INDIANAPOLIS – Clyde Christensen spent eight seasons learning everything about the Colts offense.

He got insight into the brilliant football mind of Peyton Manning and saw how Manning and Marvin Harrison became a record-breaking tandem. He took notes on the nuances of the system and figured out how best to use all those talented receivers and backs to complement Manning’s masterful skills.

The most important lesson he got from former offensive coordinator Tom Moore may also be the simplest: It’s all about the players.

“It’s not about me or the staff, it’s about the team,” said Christensen, who succeeds Moore this season. “There’s a lot of different ways to do things, and we do things a little different here.”

Do they ever.

Manning’s ability to run the no-huddle offense has kept defenses guessing and the Colts winning.

Indy just wrapped up a decade in which it broke NFL records for longest regular-season winning streak (23), most wins in a decade (115) and most consecutive 12-win seasons (seven). The Colts made the playoffs nine times, won six division titles, two AFC crowns and one Super Bowl thanks, of course, to Manning, the only four-time MVP in league history.

The consistency, Manning often acknowledges, is largely a byproduct of the Colts’ incredible continuity. Instead of adjusting to new coaching styles every few years, as most NFL players do, Manning had the advantage of working with the same coaches – offensive coordinator, line coach and running backs coach – for 12 seasons.

This year, that trio has finally been broken up.

Line coach Howard Mudd retired, turning the reins over to Pete Metzelaars. And Moore has scaled back his duties, accepting the title of senior offensive assistant, while Christensen, Indy’s former receivers coach, fulfills the succession plan by taking over the play-calling – a job he hasn’t held in nearly a decade.

“I don’t look at being a coordinator as any different than being the receivers coach,” Christensen said. “I did the best I could coaching the receivers, and I’ll do the best I can being the coordinator. But, you know, I don’t want to measure myself by Tom Moore’s success, that’s for sure.”

Christensen spent his first six NFL seasons in Tampa – three coaching tight ends, two in charge of the quarterbacks.

In Indy, Christensen has directed co-stars Reggie Wayne and Harrison, the top two receivers in Colts history, and supporting actors such as Austin College, Pierre Garcon, Anthony Gonzalez and Brandon Stokley.

Their success helped Christensen develop a close relationship with Moore and a better rapport with Manning.

And few realize Christensen has actually been calling most of Indy’s third-down plays the last two seasons.

Brackett, Addai leave with injuries

Indianapolis Colts defensive captain Gary Brackett left with a right-hand injury late in the first quarter of Thursday night’s game with the Green Bay Packers.

Brackett, the starting middle linebacker, was trying to tackle Ryan Grant on a short gain when it appeared teammate Philip Wheeler came crashing through and hit Brackett’s hand on his helmet.

Starting running back Joseph Addai sustained a concussion midway through the third quarter. Addai was hurt making a tackle of Robert Francois after Francois scooped up a fumble by Peyton Manning when the quarterback was hit stepping up in the pocket.

Addai ran down Francois, but came down hard making the tackle at the Colts 2.