Indianapolis Colts or St. Louis Rams: Who Wins First?

Hope is a beautiful thing—it keeps us going, striving towards something better because there has to be something better, right? Even if that hope is terribly misplaced, we never realize it until it's too late. When it comes to the Indianapolis Colts and St. Louis Rams, however, there's not a lot left for this year. But don't fear, you loyal fans, neither of these teams will pull a Detroit Lions and go 0-16.

There is hope that these teams can win one, two, or three because maybe, just maybe, at the end of the year they will play a bunch of backups and steal an extra win or two. For the Colts, it's the hope that when Peyton Manning comes back they will return to the glory days of yore (as recently as last year). Whereas for the Rams, their hope lies in second year quarterback Sam Bradford and the wishful thinking that he's just in a sophomore slump right now.

So, here we are, trying to keep that glimmer of hope alive for both of these fan bases. As fruitless as this labor may turn out to be, far be it for me to deny someone their hope.

Indianapolis Colts

 Is there any doubt Peyton Manning should be a 10-time MVP now? Without him this year the Colts have averaged a mere 205 passing yards a game and are scoring slightly under three touchdowns a game. However, we're not here to talk about what would have happened, we're here to talk about what will happen.

This team has shown signs of life the last few weeks, losing by less than a touchdown to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Kansas City Chiefs. The upcoming schedule isn't taking any mercy on the hapless Indianapolis team with games against one of the league's best defenses in the Cincinnati Bengals, one of the league's best offenses with the New Orleans Saints and whatever it is the Tennessee Titans have been doing to win.

The following week, the Colts welcome in the Atlanta Falcons in what I think will be a surprisingly close game but still won't be their first win. That will come the next week, when they play the Jacksonville Jaguars. It's hard to pinpoint one exact reason the Colts will win this game, but I'll just put the blame on Blaine Gabbert. The Colts dynamic duo of Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis will get after the rookie QB and cause him to make a multitude of errors, costing his team the game.

Get well soon, Peyton!

St. Louis Rams

 It's hard to find a suitable word for how the season has gone thus far for the Rams. They rank 28th in passing offense (187 yards per game) and 25th in rushing offense (92.5 yards per game). To try and be as fair as possible, their last three games have come against solid defenses in the New York Giants, Baltimore Ravens and Washington Redskins, but those numbers are just pathetic.

Oh, and it probably doesn't help that they rank dead last in rush defense at 179.8 yards allowed per game.

Obviously, their first win won't be coming this weekend as they travel to Green Bay and will allow roughly 2,000 points. Then two weeks after that they travel to play the Dallas Cowboys, and should play a nice host to the New Orleans Saints. I 100 percent guarantee their first win will come one of the following three weeks, though.

The Rams' first chance will come when they visit the Arizona Cardinals. Luckily for St. Louis, the Kevin Kolb-for-Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie trade will work out in its favor has Kolb has been very lackluster so far this year. Plus, the loss of Rodgers-Cromartie will benefit Sam Bradford as it obviously leaves Arizona's secondary in a much worse position than it was last year. However, I don't think this will be the week for the Rams.

Week 10 the St. Louis Rams take on the Cleveland Browns at Paul Brown Stadium. This should be a close contest, but in the end Peyton Hillis and co. will rack up too many yards and eat up too much clock to let this one slip through their grasp.

I's the week after that their big break finally comes.

Ah, the Seattle Seahawks, you guys are good for something! It's games like these that keep the phrase "lesser of two evils" meaningful in sports society. Both teams have been absolutely pathetic to this point and I don't expect either team to turn it around soon. While the Seahawks did just pull off an impressive win against the New York Giants, that game was more about how Eli Manning lost over how the Seahawks won.

So, here it is, St. Louis, your proverbial brass ring of sorts for you to go out and grab. If not this week, at least we all have the wonderful Monday Night Football matchup between these two just a few weeks later!

And for those who think I forgot about the Dolphins, I didn't. They're just a much better team than these two.

As always, thanks for reading and be sure to leave any questions, comments or concerns down below.