Would Colts Have a Winning Record Even If Manning Was Healthy?

The 2011 version of the Indianapolis Colts are uncharacteristically bad. Their 0-9 start is the worst start since 1997.

This is unprecedented in that the Colts were clearly just the best team of the last decade.

From 2000-2009 the Colts broke many NFL records that may never be touched again. They  surpassed the 49ers for most consecutive wins in a decade. They won a league record 22 straight games dating from the 2008 season through the last few games of the 2009 season. They also set the record for most consecutive 12-win seasons with seven straight from 2003-2009. The Colts also currently hold a nine consecutive year playoff streak as well.

All of these records and streaks have come or will come to an end this season.

What puzzles many fans is why the sudden drop off? They still have so much talent we thought.

The main reason is the loss of Peyton Manning. Manning was on pace to beat Brett Favre's consecutive start streak by the time he retired, as No. 18 had 227 consecutive starts entering the season. Unfortunately that streak came to an end and caused a domino effect on the Colts records as well.

I think if Manning would have been healthy this year like he was in the past then the Colts at worst would be 6-3 tied with the Houston Texans right now for the AFC South division lead.

Many people would think I'm crazy, but tell me how Peyton Manning loses home games to Cleveland and Kansas City.

I think the first game in Houston would have been tough even with Manning, with how bad the defense played. We will count that as a loss.

The next week the Colts were never in sync, but with a healthy Manning the Colts would have routed the Browns.

The next three games for the Colts would have been routes as well. The Steelers struggled to get to 23 points on Sunday Night Football and if quarterbacks Kerry Collins or Curtis Painter were somewhat accurate the game would have been out of reach early.

Manning would have maybe had a career day on a weak Steelers defense in Week 3. Many times there was broken coverages and the quarterbacks either missed it or threw way off.

Week 4 was the Monday Night match-up against Tampa and the Colts almost won that game with Curtis Painter. The defense played well at the end, but with a healthy Manning once again the Bucs would have came up short in their fourth quarter effort.

Week 5 the Colts played a bad Kansas City team. They jumped up 17-0 and led 24-7 at half. With Manning this game would have looked somewhat like what the Saints did to the Colts in Week 7.

The next game was against a Bengals team when the offense struggled to make plays until the end. Manning would have had no problem with the defense and the Colts would have no problem pulling this one out.

At that point the Colts would have been 5-1 heading into the prime time match-up with New Orleans. The game would have been much different with Manning on the field, but it's hard to imagine the defense would have played any better so let's just count that a loss.

I think the Colts would have rebounded against division rival Titans the following week. Painter never really gave much effort and the Colts were still in it until the end. The defense played much better and with Manning this game wouldn't have been very close.

Now we catch up to last week's game against the Falcons. Once again I thought this game would have been tough with Manning. The Colts offense would have scored more and made this a game, but the defense would have lost this one anyways.

With that all being said the Colts I feel would be 6-3 right now heading into a home match-up against the bad Jacksonville Jaguars and then head to their bye week. With Carolina after the bye and then heading to Foxboro to play the struggling Patriots there's no reason to think the Colts woudn't be 9-3 heading to Baltimore to play in a game that could settle home-field advantage in the AFC.

If your looking towards the end of the season at Baltimore, two straight home division games against the Titans and Texans, and at Jacksonville to close out the year there's no reason to think the Colts wouldn't be 12-4 with another division crown, keeping all of those streaks alive.

Say what you want about the defense or lack there of, but with a healthy Manning who's shown he's the greatest to ever play the game, 6-3 right now and 12-4 is reality.

This guy appeared in 11 Pro Bowls, is a five-time all pro, a league record four-time MVP, six-time AFC player of the year, Pro Bowl MVP, Super Bowl Champion and MVP, fastest ever to reach 50,000 yards, fastest to 4,000 completions, and the Colts all-time leader in almost every stat.

His stats don't lie either.

He's 4,682 for 7,210 for 54,828 yards and 399 touchdowns.

Those stats and credentials speak for themselves and he alone could carry us to a winning record. He's shown that he's the only one we have and has done it for the past 13 seasons.

Why would this year be any different?