Colts' identity crisis among Week 2 stories to follow

The Colts are having an identity crisis.

Did you ever think you would watch football long enough to see the Browns favored to beat the Colts? Since 1999, the Browns are 0-5 against the Colts and have only generated 14 points a game in that span. That low production does suggest that Indianapolis' defense has played well against Cleveland.

Peyton Manning's absence explains the issues on offense, but the Colts sure can play better defense than they did last week in Houston. The formula is simple: Stop Peyton Hillis, make the Browns a passing team and get after Colt McCoy. None of that has anything to do with Manning. If Indy can't do that, the season could be lost.

Here are five other things I'll be watching for in Week 2:

Pressure on Week 1 losers

A loss to open the season is easy to recover from, but an 0-2 start is a whole different animal. Which Week 1 loser is in most need of a win this weekend? Our analysts tell you. **More ...**

1. Starting 0-2 is a disaster

Four teams lost their opener (Falcons, Colts, Eagles and Jets) and came back to win big in Week 2 and made the playoffs. Eight teams started 0-2 in 2010 and not one of them finished with a winning record. Four of those eight teams fired their coach. The Saints, Falcons, Steelers, Chiefs, Colts and Seahawks are all playoffs team from last season in danger of starting on a two-game losing streak.

2. Cam vs. Champs

Cam Newton set an NFL record for passing yards in a debut last week and is destined to be a star, but the rookie will face a true test in his second start against the world champion Packers.

I can't wait to see what Green Bay defense coordinator Dom Capers has in store for Newton. The Packers are known for attacking and creativity, so Newton could have his hands full come Sunday. Capers will study the four sacks Newton took in the loss at Arizona and apply even more pressure from his blitzing scheme. Newton will have to throw it close to 40 times for a second straight week and Green Bay's defense is a hard puzzle to figure out.

As a little added incentive, Capers was the first coach of the Panthers and there's no doubt he'd like to remind owner Jerry Richardson he fired the wrong guy.

3. Passing fancy could continue

As Dan Marino said to me after last week, "That Packers-Saints game looked like a video game." If that's true, then someone hit the turbo button during the Patriots-Dolphins game. Now the Chargers come to New England, and we could be looking at another shootout.

Philip Rivers is capable of more than Chad Henne, who helped the Dolphins produce 488 total yards while the Patriots cranked out 622. The Chargers called 50 pass plays and Rivers finished with 335 yards. Brady dropped back 49 times and threw for 517 yards. This game could easily see 100 passes called and more than 800 yards in the air.

Thrown for a loop in 2011

Week 1 produced passing yardage like no other in NFL history. Where do we go from here? Gil Brandt says this season could rewrite the record books. **More ...**

4. More 300-yard passers?

There were three quarterbacks that cracked the 300-yard passing mark in Week 1 of last season. This time around, there were an NFL record 14. Defensive coordinators around the league are burning the midnight oil trying to figure out what to do about the exploding passing games. Look for a lot more man-under two-deep schemes that take away throwing windows and invite the passer to run with the ball.

The total number of throws should go down and the pocket passers will not hurt defenses with their feet. The problem could arise from mobile quarterbacks like Michael Vick and Aaron Rodgers who can beat the coverage on the move.

5. Limping into Monday night

The injury bug has already taken a chunk out of the Giants and Rams, two teams with serious playoff aspirations. They'll meet on Monday night, but an extra day of rest isn't enough for two teams with a combined 15 players on injured reserve and an assortment of others out for this week.

There will be no sympathy for the Rams or Giants after the Packers won the Super Bowl with 15 players on IR. Green Bay was given credit for its great depth, but that was in an uncapped year. Well, the salary cap is back and available space is a much different story.

The Giants and Rams ranked third and fourth from the bottom in cap space as of last week and really don't have the wiggle room to make a major move via trade or free agency. I hope no one else gets hurt this week.