| Angerer anchored Indy's defense last season. Now he'll be out for at least a month and a half. (Getty Images) |
In general, expectations for the Colts couldn't be lower. They somehow managed to win two games last season and parlayed that into Andrew Luck, the next coming of Peyton Manning (even if we shouldn't make direct comparisons). Even still, CBSSports.com's Pete Prisco sees Indy as a one-win outfit in 2012.
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We're a tad more optimistic even going so far as to suggest that the Colts could win seven or eight games. And while it's silly to put too much stock in preseason performances, we feel even better about our prediction after watching Luck against the Rams.
But a big part of any success the Colts are to have will be dependent on their defense keeping them in games. It's no small task since this unit was among the worst in the league last season. According to Football Outsiders, Indy ranked 26th in defensive efficiency (27th vs. the pass, 23rd vs. the run). And that was before Chuck Pagano was hired as the head coach and completely overhauled the roster and the scheme.
Growing pains are to be expected -- new faces, new defense, new … well, everything. What's harder to account for, especially for a team with no margin for error: injuries. But that's the nature of 300-pound men running full speed into each other for several hours a week. So despite all the positives to come from the Rams win, there was bad news.
— Mike Chappell (@mchappell51) August 13, 2012
#Colts medical update. LB Scott Lutrus out for season, torn ACL. LB Pat Angerer out at least 6 wks with fracture in foot. Surgery for Anger.
“It looks like they will go in and do a procedure on him,” Pagano said via the Indianapolis Star. “It’s looking like six weeks for him. ...
“The guy’s productive, he’s a playmaker, he’s a warrior," the head coach continued. "He’s a Colt. He’s got all the Colt traits you’re looking for. Now it will be up to somebody else to step in and fill that void until we get him back.”
Pagano said that replacing Angerer is "going to be by committee," and hasn't ruled out searching for warm bodies via free agency.
Angerer, a 2010 second-rounder out of Iowa, started 16 games last season and registered 148 tackles. He also had a sack, an interception and three forced fumbles. On the other side of the ball, the Colts announced that guard Mike McGlynn suffered a high-ankle sprain Sunday.
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