Peyton Manning returns to Indianapolis, for Sunday Night Football, in an emotional week where he has had to deal with criticism from Colts owner Jim Irsay for bringing only one title to the franchise during his stint with the team despite putting up "Star Wars numbers."
"We've changed our model a little bit, because we wanted more than one of these," said Irsay earlier in the week, flicking up his right hand to show his Super Bowl XLI championship ring. "(Tom) Brady never had consistent numbers, but he has three of these," Irsay adds. "Pittsburgh had two, the Giants had two, Baltimore had two and we had one. That leaves you frustrated."
Both former Colts general manager, Bill Polian, and former Indianapolis head coach, Tony Dungy, have come to the future Hall of Famer's defense, as has Denver Broncos head coach John Fox, who called Irsay's comments a "cheap shot," with Manning taking the high road, saying that it "doesn't serve me well to comment" on his ex-employers public opinion.
"I feel like the question is based on the comments, so it's just easier not to answer anything along those lines," Manning told reporters when asked about Irsay's comments.
Lost in the pre-game hype of Manning's return to Indianapolis is that two of the best teams in the AFC, the Broncos (6-0) are taking on a Colts team (4-2) that is leading the AFC South division and trying to stave off the Tennessee Titans in the division.
The Colts are coming off a 19-9 loss at San Diego, where QB Andrew Luck, Manning's replacement, threw for 18-of-30 passes for 202 yards with an interception in their loss to the Chargers. Manning, on the other hand, is putting up "Star Wars numbers" again, in his second season with the Broncos, throwing for 295 yards and two touchdowns in the Broncos' victory over the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars, and rolls into Indianapolis with his offense having put up 265 points, the most ever by a team through the first six games of a season.
You can catch the Denver Broncos - Indianapolis Colts Sunday Night Football broadcast 8:30 p.m. Sunday night on NBC.
In other Week 7 NFL action:
San Francisco 49ers (4-2) at Tennessee Titans (3-3)
The Titans, who will have QB Jake Locker back in the lineup after a hip and knee injury, returns to a team trying to keep pace with AFC South division leader Indianapolis Colts. Tennessee has lost two straight, after a 3-1 start, both losses with Ryan Fitzpatrick under center - falling 20-13 to the Seattle Seahawks last week.
The San Francisco 49ers are riding a three-game winning streak, most recently defeating the Arizona Cardinals in a NFC West showdown last Thursday night. QB Colin Kaepernick recovered from tossing an interception and fumble by throwing for 252 yards, including a pair of TDs to TE Vernon Davis, who caught a career-high eight catches for 180 yards for the day.
TV: 4:05 p.m. on Fox
Baltimore Ravens (3-3) at Pittsburgh Steelers (1-4)
It seems as if both teams are trying to figure what went wrong considering the high expectations. The Ravens have lost two out of the last three games, after last week's 19-17 defeat against the Green Bay Packers, and are on the verge of falling below .500 through their first seven games for the first time since 2005. RB Ray Rice has struggled since suffering a hip flexor strain, despite claims he has recovered, averaging a career-low 2.8 yards per carry after four straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
Pittsburgh earned their first victory of the year defeating the New York Jets and are hoping to build on their lone season win after dropping their first four games of the season for the first time since 1968. A win over division rival Baltimore could steer the team in the right, as they try to catch the Cleveland Browns and the Cincinnati Bengals at the top of the division. The Steelers are hoping that working in rookie RB Le'Veon Bell, who missed the first three games with a foot injury and has rushed for a 91 yards on 32 carries with a pair of touchdowns in two games - one yard behind leading rusher Felix Jones and his 92 yards on 24 carries, can help turn the season around.
TV: 4:25 p.m. on CBS
Cleveland Browns (3-3) at Green Bay Packers (3-2)
Cleveland's three-game winning streak was stopped dead in its tracks by the Detroit Lions, last week, with QB Brandon Weeden returning back to the starting quarterback role after the Browns lost Brian Hoyer for the season with a torn ACL injury, going 26-for-43 for 292 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions after the Browns defense gave up four touchdowns in their 31-17 lose to the Lions.
The Packers Aaron Rodgers will be without star WRs Randall Cobb (broken tibia) and James Jones (left knee), going 17-of-32 passes for 315 yards with one touchdown and an interceptions in Green Bay's 19-17 win over the Ravens. Cobb - who was placed in the short-term injured reserve list - led the team with 29 catches and 378 receiving yards, with two touchdowns through the first five games. He also served as the Packers' primary punt returner, making him hard to replace for a Packer team trying to keep pace with the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears in the NFC North division.
TV: 4:25 p.m. on CBS
Houston Texans (2-4) at Kansas City Chiefs (6-0)
With struggling Houston QB Matt Schaub hurt with an ankle injury and T.J. Yates ineffective in the 38-13 loss against the St. Louis Rams, former University of Houston quarterback Case Keenum will take over under center for the Texans. Keenum threw for 5,631 yards with 48 touchdowns and five interceptions his senior year at Houston in 2011, but has never taken an NFL snap,
Keenum will be thrown to the wolves against one of the more blistering pass rushing units in the league, with Kansas City LB Tamba Hali, named AFC Defensive Player of the Week, tallying 3 1/2 of the team's 10 sacks performance in their 24-7 victory over the Oakland Raiders last week. The defense has accounted for 46.1 percent of Kansas City's points, including five touchdowns.
TV: 4:25 p.m. on CBS
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