Colts Lose to Pats, Good News or Bad News?

So Peyton Manning and the Colts blow their lead in the 4th quarter to the indomitable Patriots–should anyone be worried? Not really, in my opinion. Sure, the dreams of an undefeated season are over for Colts fans, players and coaches, but if you’re looking at the big picture, losing to the Pats today might have been the best thing that could have happened to them this season. The Pats are undefeated and have a head full of steam, and they might potentially have some invincibility issues, especially later on, if they keep this streak alive. And why is that important? Because, as per the norm these last few years, the Colts and the Pats will be there in the postseason, and will likely be meeting again. And it’s awfully difficult to beat a team twice in one year. Suppose the Pats do get the big head and continue to win games by such staggering margins as they have this year (until today). Suppose the postseason rolls around and they wind up playing the Colts again and have the “we beat them before” mindset. This could play right into Tony Dungy’s hands.

No team has had a better chance to go undefeated during the regular season since the Dolphins did it back in ‘72 (it was ‘72, wasn’t it?) than the Pats this year. But what good is an undefeated regular season if you don’t win the Super Bowl? Not much good at all. Rest assured, if there’s any one team in the NFL who matches up well with the Pats this year it’s these Colts, and I’ll bet you anything they’d rather win the Super Bowl than this regular season matchup. Do they wish they’d won this game? Sure they do, but if they meet again and this loss somehow gives them an edge and then they repeat as Super Bowl champs, then it will have been well worth the loss. And frankly, if they’d've won today, I’d be writing this post about the Pats increased chances of getting to the Super Bowl rather than the Colts. These two teams are virtually guaranteeing that neither one will go undefeated this year. We’ll see.