I know this was a bye week. I know the Patriots are the talk of the NFL right now. I know every would be Arliss and Don Draper is salivating over the possibility of an undefeated Patriots v. and undefeated Colts on November 4th. Chris Collinsworth made it clear last night that he's in the Tony Kornheiser camp: The Patriots will go undefeated, and no one can beat them. Bob Costas asked "What about the Colts?" Collinsworth dismissed them. This is the same Collinsworth that dismissed the Colts last year, saying they had no chance to win the Super Bowl.
All that said, as MasterRWayne said earlier, there is a lot of football left to be played. There is certainly no guarantee that New England or Indianapolis will go undefeated between now and Nov. 4th. I know people think it will happen, but people also though USC was a great team this year, and they choked to Stanford two weeks ago and almost lost to unranked Arizona this past weekend. Anything can, and likely will, happen.
Also, I'd like to make this point as clear and concise as possible: The November 4th game means nothing.
It's a regular season game against a non-Division opponent. Is it a big game for us fans? Sure. Will the ratings go through the roof for NBC? Likely. Does it guarantee a Super Bowl victory in February? Hell no.
Also, the game will likely do little to change people's perceptions, which mean very little when all is said and done. The Colts could wax the Patriots, pick off Brady 4 times (again), and slap them around as they'd done the last two years and it won't change a thing. People will still drool over Patriots and slight the Colts. It's just how the rest of the season is going to be until the playoffs. Then, if both teams are fortunate enough to make the post-season, they will likely play each other... again.
I realize I've stoked this flame somewhat, ranting and raving about ESPN sucking Bob Kraft's large man tits since the Colts smacked the Pats around in the second half of the AFC Championship Game. It now needs to stop because, in all honesty, the Patriots just aren't that important. There's a lot of football left to play, and the next opponent for the Colts happens to be a pretty damn good team in Jacksonville, sporting a 4-1 record, a QB who actually knows what he's doing, and a defense that looks rejuvenated.
So, all that said, please take this oath with me: I will not talk about the team from New England until the week prior to when the Colts play them.
They are one team in a field of 32 31 that stand in the way of the Colts repeating as champions. As fans, we will deal with them when the time goes, and when we do it will be in the same classy manner we have often dealt with teams vying for a piece of our team.