Indianapolis Colts: A Hard Road Ahead

Although the Indianapolis Colts have secured the best record in the NFL, another MVP, a first round bye, and home field advantage through out the playoffs this year, they still have a huge gorilla on their back to overcome.

Since Manning has taken over the team in 1998, the Colts have failed to get to the Super Bowl as a 1st or 2nd seed team in the AFC playoffs. In fact, they have never won the first game they have played with a 1st round bye week. It seems that they have some sort of success when they are the 3rd seeded team in the AFC.

In the 2006-2007 season, the Colts were the 3rd seed, and went on to win Super Bowl XLI. Prior to that, the Colts lost the Divisional playoffs in 2003 and lost in the Championship game in 2004, both years that they advanced, they were the 3rd seed. It seems that when they rest, they fail, and even more so when they have the MVP on their team.

Lets face it, the last time that an NFL MVP won the Super Bowl in the same year was Kurt Warner in the 1999-2000 season with the Rams. The year before was Terrell Davis of the Broncos in the 1998-1999 season. Warner also won the Super Bowl MVP that year. There have been 2 recent winners of the MVP to actually make the Super Bowl, Shawn Alexander of the Seahawks in 2005-2006, and Tom Brady of the Patriots in 2007-2008. The Seahawks fell to the Steelers and the Patriots lost to the Giants.

If the Colts have one thing going for them to beat history, it is that in the Playoffs, they can not play both the Chargers and the Patriots. The other bonus to that point is the way the teams are seeded, they won't see either one of them until the AFC championship game. At least if they are going to do it, they have the schedule to do so.