NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

Colts Pro Bowl defensive ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis were among six injured starters who missed practice Wednesday.

Freeney (abdomen) and Mathis (quad) both played last week at Jacksonville.

The practice report has more significance this week because coach Jim Caldwell said he will decide who to play based, in large part, on who is healthy.

Other starters who sat out were: receiver Pierre Garcon (hand), left tackle Charlie Johnson (foot), cornerback Jerraud Powers (hamstring) and linebacker Clint Session (knee).

Three-time MVP Peyton Manning was listed again with an injury to his backside but did practice. Receiver Anthony Gonzalez (knee), who practiced Monday, also sat out.

Last Sunday's post-game shows were full of holiday cheering: The Pats finally won an away game (for some reason, away-away in Wembley doesn't seem to count)! The defense, although missing some key players like Wilfork, Pryor and Warren, showed up, mixed it up and befuddled the Bills! And Randy Moss, suffering for weeks the slings and arrows of outraged fandom, was back!

With the playoffs in sight – and only one win from being secured – all of this is great news, the best of which might be the re-emergence of Moss as a formidable force on the field. But wait a minute. Why did he disappear in the first place?

To my way of thinking, the promise and the problem of Randy Moss is that he's an artist.
To be an artist is to be exquisitely sensitive to context. It is to function with will, deliberation and instinct – all at the same time. It doesn't matter if the art is a solitary pursuit, like writing or painting, or a function of time and place, like playing in an orchestra or plucking a pigskin from the sky. The artist is a living history of performance, an unforgiving record in which only the most recent deed matters. When it comes to accomplishment, the artist is often his or her own most merciless judge.

When Moss appeared briefly at the post-game press conference, he looked and sounded, well, artistic. Moss's face has an elegant structure, full of finely sculpted detail. His eyes have that thousand-yard stare. His form is long and graceful, with shoulders that can carry the whole world (whatever that means). His subdued rant throbbed with the anguish of the misunderstood.

It's inconceivable that Moss doesn't care about how he performs on the field. Genuine, real-deal artists cannot separate themselves from their work, no matter what other blessings, or curses, their lives contain. Not only is he a marquee player, one with more NFL records in his sights and a legend in the making, he is lacking something that many of his Patriot companions (and some of his detractors) possess: a Super Bowl ring. The game against the Giants must still rankle (heck, it still rankles me).

When it's all going well, the artist's euphoria is tempered with the underlying suspicion that he or she is both player and played. When the muse departs, the fearful questions emerge: When will it come back? Will it come back?

I have no doubt that in the next two regular-season games and in the post-season Randy Moss will play his artist's heart out. Whether that will translate into the kind of performance that helps win games depends on the one thing that all his talent and determination cannot force: the unbiddable magic of inspiration.

He may be feeling better, but it doesn’t appear that safety Troy Polamalu isn’t going to be able to play Sunday in the critical home game against the rival Ravens. The safety didn't practice again Wednesday because of his injured left knee ligament and says he doesn't expect to play.

Polamalu is "encouraged" by an MRI test he had on Tuesday, but he doesn't anticipate practicing this week. Asked if he needs a week of practice before playing again, he said, "I would think so."

The five-time Pro Bowl safety has missed nine full games and most of two others with separate ligament injuries in his left knee. He hasn't played since the opening series against Cincinnati on Nov. 15, though he has been working out in anticipation of a return.

"I've tried everything—running, lifting, rehab," he said Wednesday.

Last week, Polamalu said he hoped to play Jan. 3 in the regular season-ending game in Miami.

Since Polamalu sprained his posterior cruciate ligament, the Steelers (7-7) have won only one of the six games he hasn't finished. They were 2-2 when he missed four games early in the season with a sprained anterior cruciate ligament.

Without Polamalu, the Steelers defense has lost leads in the fourth quarter six times, and they recovered to win only one. Polamalu leads the Steelers with three interceptions despite playing only three full games all season.

"I don't believe that at all," Polamalu said, when asked if his absence is hindering the Steelers' ability to close out games. "I've been part of a lot of defenses here, defenses that lost games in the fourth quarter. I don't think one man makes that big of a difference. There's not one player who is irreplaceable."

I think it's pretty safe to say that the defensive unit the Denver Broncos put on the field Sunday is going to be one of the better units the Eagles have seen as of late. It's no secret that our offense has been red hot lately and barring a major setback will set a new single season scoring record again. However, the offense could definitely use some help come Sunday to take a little pressure off its shoulders.

This isn't saying the defense and special teams haven't played at a high enough level lately. We've seen both units have a lot of recent success, and this is something that will need to continue this weekend. The Broncos offense has talent but isn't anything to be blow away by. Kyle Orton has played some fairly good football; however, he has thrown an interception in four of his last five games. The Eagles find a lot of success in pressuring opposing quarterbacks and forcing them into turnovers. I expect to see this on Sunday. Our defense did a great job forcing turnovers last week and that is something that equates into winning football games.

On special teams, you know teams are trying to pin DeSean Jackson to the sidelines or kick the ball out of bounds. This is a given when you are explosive as him, but if a kicker makes a mistake and gives him room to work, you know that he is capable of breaking a big one. Doing that on Sunday would be huge and would give the team tremendous momentum.

Come Sunday the Eagles might not find as much offensive success as they have recently, so it would be great to have some big plays made by the defense and special teams.

Jets coach Rex Ryan, whose Jets visit the undefeated Colts on Sunday, opened his daily news conference Wednesday with the team’s “injury report.” He ran down a list of Colts players such as Peyton Manning, Dallas Clark and Dwight Freeney, and added that those guys wouldn’t play and that a few Colts coaches should take extended holiday breaks. Ryan smiled and stopped himself before saying that he was reading the wrong list, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the real injury report.

With two games remaining in the season, Broncos fans are wondering which Broncos team will show up on game days. Bronco's players may be wondering the same thing. If there were an award for the NFL's most inconsistent team of the year, they would win unanimously.

After starting the season 6-0, with impressive wins over the Bengals, Cowboys, Patriots and Chargers (All playoff teams), we see a team that is playing with little to no emotion while on the verge of missing the playoffs by one game for the third time in the last four seasons.

Isn't this the reason Broncos owner Pat Bowlen fired long time coach and friend Mike Shanahan? So much is made of the Cowboys recent struggles in December, what about the Broncos? Dallas at least gets into the dance just about every year. The Broncos choke before they even get a chance to…um well choke.

The truth about this team is evident. The offense has no identity. Fans were hoping that McDaniels would be a young offensive innovator. So much for innovative, the Broncos can't pick up one yard to sustain a drive to seal a win. They must be the worst team on third-and short.

Weapons that made Denver the second ranked offense in NFL last year are barely being used. Where is Peyton Hillis on third and short and goaline situations? McDaniels must know he is the only short yardage back on the roster right? He seems to be in the doghouse ever since he fumbled a kickoff return in week 2 but why was he returning kicks in the first place? How about Tony Scheffler? He is a matchup nightmare for linebackers and DB's. And please for the love of everything holy throw Eddie Royal something other than a screen pass.

It's like McDaniels was too arrogant to watch any film of last year's 2nd ranked offense doing work. He must feel that screen passes and running up the gut with 195lb backs is the way to go. Well it's obvious it isn't.

Bowlen fired Shanahan because he felt things got stale and wanted Denver to begin a new era and brand of football. By looking at the team's offensive performance thus far, they have become the old three yards and a cloud of dust style offense and that's when they throw.