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It's time to salute one of the great Colts of all time.
Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

There was a time when Dwight Freeney was the second most important player on the Indianapolis Colts.

Time brought many changes to Indianapolis, but nothing can change the impact Freeney had on a championship team.

The Colts announced via press release today that Freeney won't be re-signed. His contract expired at the end of the season and the 32-year old end will hit the open market.

Owner Jim Irsay said of Freeney:

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The great Andre Johnson need to get fitted for a blazer.
USA TODAY Sports

Andre Johnson is a Hall of Fame-caliber player.

That much is not up for debate.

Whether or not Johnson eventually makes it to Canton is another question.

The recent election of Cris Carter to the Hall opens up the door for other quality receivers. Johnson has already made a strong case for himself, but he still has a way to go before guaranteeing himself election.

Injuries have dampened his career totals in some categories, but if you look hard enough, you can find oddball records Johnson holds. For instance, he's the NFL record holder for receiving yards per game among players with at least 500 catches.

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Mercilus had a nice rookie year, but he can't play receiver.
Frederick Breedon/Getty Images

Gary Kubiak is an offensive coach, but he's been loading up on the defensive side of the ball.

Today's article of the day comes from Battle Red Blog and examines whether the Texans have been paying too much attention to the defensive side of the ball to the exclusion of the offense.

It's no secret the Texans have been searching for a complement to Andre Johnson, but they have stopped short of investing in the wideout position with a first-day pick in the draft.

The article effectively argues that Houston's needs on the offensive side of the ball have become glaring at several positions. So much talk has gone into what may or may not be wrong with Matt Schaub, that simpler explanations like bad protection and inadequate receivers get overlooked.

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More awesome coverage from Aaron Ross.
Bob Levey/Getty Images

For once, something isn't Blaine Gabbert's fault.

The Advanced Stat of the Week this week is Passer Rating Differential.

Passer rating has scores of critics. The most common complaints are that it overvalues completion percentage, it has no opponent adjustment, it has no way of adjusting for game situation, it doesn't value running at all, it doesn't account for sacks or fumbles, it is ridiculously hard to calculate and it was scaled in the 1970s, making it notoriously useless for comparing quarterbacks of different eras.

Other than that, it's great!

Actually, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for passer rating. Aside from the fact that it correlates well with winning, it always seemed like the stat that Joe Montana led the league in, and that has to count for something, right?

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Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Wildcat? Pistol?

Really?

There was no question that when the Indianapolis Colts hired Pep Hamilton of Stanford to run the offense for Andrew Luck that there would be changes in Indy.

Hamilton is known for running a West-Coast-style offense which is completely removed from Bruce Arians' bombs away approach.

Hamilton spoke to the Indianapolis media, however, and clued everyone in to just how different things might be.

Most what any coach says to the media can be chalked up to meaningless blather, but there were several red flags from Hamilton.

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Wilson can hit.
Joel Auerbach/Getty Images

The league's worst defense could use an upgrade at safety.

Jim Wyatt of the Tennessean says George Wilson, formerly of Buffalo, is under consideration by the Titans.

Wyatt reported that Wilson visited the Titans' complex on Wednesday.

He'll be visiting other teams in the coming days after being released by the Bills recently.

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Carter paves the way for Marvin.
Jamie Squire/Getty Images

For years the backlog of incredible receivers awaiting enshrinement in the Hall of Fame has been an embarrassment to voters.

The writers who vote for the Hall couldn't break the log-jam caused by Andre Reed, Tim Brown and Cris Carter. As the room broke into factions each defending one particular player over the others, the line of quality players got longer.

Outstanding players like Jimmy Smith and Rod Smith couldn't even get a hearing because obviously superior candidates were blocking the way, leaving everyone unable to cross the threshold of football immortality.

Meanwhile, Marvin Harrison drew ever closer to the ballot, threatening to make the situation even more complicated.

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USA TODAY Sports

The more you look back on the 2012 season, the more ridiculous it is that the Indianapolis Colts won 11 games and made the playoffs.

There's almost no explaining it without resorting witchcraft as an explanation.

The Advanced Stat of the Week this week is Passer Rating Differential.

Passer rating has scores of critics. The most common complaints are that it overvalues completion percentage, it has no opponent adjustment, it has no way of adjusting for game situation, it doesn't value running at all, it doesn't account for sacks or fumbles, it is ridiculously hard to calculate and it was scaled in the 1970s, making it notoriously useless for comparing quarterbacks of different eras.

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The 2012 and 2013 top overall picks in an alternate universe.
Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

It's that time of year.

As soon as the dust of the season has cleared, it's time for new coaches to tell fans how great the players that got the old coaches fired can be.

The Jacksonville Jaguars are kicking off that dance now, starting with quarterbacks coach Frank Scelfo who told Vito Stellino of the Florida Times-Union that Blaine Gabbert has promise.

The entire interview is highly entertaining as it covers the gamut from talking up the player and talking down the media and his former coaches while at the same time stopping well short of an actual endorsement.

Scelfo's extensive comments on the second-year disaster are loaded with classic coach-speak about how if Gabbert were coming out of the draft now, he'd be the top overall pick.

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The Tennessee passing game went backwards in 2012.
Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports

Coming into 2012, the Titans needed only slight improvement on either side of the ball to take a step forward into the playoffs. Instead, they went backwards in a big way.

The Advanced Stat of the Week this week is Passer Rating Differential.

Passer rating has scores of critics. The most common complaints are that it overvalues completion percentage, it has no opponent adjustment, it has no way of adjusting for game situation, it doesn't value running at all, it doesn't account for sacks or fumbles, it is ridiculously hard to calculate and it was scaled in the 1970s, making it notoriously useless for comparing quarterbacks of different eras.

Other than that, it's great!

Actually, I have always had a soft spot in my heart for passer rating. Aside from the fact that it correlates well with winning, it always seemed like the stat that Joe Montana led the league in, and that has to count for something, right?