Column: Colts will win 12 games again

Is there really any reason to think the Indianapolis Colts won’t win 12 games for an eighth consecutive season?

What reasons do we really have to suggest that in this era of free agency and the salary cap, when turnover is expected and necessary, the Colts won’t go out and — to steal their motto — do what they do?

Thinking about it, the fact the Colts have transitioned from the laughingstock of football to possibly the most storied 10-year franchise in NFL history is almost surreal. What is even more, dare I say, outrageous, is how they’ve built a near-monopoly over a league that’s supposed to be immune to that very thing.

No one would argue the Colts have come up short multiple times in the post-season and have had their share of controversy regarding playing for history as well as championships. However, the team management’s knack for finding superior talent and draft tactics have put Indianapolis in contention every season.

We come up with reasons the Colts’ magical era has to end, reasons that are actually orthodox and legitimate. Maybe it’s another injury to safety Bob Sanders or a 3-4 start, as the Colts experienced in 2008. But each time we have these intelligent reasons why the beginning of the end of Peyton Manning has arrived, we are shoved aside by an improbable comeback, one of his trademark two-minute drills or Indy’s reeling off 12 straight wins.

Bottom line: The Colts return just about every key component from the AFC Championship team a year ago, minus defensive end Raheem Brock and guard Ryan Lilja.

Plus, they add a healthy-for-now Bob Sanders and also a returning wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez. If playing for an undefeated season is again the biggest news and catalyst of talk this season, that’s a nice problem to have. 

Here’s another reason to buy into the Colts’ 2010 campaign: the AFC South. Since 2003, Indy has won the division all but one year. The Tennessee Titans won the sole non-Colts title during that span in 2008. The Jacksonville Jaguars — well, they still black out television-wise. The Colts are 15-1 against the Houston Texans, losing their only game on a fourth-quarter field goal on Christmas Eve back in 2006.

With that divisional schedule, the Colts should have no problem getting eight or nine other wins, especially with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oakland Raiders and the Philadelphia Eagles on the schedule, to name a few.

So for the record, put me down for saying the Colts avenge the Super Bowl XLIV loss by going 13-3 with losses at New England, at Tennessee and against Dallas at home en route to Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium.

Super Bowl XLV: Green Bay vs. Indianapolis.


E-mail: ftherber@indiana.edu