Colts' Harrison Out. Possible Loss Tomorrow?

Being from Indianapolis, I am a diehard Colts fan. So going up against the 4-2 Carolina Panthers, I’m a little bit worried. Could the Colts be vulnerable in the wide receiver position enough to lose their first game of the season? I hope not. Marvin Harrison, who bruised his knee in the game on September 30 game against the Denver Broncos, will not be playing tomorrow’s game. Harrison, a twelve year veteran of the game, will not be the only Colts player not playing tomorrow, ESPN reports. “Indianapolis will also be without starting weak side linebacker Freddy Keiaho, who is suffering from the effects of a concussion.” Now Harrison, like I said was injured in the Denver game nearly a month ago, did play in last Monday night’s game in Jacksonville against the AFC South (the same division as the Colts) Jaguars. Harrison played minimal minutes however, and only caught three passes for a mere 16 yards. “The eight time Pro Bowl receiver told coach Tony Dungy after the victory over the Jaguars that his knee, which had limited him in practice much of the week, was no worse than before the game. In the Jacksonville game, Harrison was on a strict play count, and participated in about 40 snaps, far below his norm. Had he been able to play Sunday, it’s likely that Harrison would have been on a similar play count.” The problem that ended up knocking him out of the line-up for tomorrow’s game is the fact that he was unable to practice this past week. “The optimism that Dungy expressed early in the week turned to doubt Friday, when the team announced that the availability of the star wide receiver would be a game time decision. The Colts host New England next week, but Dungy insisted that would have no bearing on whether Harrison played at Carolina.” I almost want to say that it’s a better decision to let Harrison sit this game out, as our defense should be able to control the Panthers’ offense, especially with their sudden jump to the near top of the defensive statistics, this coming out of last season with their near league-worst defensive statistics, up until the playoffs at least. Let’s hope the defense can still hold it together for the season, and that Peyton Manning will still do as he always has by connecting with the other receivers with roughly the same amount of numbers, attempts and yardage.