Houston Texans, 1 p.m.
Dec. 6 vs. Tennessee Titans, 1 p.m.
Dec. 13 vs. Denver Broncos, 1 p.m.
Dec. 17 at Jacksonville Jaguars, 8:20 p.m.
Dec. 27 vs. New York Jets, 4:15 p.m.
Jan. 3 at Buffalo Bills, 1 p.m.

Strength of schedule: 13th (opponents combined to go 131-125, .512, in 2008)
Projected record: 11-5
Bodog over/under total: 10
Bodog odds to win AFC South: 3/2
Bodog odds to win AFC: 13/2
Bodog odds to win Super Bowl XLIV: 12/1 (subject to change)

Do you think the Colts can win Super Bowl XLIV?
Then bet on them to win. NFL futures at Bodog.

For the first time in five years, the Colts don't open the season in a prime-time game. In fact, they don't host a Monday night game for the second straight year. Since 2002, the Colts are 19-8 during the regular season in prime-time games, by the way.

Indy does get to open at home for the third straight year (1-1 in that span). The Jags shocked Indianapolis last year there in the Colts' second home game, but don't look for that again. That trip to Miami is the Colts' first for a regular-season game since 2003 – of course Indy won the Super Bowl there a few years ago. The game with the NFC champion Cardinals is Indy's first visit to the desert in 19 years and just the second matchup between Manning and Kurt Warner.

October should be a relatively easy month with two games against NFC West doormats from 2008 and a bye week sandwiched around a tough one at Tennessee. The Titans and Colts split two last year and probably will again.

November is an incredibly tough month, with only the 49ers probably not a playoff contender (and even that’s debatable).

Sure, the Colts are 13-1 against the Texans, but Houston is on the rise and both games were decided by a total of 10 points in Indy's sweep last year. Don't look for another sweep in 2009. Of course the game of the year, as usual, is against the Patriots. These two will meet in prime time for the fifth time in six seasons, with all meetings since 2005 coming during November. Indy has won four of the past five meetings overall.

That December opener against Tennessee could be the key to the AFC South crown, which the Colts had won five years in a row before the Titans finally took away last year. The Broncos and Jets should be no trouble at home for the Colts. Maybe Indy loses one of those road games.

There has been a lot of turnover on this team, mostly on the coaching staff, so that NFL record of 12 or more wins in six straight seasons probably won't continue, but the streak of seven consecutive postseason appearances, the longest in the NFL currently, will.