The Test

[Crunked]

Football imitates life in every essence of its existence. There are struggles and battles and moments of joy and success, pain and triumph, all in an effort to overcome adversity. One might consider the weekly matchups each NFL team faces to be a test, of character and ability; or do they? This is a story about the life of the Indianapolis Colts leading into week 11.
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The Colts pre-season 0-5 these guys have a lot to prove. They are supposedly improved and poised for a Superbowl run. Are they going to win a game in the regular season they will get tested right out of the gate we will see then what they are all about.

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The Test indeed came early as the Colts were pitted against the Baltimore Ravens in a prime time Sunday night season kick off special. The Ravens a team who many pegged to be Superbowl favorites coming into the start of the season, former SB champs in their own right, Derrick Mason and some young WR's in the draft and the promise that some kid named Kyle would take them to the promised land yet again but when the stadium fell silent in Baltimore at the end of four bruising quarters the tally was Colts 24 Ravens 7. Those 7 points came in the last :13 seconds of the game with the Colts 2nd string defenders on the field. The test was passed quite triumphantly and yet by Tuesday Morning the take was that maybe Baltimore was not as good as previously thought, a disappointment is how they would later be pegged by the same sooth sayers who proclaimed their super worthiness.

The Colts undaunted marched on, there must be a test somewhere for these mighty men of Blue somewhere. So we Colt fans hold our heads high, there is nothing more degrading than to have the team you admire in a blood bath of a sport be untested.

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Jacksonville, they only missed the playoffs by a game last year, noted for a perennial top five defense, one in which they added too in the off season. Drafting Matt "freak of nature" Jones to aid the offense wouldn't hurt either, a healthy Fred Taylor and THE team who want to snatch the AFC south from the Colts grasp.... and 4 blistering quarters later and Colts fans walked away with a healthy respect for the Jags toughness, but in the end the Colts were victorious yet again 10-3 and twenty four hours later were still untested.

Rumors began to swirl that maybe the Colts and this young new defense were good, but un-tested. What people really wanted to see is a top offense go up against this defense so that once and for all they could either be accepted or dismissed for what they truly were, an untested team.

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Enter the Rams and their #2 rated offense for a Monday night showdown. Now here is a national stage in which they can FINALLY be tested. Whap boom bam they are on their heels and then the fateful play....Bulger throws a pick! is that defense rearing its ugly head? What Bulger tries to make a play on the return he's out the Colts turn the momentum of the game around and never look back rolling easily to victory now they have been tested, now we Colt fans can feel proud of our team.....wrong! (if) Bulger this, (if) it wasnt for that, and the Colts move on yet un-tested.

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Finally November 7th, the Colts get to face their nemsis, the Pats. For whatever reason the Colts have not been able to overcome this team, losing in every way possible for 10 years! Surely this game will test them. 40 points and a victory later
"maybe the Pats are not what they used to be " say the experts.....


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.... and the Colts travel to Cincy still untested and facing yet another worthy foe maybe the Colts lose, and what if? what if they do? In the eyes of the NFL did they finally get tested and fail? Or have they already been tested?

[Crunked]

Thought for sure this would generate some discussion on whther people feel the Colts have been tested or not, obviously I feel they have had some big tests already, maybe not week in and week out, but that has now changed as they have Jax in Fla, Chargers, Steelers, Seattle in Wash, Cincy in Ohio all on the remainder of their schedule, but I thought this was the best time to debate it cause after all of those they will have been tested and there will be nothing left to speculate on

[datruth55]

Jacksonville was a good test. What was the score of that game 10-3? The rest of those team were not defensive juggernauts. Ravens D has fallen off a lot from last year, Patriots are not what they used to be, Rams D is middle of the pack and even the Cincy defense is middle of the pack but they do create a lot of turnovers and Cincy's offense is one of the few offenses that can keep up with the Colts. Still I expect the Colts to win this week.

[RaiderZord]

they have Jax in Fla, Chargers, Steelers, Seattle in Wash, Cincy in Ohio

Those all should be hard faught games. I can't wait to see some of these! I have not seen very many Colts games, so I can't really say much besides reading articles and looking at stats.

[jjflr]

I'm reserving judgement on the Colts until the end of the season. That's why I didn't post anything.

They have games @ Bengals, @ Jaguars, @ Seahawks, and the Steelers and Chargers at home left on their schedule. All 5 of these games are harder than ANY of the 9 games they have played thus far IMO.

Let me see how they fair in these 5 contests and then I will tell you if they are the dominant force and are head and shoulders above the rest of the league as many have said.

If they win 4 or 5 of this stretch, then no question they are as advertised.

If they win 2 or less, there will be reason for concern.

[Crunked]

Well I must apologize for such a poorly written story, this is not AND was not intended to ask if the Colts would go undefeated, in fact it says nothing of any game beyond this week. The story was my attempt to prove whether the Colts have been tested yet. As I have heard many say on this site that they have not, however the games I highlighted were "supposed" tests for the Colts by most fans outside of the club until the day after each game, then everyone says "oh that wasn't a test because...." so each of those games were billed as a test and afterwords not considered a test by non Colt fans, so this story was intended to debate tested or untested? It has nothing to do with 16-0/9-7 or anywhere in between that they may end up

[whizza1]

I'm reserving judgement on the Colts until the end of the season.

most of us are...

[Blackmallard]

Beating any nine teams is a tough test, even if they are the nine worst in the NFL (the Colts have not played the worst teams in the NFL either). They played two teams that will likely make the playoffs.

I do not think that there is a single other team in the NFL who would have been 9-0 with Indianaplolis's schedule. Every other team has lost to a team that Indianapolis has either beaten, or they lost to a team worse than one that the Colts beat. It is clear to me that the Colts have been the best team through the first half of the season. Even more important than the wins is HOW they won. They have been in control of every game by the time the clock was winding down. They have not had any "miracle finishes" or opponents "melting down" to give them a win.

It will be a much bigger statement for them to do well in the second half. For one thing, no matter how you start it is hard to take a team that does not finish the season well seriously in the playoffs. Look at the Chiefs after their 9-0 start, they finished 4-3 and did not win a playoff game. It will also be tougher to go 6-1 from here, much less 7-0 than it was to win the first nine.