Clark ready to build on 100-catch season

Football Betting Lines

09/07/2010 -

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Dallas Clark knows there is no such thing as a perfect game or a perfect season in the NFL.

The goal is to keep improving, no matter what the record-breaking stats suggest.

So after posting the two best seasons ever by a Colts tight end, back-to-back, Clark has returned to Indy to chase perfection.

``I'm doing the same thing that I've been doing the last seven years,'' Clark said during the offseason. ``I come to work, and I don't want to become complacent. I'm not trying to focus on what I did last year. Each year, whether it's bad or good, you have to look at it as a fresh start.''

Clark was so busy working out Monday that he didn't even have time to answer questions in the locker room.

But starting over isn't exactly what the Colts have in mind for the new dad.

Almost from the moment Indy drafted Clark with the 24th overall pick in 2003, Peyton Manning & Co. could see how valuable Clark could be in this high-scoring offense.

He's fast enough to burn defenses daring to cover him with a linebacker, agile enough to make circus catches, and shifty enough to fake out anyone measuring him up for big hits. It's a rare combination for a 252-pound guy, which is also why Clark is among the NFL's best tight ends.

Since signing a six-year, $36 million contract in 2008, Clark has proven to be worth every penny.

Over the last two seasons, he has 177 receptions, produced the first 1,000-yard season of his career, become the second tight end in NFL history to haul in 100 catches in a season, and, yes, even earned that elusive first Pro Bowl trip. His numbers broke the franchise records John Mackey set in the '60s.

Clark played a key role in the Colts' Super Bowl run in 2006, and his versatility to split out as a receiver and create mismatches is one of the reasons Indy is so proficient in the no-huddle offense.

Not bad for a former college walk-on who needed seasons to learn all of the nuances of Indy's offense. His new job is to teach the rest of his four-man gang his old tricks.

``He's one of the best, if not the best, in the league,'' backup tight end Jacob Tamme said Monday. ``Our offense gives the tight end a chance to do some things, and that's been really instrumental in what he's done and what we've done.''

Clearly, the Colts are loaded in the passing game.

Manning, the only four-time MVP in league history, will spend this season distributing the ball to perhaps the most talented receiving corps he's ever had. There's Clark and Pro Bowl receiver Reggie Wayne, emerging contributors in Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon and former first-round pick Anthony Gonzalez.

Add Tamme and rookie Brody Eldridge to the mix, and the toughest job for the Colts might be keeping everyone happy.

``All I wanted was what was promised to me,'' Gonzalez said Monday when asked about the competition for the No. 2 receiver's job. ``Whether a job is open, whether there's a competition is something that is determined by the coaches, not by the players.''

The only other real question is health.

Gonzalez lost his job as Wayne's complementary receiver after going down with a season-ending injury in the first quarter of last season's season-opener. He pulled a hamstring in the offseason but now says he's healthy heading into Sunday's opener at Houston.

Clark, however, missed the entire preseason because of an undisclosed upper left leg injury. That left most of the snaps to Tamme, a three-year veteran, and Eldridge, who is considered more of a blocking tight end than a Clark clone.

Colts coach Jim Caldwell hasn't said whether Clark will start against the Texans, but Clark practiced Monday and has ``guaranteed'' he will be on the field this weekend.

So what does Clark have planned for an encore?

Stay tuned.

``That's the beauty of football. There's no such thing as a perfect game,'' he said. ``You can never relax, you're always trying to stay on top of your game.''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.