Colts pass first test, now face larger one

It was a familiar story line, but this go-around had a different ending for the Indianapolis Colts.

This time, there was no rust. There were no timing issues. And, most importantly, there was not another early, unexpected exit for a team that has faced more controversy in the last month than any other all season.

The Colts’ 20-3 win against the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium was more than a win. In a sense, it was a remedy. It served as relief from the monthlong media onslaught the franchise has faced since it forfeited a possible 16-0 in favor of preparing for the playoffs. It served as an answer to the question: Why did the Colts come out rusty in past years after resting starters near the regular season’s end?

And although it would be a football sin to admit it, they can be somewhat content that their AFC Championship opponent is not the San Diego Chargers; a team that has had the Colts’ number in recent years. With that monkey off their back, the Colts can finally move on from the distractions presented with things like the whole resting question. For the time being, at least.

The Colts now face what I see as their most pressing task at hand in franchise history. Bold, but think about it.

This is one of those legacy-defining weeks for owner Jim Irsay and President Bill Polian. It’s the same New York J-E-T-S whose season the Colts could have ended, should they have chosen to play the starters for more than one half in Week 16. If Indianapolis loses next Sunday, the jeers of mediocrity will return to the organization, and questions regarding Polian’s decision to forego history will come like rapid fire. His rather conservative school of football thought will come under more scrutiny than ever.

There’s no question the Colts have been an ideal model in society and brought unparalleled football success to a town and state once known purely for basketball.

But with just one Lombardi Trophy during seasons of 12-plus wins and achieving continual statistical milestones, where will they fall in terms of the game’s greatest of all time?

Just as triumph is no stranger to the Colts franchise, neither is trial. The 2005 Indianapolis team, in my mind the far-and-away best team Polian has ever assembled, dropped the divisional game to the six-seeded and eventual Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.

Two and three years later, they dropped playoff games to less-talented Charger teams. If there is anything at which the Colts have more experience than anyone, it’s facing tribulation. But now, the Colts have momentum and experience to go along with the challenge they face.

Say what you want about Ed Reed’s rare fumbled interception or the alleged “soft” Colts defense holding Baltimore to a field goal in the red zone, this team got the job done after years of coming up short after the chips had fallen in their favor.

If the Colts are truly to go down as a dynasty of the 2000s along with the New England Patriots, they have to finish the deal with a second Super Bowl in four years because now there are no excuses. They have a defense to compliment their high-powered offense. Resting the starters wasn’t a deterrent, as the country saw.

If the Colts somehow blow the opportunity at hand, the Indianapolis and national media will be barbaric come Monday morning.

The possibility of that type of scrutiny alone should be enough for the Colts to bring out their A-game one final time before the big stage in South Beach.