Peyton Manning: Colts Lose Again as QB Ruled out for Season

The Indianapolis Colts were the worst team in the league before they drafted Peyton Manning.

And naturally, for the first time in 14 years without No. 18 under center, they are the worst team in the league again.

According to WISH-TV in Indianapolis, Colts owner Jim Irsay announced this morning at a breakfast meeting with Super Bowl donors that the team will be without Manning for the remainder of the season.

The report says that, "sources at the breakfast meeting report Manning won't practice again until December and may not play again until 2012."

This is hardly a complete surprise to anyone, especially considering how bad the Colts have been this season, but the fans and fantasy owners can move on for 2011 without him.

The Colts are likely to make an official announcement as an organization at some point in the near future.

This news comes on the heels of the Colts' third loss of the season. The Sunday Night Football matchup with Pittsburgh also cost the Colts quarterback Kerry Collins to a possible concussion. The veteran was supposed to be their stop-gag until Manning returned, but that is now out of the question with Manning not returning.

Curtis Painter took the field once Collins went down, but the Colts are still very thin at the quarterback position. There was a legitimate chance that punter Pat McAfee would be called into the game had anything happened to Painter.

Now the Colts are pressed with addressing the position for the rest of this season. Collins was largely ineffective this year, and even if healthy, coach Jim Caldwell, according to ESPN, has already said he would, "look at all the other factors involved", when choosing his starter for next week.

One of those factors could even be to sign another veteran in free agency.

As for the long term, if the Colts continue losing football games, there is a good chance they will be in the hunt for Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. The consensus No. 1 prospect would be the ideal heir to Peyton Manning, but would also signal an earlier end to Peyton's career.

Should the Colts draft him, there is no way Manning plays out the duration of his five-year contract extension with a potential No. 1 overall pick on the bench for four years.

Times are tough in Indianapolis, and they are only going to get tougher.

Expect owner Jim Irsay to make some moves in the very near future.