INDIANAPOLIS -- Now that the Indianapolis Colts have won their annual November showdown with the New England Patriots, players can embark on their next traditional quest.
Chasing perfection.
For the third time in five years, the Colts are 9-0 and are pulling out those rehearsed lines.
"It is a huge win," three-time MVP Peyton Manning said after rallying the Colts for a 35-34 victory Sunday night.
"The main reason is it's an AFC team. Teams in our division are winning. That's what we are trying to do, stay ahead of those teams."
Clearly, the veterans want to downplay the distractions that typically follow wins like this one.
Sports talk shows, analysts and bloggers will break down every Colts flaw and question how good they really are. They'll debate Indy's strength of schedule and may contend the Colts wouldn't still be perfect if Bill Belichick hadn't decided to go for it on fourth-and-2 from his own 28-yard line with 2:08 left Sunday.
Others will argue about which unbeaten team is better, the Colts or the New Orleans Saints.
And each ensuing win will bring more reporters, more questions and more hype to the Colts locker-room.
More than half of the players on this season's roster weren't around when the Colts last opened the NFL schedule with nine straight wins -- in 2006 -- so coach Jim Caldwell and the veterans will try to prepare the youngsters for the challenges ahead, on and off the field.
"For the older guys, they've been through this before," said Caldwell, who still has not lost a game as head coach. "But our young guys are catching on pretty quickly. I think they've learned their lesson."
If the young players learned anything Sunday night, it was this: Never give up with Manning on the field. For the second time this year, he orchestrated an improbable fourth-quarter comeback against an AFC East foe.
The Colts go to their former hometown, Baltimore, this weekend, and they have won six straight tilts in the series.
