Can you name which teams will be playing this February in Super Bowl XLI in Miami? Of course not. Too many games to play, too many surprises lurking on any given Sunday.
How about this: Is there a team that has a better chance than anyone else to get to South Beach?
If you answer yes, put down the pompoms, wash off the face paint and get real. Chicago? Not after its Monday night miracle in Arizona. New England? There’s certainly the pedigree and, come the playoffs, all those new players might be fully lobotomized, sorry, integrated into Bill Belichick’s system. But right now? No.
San Diego? Here’s a little equation: Great D – Shawne Merriman (minus four games) + Marty Ball = No Way.
Which brings us to Sunday’s little get-together at Invesco Field at Mile High. One of the participants, the Broncos, are 5-1 and atop the AFC West. The other, the Indianapolis Colts, are, along with the Bears, 6-0, one of two undefeated teams.
While there are theses currently being written on Denver’s shortcomings, the Colts might be an equally fascinating study.
Indy was in a similar position a year ago, unbeaten en route to winning 13 consecutive times in a manner that left no doubts about its power. A meeting then, with the scars from playoff beatdowns still fresh on Denver’s psyche, with visions of Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, et al, repeatedly dancing in the end zone might have been cause for panic, for Broncos fans, if not out in Dove Valley.
This time, not so much.
While important for Denver, in part because of the past, in part because the Colts are the biggest “name” the Broncos have played since beating the Patriots a month ago, one shouldn’t be so quick to label this a must-win contest. While the Colts currently have the conference’s best record, it would be hard to say they are clearly the AFC’s best team.
Certainly the Colts’ offense is still formidable, but it was only third in the NFL in total offense, and fifth in scoring, entering play Monday night.
Then again, these things are relative. Indianapolis is still averaging 28.5 points a game, numbers the Broncos can apparently only dream of reaching. At 13.2 points a game, Denver is 31st in the NFL, with only the sorry Raiders nestling their fall to rock bottom.
More germane is that, unlike a year ago, Indianapolis isn’t overwhelming anyone. While their 14-point margin over Washington on Sunday looked impressive enough, it took a 20-point third quarter for the Colts to overcome a halftime deficit. That marked the fourth consecutive game Tony Dungy’s team trailed or was tied at intermission – and only one of those teams, the New York Jets, is currently above .500.
That’s one reason, after entering the season as one of the biggest kids on the block, this Sunday’s game is psychologically just as important for Indianapolis as for the Broncos.
“It’s surprising to have a three-game lead (in the AFC South),” Dungy admitted to
reporters during a Monday news conference. “I think the neat thing for us is that we’re going this week to a division leader that only has one loss. We’re going next week to a division leader (New England) that only has one loss, so we don’t have to worry about feeling satisfied or anything.
“But again, you don’t win division championships in September or October. Really, you want to play your best football in November and December.”
That’s what the Colts failed to do a year ago, losing two of their final three regular-season games, then falling at home to eventual Super Bowl champ Pittsburgh in the playoffs.
It is what the Broncos, themselves about to embark on a rather daunting stretch, and trying to avoid the swoon that has accompanied 5-1 starts the past few seasons, would like to accomplish.
That’s certainly much more important than anything that happens this Sunday. Do that and maybe you can achieve a little separation from the pack. Do that and maybe you can begin to talk about making business trips to South Florida.
Staff writer Anthony Cotton can be reached at 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com.
