Peyton Manning and Defense Are Sorely Missed By the Indianapolis Colts

The Colts were an absolute farce on Friday night vs. the Redskins. The defense was deplorable, the quarterback play was pitiful and the team looked uninspired.

The good out of the game was minimal. I'll try to mine the game for some positives, but despite these few bright spots, the overwhelming feeling Friday night was negative. The bad from the game is extensive.

Even though preseason doesn't count, this showing has to make Colts fans nervous. At the very least, it is abundantly clear that Curtis Painter is a wretched option at quarterback.

Let's take a look at the tiny good and the giant bad out of the game. 

The Good

• Wonder of wonders: a Jerry Hughes sighting! Not only did he collect a sack, but he also made good plays running down the line on a screen pass and on a Tim Hightower run. While not overwhelming as a pass rusher, Hughes showed enough on Friday to quiet some of his doubters for at least a week or two.
• After a legitimately decent drive led by Dan Orlovsky, Adam Vinatieri knocked home a 55-yard field goal. Vinatieri has not been known for nailing those deep kicks in his time as a Colt. His success in that situation bodes well. Maybe the Colts won't need to trot out McAfee for those long ones after all.
• The defensive tackles were solid all night. Drake Nevis looks very good. I'd like to see him supplant Fili Moala alongside Antonio Johnson. The best two tackles during camp and preseason have been Mookie and Nevis; those guys should get the nod as starters. I also liked undrafted free agent Ollie Ogbu. He showed good poise at the point of attack and has a nice motor.
• Javarris James is running hard and making clean cuts. At the start of preseason, I doubted that he would be able to make the team. He has shown that he's a good special teams guy and that he can make plays out of the backfield.
• Joe Lefeged looks like the real deal as Antoine Bethea's back-up at strong safety. The undrafted free agent out of Rutgers came to play and has shown that he belongs on an NFL roster.

The Bad

• As Harrison Ford's dad in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Sean Connery constantly referred to various situations he found himself in (typically involving Nazis) as "intolerable." Right now I feel like the Nazis are closing in with the back-up situation for the Colts. Curtis Painter is the essence of intolerable at quarterback. He has no poise in the pocket, his reads are atrocious and he isn't accurate. He was 5 for 10 for 40 yards, and that stat line doesn't even tell the tale for how bad he looked. Dan Orlovsky was not great (by any stretch of the imagination), but he had the feel of an NFL quarterback.
• The cornerback play in this game made John Beck look like a Pro Bowler. Jacob Lacey was the primary culprit, but Jerraud Powers also gave up too much space. All night the long the Redskins receivers were getting great separation from Colts cornerbacks. While the defensive ends could have done a better job putting pressure on Beck and Rex Grossman, the blame for the big plays in the passing game has to lie with the cornerbacks. They just stunk. Hopefully this game was a fluke for them, but it is worrisome how easily the 'Skins were able to move the ball.
• Taj Smith muffed a routine catch. Orlovsky dropped a nice pass right into his basket, and he fumbled and then dropped it. Smith just can't miss those easy ones and expect to make the team. He's been solid on special teams, but the Colts should hold onto guys for special teams that could actually step in and help out in case of injury.
• Mike Pollack and Ryan Diem look shaky on the right side of the line. The quality and consistency from those two is just not there right now. I generally like Diem as a right tackle, but he hasn't been a great blocker so far this year. Pollack has the sheen of a bust. Someone else needs to step up. Ben Ijalana is the prime candidate, and hopefully he can progress enough to be a solid contributor in short order.
• To pile on the O-line, Jeff Linkenbach seems to have regressed some. He got beat handily a couple times and doesn't seem comfortable out there now.

In sum, even though Anthony Gonzalez, Austin Collie, Reggie Wayne and Manning didn't play, the Colts should have played better than they did on Friday. They looked exceedingly raw and the team's depth is like a farm pond now, when it should be like Lake Baikal.

Even more disconcerting than the game results from Friday are these tweets from Jim Irsay. He seems to imply that Manning's neck injury may prevent him from starting in the season opener.

If that nightmare scenario comes to pass and the back-up quarterback situation stays the same, the Colts are in for an exceedingly rough beginning to the year.

The third game of the preseason is always the most serious. Coaches try out their playbook and give starters their longest look. The Colts need to show better against the defending champion Green Bay Packers on Aug. 26.

We need to see better defense and better quarterback play before we can feel assured that the Colts can come out strong in 2011.