The Colts are actually the first team since the 1998 Denver Broncos to actually improve on their record in a season following a Super Bowl victory. Did you know that? Of course not, because no one wrote about it. The Colts were also the first team since Curly Lambeau's Green Bay Packers to start a season 7-0 for the third straight year. Did you know that? Of course not, because no one wrote about it. And now, the Colts enter the post-season healthy, looking to win their second championship in a row. Did you know that? Of course not, because no one has written much about it.
It's gotten so pathetic that the fact no one has written about it is actually more of a story than the team's accomplishments:
They reached the mountain top and then they disappeared from the radar. Here is a Super Bowl champion that avoided a hangover and is just as good as last season, and no one seems to have noticed.
After taking heat for getting close but falling short of the Super Bowl, the Colts have now been buried after winning the title. The Colts are the forgotten champions.
Of the four teams that earned a bye in the first round of the playoffs, the Colts have been ignored. Why?
This is a team that has the goods to repeat as champions. That should be worth something, shouldn't it? We got all the other juicy story lines, but the Colts have the best chance to repeat as a Super Bowl team since the Patriots from earlier this decade.
It will be the biggest non-fanfare return to a Super Bowl in recent memory.
It's important to note that the media shunning the Colts is actually a good thing. I may sound like I'm complaining about it, but my complaints are more jabs at the sad state of American journalism. Covering the Dallas Cowboys (who haven't won a playoff game in over 12 years) and their Jessica Simpson-humping QB over the Colts is just bad journalism.
However, as a fan and follower of the team, I know Dungy is using this as motivation. The Colts really, really thrive when they play angry. When people dismiss them, count them out, or just plain ignore them, BOOM! They lower the hammer and make you go Woah!
Get ready. This team is mad, and ready to prove themselves all over again.