Once former quarterback Peyton Manning was shelved due to a serious neck injury that refused to recover before the 2011 regular season even kicked off, the Indianapolis Colts season was realistically over. The team that had been the class of the AFCo South for over a decade went winless over its first 13 games last year without Manning, and was embarrassingly fortunate to finish with a 2-14 final.

At 36 years of age, no one was truly sure how much Manning had remaining in the tank, and the worst part was that Indianapolis had to decide whether or not they would give him a $28 million bonus for the upcoming season. However, if there was ever a perfect time to have such a troublesome dilemma in Indianapolis, it was last year. Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck was predicted to forego his senior year of college and enter the 2012 NFL Draft. Many do not hesitate to claim that he is one of the most – if not the most – polished quarterbacking prospects of all time.

After months of nationwide speculation, the Colts finally cut ties with Manning, cutting him on March 7, confirming the widespread belief that they would draft Luck and build toward the future.

But owner Jim Irsay felt that a change in quarterback would not suffice. He went ahead and changed the entire regime by firing both head coach Jim Caldwell and general manager Bill Polian. Chuck Pagano, who served as the Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator last season after three previous seasons as their secondary coach, will replace Caldwell in his first season as an NFL head coach. Ryan Grigson, a former Philadelphia Eagles scout, was hired as the new general manager.

With the additions came several subtractions. Veterans such as tight end Dallas Clark, running back Joseph Addai, center Jeff Saturday, wide receivers Pierre Garcon and Anthony Gonzales, and linebacker Gary Brackett have all gone elsewhere. Long-time wide receiver Reggie Wayne, in a surprise to many, did however re-sign with Indianapolis.

Additions that are expected to have an immediate impact include former Tennessee Titans wide receiver Donnie Avery, former Ravens defensive lineman Corey Redding, and former Dolphins cornerback Vontae Davis. Draft picks other than Luck who are believed to step in and receive a significant amount of playing time include his former teammate, who was drafted in the second round, tight end Coby Fleener, tight end out of Clemson, Dwayne Allen (third round) and former FIU wide receiver T.Y. Hilton (third round).

Expectations aren’t too high in Indy as far as the win total is concerned following the period of extreme transition, but after finishing 28^th in the league in both scoring offense and defense last season at 15.2 and 26.9 points per game, respectively, the Colts main hope is to simply improve and grow as a team that could be serious AFC contenders for years to come.

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With the NFL regular season set to kick off in less than two weeks, the Indianapolis Colts might have a problem. The NFL season was delayed with the lockout between the players and the owners but the Colts season could be delayed without their future Hall of Fame QB Peyton Manning. This off-season Manning underwent surgery to repair a nerve in his neck.

The surgically repaired neck was said to take about 6-8 weeks to heal, well in time for the regular season, but at this time it’s not healed and coming up on three months! As you can see this isn’t an ordinary Peyton Manning type scenario where it doesn’t matter what the injury, you know Peyton would be ready for week one of the regular season.

This injury is different because it’s the neck and with this he can’t be 80 or 85%, he must be 100% to play. The neck is in the process of nerve regeneration and with Manning’s eight weeks past due it’s no telling when the neck will be fully healed.

What makes this story even more intriguing is the signing of formally retired QB Kerry Collins. The Colts signed him Wednesday August 24, which leads you to believe that the Colts are starting to have doubts about their star quarterback being back in time for week one. Kerry Collins brings a lot to the table that the backup QBs currently on the Colts roster don’t have.

The accomplished Veteran brings leadership as well as experience. Another thing he brings that Curtis Painter and Dan Orlosky don’t have…is a win. A combined zero career win for the Colts backup QB duo compared to Kerry Collins who brought a team to the Super Bowl.

Also Kerry Collins played for the Tennessee Titans last year, so he knows the division well and week one the Colts face off against division rival the Houston Texans. So in a lot of ways this move makes sense. The negative of this signing is that he’ll have less than two weeks to prepare to start week one and learn the offense of the Colts. We’ll also see if this move sits well with the Colts locker room that has trust in the QBs who are already in place.

What’s on the line for Peyton Manning? Just his active streak of a whooping 208 consecutive starts since his rookie season. Nine years in a row the Colts have one double digit games with Manning at the helm but the longer he’s out, the slimmer those chances of winning at least 10 games get.

Manning is currently on the PUP (Physically Unable to Perform) list but there is still optimism that he very well could be ready for week one. After all it is the former Super Bowl Champion Peyton Manning. My guess is, he’ll be starting under center and he keeps the streak alive.

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