Ten Things I Think I Think

1. I think these are my quick-hit thoughts of Week 1:

a. Just when we thought only a healthy Bob Sanders could save Indy's depleted secondary, Antoine Bethea comes in and plays light out.

b. I haven't seen such a fast team on defense as the Colts the other night in ... well, maybe ever. Two things about that: That speed is going to win a lot of games early, or at least allow Peyton Manning to have to win shootouts every week. But fast athletes on defense tend to get beat up as the season goes on. Not to rain on their parade, but I'll be surprised if the Colts are as fast in Week 13 -- after facing physical teams like New England, Jacksonville, Tennessee and Carolina -- as they are now.

c. Anyone on the Giants not writing a book?

d. How can you not feel for Jon Jansen? The Redskins tackle might be out for the year again after the scourge of all offensive linemen -- getting rolled up on the back of your legs -- happened against Miami, breaking his right ankle.

e. The era of greatness for Orlando Pace, I fear, is over forever, after yet another shoulder injury. That has to hurt the Rams as much as their loss to Carolina, because they have no good alternative to Pace. And now Richie Incognito, their best guard, may be out next week too because of a high ankle sprain.

f. Teams that have to feel ridiculously depressed after Sunday: St. Louis, Buffalo, Kansas City, the Jets and Cleveland.

g. Wait -- give me a separate category for Cleveland. What I wonder after watching chunks of that game is, how can you work for an entire training camp and look like that? "If the gamut runs from A to Z,'' GM Phil Savage said last night, "that was a Z.'' Maybe a letter doesn't exist for what that was.

h. The Eagles got zero going offensively in Green Bay. And McNabb had the mobility of Byron Leftwich. Not good signs.

2. I think the one big lesson of the first week of the season is this: There is not an NFL-related commercial out there that does not feature Peyton Manning in a starring role.

3. I think the most overplayed story of Week 1 was the subterfuge angle of former players spilling the beans to the enemy. Just like Jason David's information on the Indy offense meant nothing to New Orleans' defense in the Colts' 41-10 beatdown of the Saints, the importation of former Patriot Reche Caldwell for a look-see and the Patriots bringing in ex-Jets Tim Dwight and Bobby Hamilton (on the QT Friday) meant nothing to the outcome of the Patriots' win over the Jets. Maybe the Jets learned a scintilla about the physical condition of Randy Moss -- maybe -- but as far as strategy or signals or audible signs ... fiction.

"It's the most overrated thing in sports,'' said Peyton Manning, who went on to give me a great example of how a foreign agent can actually hurt a team's preparation. "The classic was when we're playing Cleveland and they got [former Colts backup quarterback and offensive assistant] Kelly Holcomb and Bruce Arians. It's Tony Dungy's first year, maybe 2002. So the Browns grill Holcomb all week, 'You got to give us something' and he says, 'I'm telling you, Peyton's going to change it up. He knows I'm here, he's going to give you a dummy audible early. I'm telling you, he's not stupid. So, just play your keys.'

"They're up 16-3, I think, at the half," said Manning. "Second half, we get a good drive going and it's fourth-and-three. So we run our bread and butter play, a little five-yard under route. Well, I signal the play and Holcomb -- it's the same signal -- so he says, 'Ah, now I'm going to help them.' So he says, 'They're running the five-yard under play! Five-yard under play!"

"And so you can see it on the film -- they're going, 'Watch the slants, watch the slants.' So they load up, all inside technique, and they go into a man defense. Well, I see this and I see the defenders all change up -- that's the thing about the no-huddle, I can see this -- and I kept the receivers doing the same thing and I checked to a zone running play and it's only six guys who gotta know -- the linemen and the back [James Mungro]. And he goes 29 yards untouched for a touchdown. And so their guys go to Holcomb, all pissed off, 'So, they're running a slant, huh? Thanks a freaking lot, Holcomb.'

So, maybe that sums it up right there, be careful of what you think you know.''

4. I think, still, that Romeo Crennel has to stand strong and not put Quinn on the field. Not yet, anyway. Four of the next five games, before Cleveland's bye, come against teams that finished in the NFL's top 10 in defensive rankings last year. "Our whole thought was Charlie [Frye] and Derek [Anderson] keeping us functional through the tough part of our schedule,'' Savage told me. And now? "If you ask 70,000 people in our stadium today, the process got accelerated. We'll meet [Monday morning] and discuss it. But I think you run into trouble if you change your plans after one game. Back in 1999, we lost to Pittsburgh 43-0 in the first game of the season with Ty Detmer playing and we threw Tim Couch in there. You saw how that turned out. Once Brady goes in, that's it; there's no turning back. To do it after the first week ...''

Look, the Browns know this season's a wash. Frye got sacked five times in the first 23 minutes against Pittsburgh. Do you want the kid shellshocked in September, or do you want him to play after he's had more than 92 snaps (the real number) with the first unit since he signed his contract?

5 of 6