No one questions the schedule anymore

Indy tops the Quality Standings. Thanks Jholes (that’s the Jags)

The Colts were long known as big-game frauds, the high-powered team that could always be counted on to flee in the face of danger when the shells started landing around them.

But that’s ancient history. Indy, in case you hadn’t heard, pulled out yet another gut-check victory over their arch-rivals from New England Sunday night. The Colts were all but dead, facing a 31-14 fourth-quarter deficit. But they stormed back with three late touchdowns, aided by some curious play-calling, to pull out a breathless 35-34 victory. The game is rich with the dank odor of Indy’s 38-34 win over the Patriots in the 2006 AFC title game that propelled the Colts to their first and only Super Bowl title since moving to Indy.

The win all but assured that the 9-0 Colts will capture the AFC’s No. 1 seed. It also propelled Indy to the top of our Quality Standings.

They’re suddenly a league-best 4-0 against teams with winning records, beating 5-4 Jacksonville (14-12), 6-3 Arizona (31-10), 5-4 Houston (20-17) and 6-3 New England (35-34). These four teams are a combined 22-10 against the rest of the NFL, but 0-4 against Indy.

Three of the four games easily could have gone the other way. The fact that they went Indy’s way tells us that this is no longer the Peyton Manning Solo Show. It tells us that this is a gutty team from top to bottom that can pull out clutch, hard-fought victories against a series of potential playoff challengers.