Steelers vs. Colts: Kerry Collins Must Come Up Big for Colts

Just to make sure everyone's clear, Peyton Manning will not be on the field for the Indianapolis Colts in their Sunday night matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. That would indicate that bad things are in store for the Colts.

But it might not be all that bad. The Indianapolis Star reported on Friday that Manning will be present in the press box at Lucas Oil Stadium, providing advice and input to quarterbacks coach Ron Turner.

Maybe, Manning's words of wisdom will have an effect. The "maybe" is absolutely necessary in this case, because it will ultimately come down to what stop-gap quarterback Kerry Collins is able to do with them.

Like everything else concerning Indianapolis these days, that there is a tricky proposition. While there's no denying that Collins has been thrown into the toughest of situations, there's also no denying that he has been just okay, at best, in Indy's first two games.

Whether, via Manning's words or not, just okay is not going to cut it for Collins against the Steelers. If the Colts are to win their first game, and thus ease some of the doom and gloom surrounding the franchise at the moment, Collins is going to have to be at the very top of his game.

There are numerous reasons for this, the majority of which have to do with the Steelers being a better team than the Colts on just about every front.

Offensively, the Steelers should have little trouble moving the ball against a Colts' defense that simply hasn't gotten off a to a strong start. The Colts have been particularly ineffective against the run, which is essentially an open invitation for Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman to go to town. If and when they do, things are going to be too easy for Ben Roethlisberger.

Collins and the Colts' offense are going to have no choice but to keep pace as best they can. It would be great if Collins was going to be able to lean on Joseph Addai and the Colts' rushing attack, but the Steelers are typically very tough against the run. They showed as much last week in limiting the Seattle Seahawks to 31 rushing yards. Similar domination could be in the cards on Sunday night.

Naturally, this is where Collins comes in. He has been very inefficient in Indy's first two games, but the bright side is that Pittsburgh's defense has shown in recent years that it can be beaten by good quarterbacks. Collins used to be a good (not to be confused with "great") quarterback once upon a time, and he needs to be just that again.

This will depend largely on how well Indy's offensive line is able to protect him, and that is another dicey proposition. Collins has already been sacked five times, and the Steelers do tend to bring the heat.

Make no mistake, this is not a favorable matchup for the Colts. It will be a surprise if the Colts win, and they're not going to be able to win unless Collins is surprisingly good.

Not exactly ideal, but this is just how things are for the Colts these days.