The Colts are more than a couple of pieces away from title contention. They played the easiest schedule in the league and still put up a -42 point differential. SRS (which is margin of victory + strength of schedule) rates them as the 26th best team in the league. Brian Burke at Advanced NFL stats has them 27th. Football Outsiders has them 28th. Peyton Manning and an extra rookie or two wouldn't be enough to get that team competitive with the real title contenders. Just look at their schedule and results. They lost by 55 combined to the Bears and Pats, 12 to a reeling Texans squad, and also threw up a home loss to the 2-13 Jaguars and a 26 point drubbing by the Jets. Meanwhile, who have they beaten? A 3 point win against Minny is a solid (if unspectacular) win, and the 3 point win against Green Bay is an awesome win, but both of those were at home and the latter was the infamous Chuckstrong game. They beat a bad Browns squad by 4, got taken to overtime by a bad Tennessee squad, beat an average Dolphins squad by 3 at home, touchdown wins against the Bills and Chiefs, a 2 point win against the reeling Lions, and a 4 point win against the Titans. The one (1) game Indy has win by more than a TD all season long was a 17 point win against the post-MJD Jags (with whom Indy split the season series). They just became the first team in half a decade to give up 350 rushing yards, to the worst team in the league no less, as they almost choked away a chance to clinch a playoff berth. Ignore the record and look at the games. What about any of these games suggests Indy is a good team?
I am not disagreeing with your basis premise, but I think it is unfair to pick at some of their wins, which were impressive at the time. Often times, it is merely a case of when you play someone. Saying they "beat an average Dolphins squad by 3 at home" is ignoring the fact that the Dolphins had won three in a row prior to that.
That 2 point win over the reeling Lions came right after the Lions came
thisclose to beating both Green Bay and Houston as well.
Cleveland might have a bad record, but they have been competitive and a "tough out" in almost every game this year (before last week's drubbing by the Broncos). Following an 0-5 start, Cleveland is 5-5 since. Plus, when the Colts beat the Browns, Cleveland was coming off a win over playoff-bound Cincinnati.
Like I said, I agree that the Colts aren't as good a team as their record indicates, but I just think you have to look at when you play a team a lot of the time. I mean, if you just look at their 5-10 record, Arizona's wins over Seattle and New England could be considered embarrassing for those two teams. but they happened when Arizona was playing well. The ebb and flow of the NFL season sure can be a funny thing.
My pee sometimes goes to the left after sex.
