The Indianapolis Colts have showed signs of hope and some major improvement after Sunday’s 14-12 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Colts defense played strong in the victory. Peyton Manning had a solid performance, going 28-of-38 for 301 passing yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Manning played strong and was showing that he was still the man and the MVP of the league. Manning was still the same after being crowned with the MVP award last season for jumping back his Colts from a slow 3-4 start to a 12-4 record. Manning is still looking good and had his 48th career 300-yard game.

An interception came on the first drive of the game as the Colts were in the red zone. On first and goal, Manning threw too high and quick as a pass to Dallas Clark had failed. If Manning was cool under the pocket, a touchdown would have been scored. However, on second and goal, Manning failed again. He underthrew Reggie Wayne as the pass was picked off by rookie Derek Cox.

On the second drive for Indy, Manning played well but he wasn’t getting better. He kept overthrowing his receivers. On one pass, Manning threw a 25-yard bomb to Pierre Garcon but it was overthrown as it was almost intercepted by one of the three Jaguars’ defenders covering him. Manning needs to learn to stay cool under pressure.

The Colts rushing game wasn’t all that exciting. Joseph Addai was much better than last year, but many overlooked his performance as they probably payed more close attention to his statistics of running for 42 yards on 17 carries including a three-yard touchdown that occurred in the second quarter. Donald Brown played well for his debut game, rushing for 33 yards on eleven attempts, including an impressive 12 yard run.

Although the running backs weren’t all that exciting, more opportunities will develop for them coming into next week. Reggie Wayne was truly amazing that game, showing to Colts fans that there is no need to worry about the departure of Marvin Harrison. Wayne will be leading receiver for now on, and showed that he was, having ten receptions for 162 yards along with one touchdown.

Dallas Clark had an impressive game, catching four balls for 39 yards. The offense wasn’t there best, but they managed to win the game. Under Jim Caldwell, signs of improvement were applied during the team’s defeat. Surely, the Colts were much better than last season’s season-opener after a 29-13 depletion against the Chicago Bears.

The defense was good, but not great. They were fast and aggressive, making big hits on Maurice Jones-Drew and David Garrard. It seemed like hell for David Garrard, after losing 20 pounds this offseason. Jones-Drew was now the man for this year, with the release of Fred Taylor. Jones-Drew played well, rushing 97 yards on 21 carries including a seven-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The Colts defense wasn’t able to do that good on the run, but they at least managed to stop the pass. With Torry Holt and Troy Williamson as the leading receiver, and Marcedes Lewis as the primary tight end, the Jags looked like a passing attack team. Not against the Colts they were, as they held Garrard to 122 passing yards and made him complete 14-of-28 passes.

The defense would have been much better off if they still had Bob Sanders. But, hey, they played well without their safety and Melvin Bullitt played well filling in for him. The defense was good overall. Penalties weren’t that much of a concern with Indy, as they only allowed three for 17 total yards. The Colts also did well by maintaining the time of possession, holding out the Jags defense for about 34 minutes.

The Colts had barely gotten away with the win. After that Jones-Drew rushing touchdown, it was 14-12. The Jaguars failed on a two-point conversion as Maurice was the quarterback on the play. Jacksonville failed on their Wildcat play. When the Colts took control of the ball after Jacksonville’s touchdown, Donald Brown had some good runs. It was now thrid down and one yard to go. Brown failed to convert. Coach Caldwell decided to let Indy go for it but they failed on fourth and inches as Brown was about an inch short.

Jaguars maintained the ball and it seemed they were on their way for a game-winning drive. I thought that might occur. David Garrard was driving the offense. It seemed the Jags would make a game-winning field goal like last year’s game-winner by Josh Scobee as he booted Jacksonville to a 23-21 win. Then came that 27-24 win with a game-winning field goal back in the 2004-05 season.

The Colts couldn’t allow that. With rookie offensive tackles Eben Britton and Eugene Monroe blocking one of the best defensive end tandems in the NFL of Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney, we all knew it was going to be hell for them. Garrard was sacked and stripped away from the ball as Indy recovered to secure a win with Manning’s kneels.

Mathis and Freeney saved the game like last year when Indy got away with a 10-6 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars when quarterback Ken Dorsey fumbled the ball on a sack and Mathis recovered the ball and went all the way for a touchdown. All we know now is the Colts got a win and are undefeated at 1-0. Jags stand at 0-1.

Coming next week, the Colts face the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night next week on September 21st. Can Indy’s defense improve to stop Ronnie Brown, Chad Pennington, Ricky Williams, and that tricky Wildcat scheme? Pat White might play a key role in that game. Can the offense pound their way against Miami’s defense after they brought back Jason Taylor?

It’s going to be an exciting game to watch, nobody is going to want to miss it. Colts are improving, and under Jim Caldwell, a new team is rising and a better one is as well.