INDIANAPOLIS -- The excitement could be heard behind the closed doors outside of the locker room. Owner Jim Irsay walked out of the locker room with an AFC South champion hat. Players strutted around the locker room sporting their hats proudly. Some were so excited they were taking selfies with their cell phones.
The Indianapolis Colts did what they’re supposed to do: They steamrolled through the AFC South for their second consecutive division title after beating the Houston Texans 17-10 on Sunday.
That's expected when you have quarterback Andrew Luck and you play in arguably the weakest division in the NFL. The Colts should be proud of their accomplishments when you take into consideration they started their rebuilding phase back in 2012.
But it’s not about winning the division for the Colts. It’s about being on the same level as the AFC elite, the Denver Broncos and New England Patriots.
What the Colts have proved in the past four games -- all victories -- is they can do enough to beat the weak teams in the league, but they’ve also proved they have a lot of work ahead of them before the playoffs.
“I think we needed what’s happened to us lately,” Colts safety Mike Adams said. “Because in the playoffs, that’s what it’s going to be. We have to know how to react, how to act when adversity hits. Be calm, cool and keep doing what we do. I really thought we needed this.”
The Colts still have a chance to catch the Broncos and Patriots for one of the top two seeds, which would give them a bye the first weekend of the playoffs, but there’s also the improvement factor for Indianapolis in its final two games.
The Colts close out the regular season at Dallas and Tennessee in their final two tune-ups to improve the flaws they have before the “tournament,” as coach Chuck Pagano calls it, starts.
“We want to play better,” receiver Reggie Wayne said. “We want to be able to take care of the ball. You want to do everything you possibly can to win and we know how this rolls, we know how this goes. It’s all about the team that’s getting hot and hopefully you can continue to have a hot streak and just roll into the playoffs with that.”
At one point in the season, the Colts were an exciting offensive team that had no problem scoring points and controlling the clock.
Things have drastically changed. It’s the defense, yes, the defense, that is carrying them.
Luck continued his sloppiness. His throw behind tight end Coby Fleener was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Texans safety Kendrick Lewis in the first quarter. Wayne lost a fumble later in the game to bring Indianapolis’ turnover total to 12 in the past four games.
“We've got to improve,” Luck said. “I think for one, we've won the past couple of games, which is important to us. At the end of the day, that's important. It's all about getting the win, that's what it is. We've got to improve and we know we'll do that, and it'll be at practice, it'll be in meetings and hopefully the game."
The Colts won all four games because they faced quarterbacks who go by the names of Blake Bortles, Colt McCoy, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tom Savage.
They won’t get away with those mistakes against quarterbacks who go by the names of Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or Ben Roethlisberger in the playoffs. They won't even get away with it next weekend against Tony Romo and the Cowboys.
“Our vision is what our vision is,” Pagano said. “We're going to put the time in necessary to reach that ultimate goal. You guys all know what that ultimate goal is. It's all about getting hot and going on a little bit of a run here. Again, we're never going to apologize for winning. They're W's, and they're on the left-hand side of the column. Just got to keep grinding, keep working, try to get better."
Pagano’s right. The Colts don’t need to apologize for winning. But it is a matter of them getting better before the start of the playoffs, where they won't be facing quarterbacks named Bortles or Hoyer or McCoy or Fitzpatrick.
