Indianapolis Colts QB Peyton Manning and Senior Offensive Coordinator Tom Moore
(Darron Cummings/AP Photo)
Week 11 NFL Preview | AFC | Indianapolis Colts versus Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md. . . .
Indy Football Report Editor John Oehser breaks down the Week 11 NFL matchup between the Colts (9-0) and Baltimore Ravens (5-4) . . .
PART ONE OF TWO. PART TWO HERE
THE VIBE . . .
It's getting to be that time of the season, and if gauging the Indianapolis Colts' chances of going undefeated hasn't become a November traditon, it's close enough to merit mention. It's routine enough that one of the most common questions asked of Colts players and coaches this past week wasn't whether they could go undefeated, but whether or not the experience of having been undefeated so late in the season would help this season. Few teams have been asked the first question; almost none have been asked the second.
So, what are the Colts' chances?
Asking the question in the Colts' locker room is pointless, because the reason this team started 13-0 in 2005, 9-0 in 2006, 7-0 in 2007 and 9-0 this season is precisely because it practically never concerns itself with what it considers periphery issues such as unbeaten seasons.
Which leaves it to periphery people (read: this Examiner), and the Colts' situation shows just why going unbeaten though 16 games is difficult even with a dominant team (which the Colts, as of yet, are not). This weekend's opponent, the Ravens, need the game far more than the Colts, who can lose and still have a one-game lead over Cincinnati and a two-game lead over two other teams for home-field advantage.
Then, the scenarios become all the more tougher. The game after Baltimore is at Houston, and not only are division road games some of the toughest on any schedule, but the Texans two weeks ago had the look of a team not remotely intimidated by the Colts any longer. The Colts the following week play host to Tennessee, which is not only a division game but a team that has won its last three games. After that, it's home against Denver, which by then could be out of the race for homefield but very much still in the race for a playoff spot.
The Colts then close at Jacksonville (see Houston), at home against the Jets and at Buffalo. The Jets seem likely to still be in contention while the Bills do not, but if the Colts are unbeaten coming down the stretch, they will face the obvious question of whether they will play their starters/front-line players to maintain momentum and play for 16-0 or rest players. Their history is that they rest players, and even with Jim Caldwell succeeding Head Coach Tony Dungy, there's little reason to believe that would change. The Colts correctly believe healthy players are better than injured players with momentum.
Another factor against the Colts going unbeaten is as silly as it may sound to those unfamiliar with the team, they honestly don't care about doing it. They didn't care much in 2005 and 2006, although when they lost in Week 14 to San Diego, there was some post-game emotion, but after losing in the postseason that season, winning the Super Bowl the following season with four late-season losses, then seeing New England lose the Super Bowl after an unbeaten regular-season, there's just no reason to think it will be even a secondary priority this season.
In that sense, the Patriots' loss to the Giants in the Super Bowl following the 2007 seeason may do more to prevent another unbeaten regular season than anything else imaginable. The Patriots made regular-season history, and because of their unbeaten record, had the most unbeatable aura imaginable that postseason. Did them no good in the Super Bowl and in fact, perhaps made the pressure during the game and the disappointment afterward all the more acute. Coaches won't try to lose, but they may not be nearly so inclined to play starters in meaningless late-season games.
Without question, it's logically weeks too early to have such a discussion. The Colts the last three weeks have shown that while they are a good team very capable of winning the Super Bowl they are in no way yet a dominant team without flaws. They have won their last three games by eight points, struggled at times last week to stop the Patriots and have had offensive red-zone and injury issues in recent weeks to make them seem a vulnerable unbeaten team.
What they have that will afford them well is experience in this situation. If the Colts are anything, it's a consistent, focused team, one that rarely gets distracted, which means while a push for an undeated season is still relatively unlikely, it's not a ridiculous mid-November conversation.
THE BIG CONCERN . . .
Aside from the odds catching up to a team that has won games in three consecutive fourth quarters, and done so despite significant injuries, the main concern is that the Ravens are a team very much in need of a victory. Baltimore made the AFC Championship Game last season, and with MLB Ray Lewis still playing at a high level, it's a team always capable of winning a tight game. In recent seasons, the matchup has favored the Colts in a big-time way -- they've won the last two meetings 44-20 and 31-3 and the games didn't seem that close. With DE Terrell Suggs, the Ravens' best pass rusher out, reason would dictate that Colts QB Peyton Manning could have success against a secondary that has struggled. But in the NFL, it's always tough playing a contending team on the road in November, particularly one that will be hurt significantly by a loss in terms of the postseason.
THIS WAS PART ONE OF THE RAVENS-COLTS PREVIEW. READ PART TWO HERE
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