Latest Win Makes Colts 11-and-Oh!

The Indianapolis Colts didn’t just clear another hurdle along the path to perfection, they showed how far ahead of the pack they are.

Looking like a team ready to be sized for Super Bowl rings, the Colts carved through Pittsburgh with relative ease Monday, scoring an 80-yard touchdown on their first play and never glancing back in a 26-7 victory at the RCA Dome.

The Colts are the first team to start 11-0 since the 1998 Denver Broncos, who, incidentally, went on to win the Super Bowl. Only the 1972 Miami Dolphins made it through an entire season without a loss.

“Pittsburgh was 15-1 last year, so beating them is huge,” Coach Tony Dungy said.

The Steelers (7-4), who had beaten the Colts nine consecutive times, were supposed to be a more formidable challenge. But they were impatient, and paid the price for it. Flagged four times for false starts -- two by rookie left tackle Trai Essex, who was lined up across from Pro Bowl defensive end Dwight Freeney -- the Steelers struggled to cope with the noise in the dome. Worse, they opened both halves with devastating miscalculations.

On the Colts’ first play, Pittsburgh cornerback Ike Taylor let Marvin Harrison slip past him, run under a Peyton Manning bomb and glide across the goal line for an 80-yard touchdown -- the tandem’s longest scoring hookup ever.

“I think [offensive coordinator] Tom Moore kind of had it in his mind that he wanted to throw deep on the first play,” said Manning, who was facing a defense that had not surrendered a touchdown pass of 20 yards or longer all season.

Then, to open the second half, the Steelers attempted an onside kick and paid for their impatience. The Colts recovered the ball, turning the mistake into another Manning touchdown pass.

“They pretty much dominated us,” Pittsburgh Coach Bill Cowher said. “Our offense to their defense, they were pretty smothering out there, and we really couldn’t get anything going. Their offense and their defensive front pretty much dominated tonight, and you can’t deny that.”

Steeler quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who hadn’t played since Halloween and was making a return from arthroscopic knee surgery, was sacked three times and finished with a touchdown and two interceptions. It was just his second loss in 20 regular-season starts.

The crushing blow was the failed onside kick, which came when the Steelers were trailing, 16-7. Manning said he was “a little bit” surprised Pittsburgh would take that risk -- but he was delighted with the results.

“Obviously you like a short field,” he said. “Makes you more determined to get a touchdown.”

Not only are the Colts good, they’re also lucky. They caught Roethlisberger when he clearly still had some rust; in two weeks they will face Jacksonville backup David Garrard, instead of the injured Byron Leftwich, making that game much less daunting; and, Christmas Eve in Seattle, they could face a lineup filled with second-stringers if the Seahawks have home-field advantage sewn up by that point.

The most imposing hurdle between the Colts and 16-0 could be the Week 15 game against San Diego at home.

In a report on SportsIllustrated.com, Dungy said that if the Colts clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs they might rest their regulars. Asked about that after the game, he reiterated his stance but didn’t commit to anything.

“We will play the way we’ve always played,” he said. “We got into a situation last year [in a meaningless regular-season finale against Denver] where it was more beneficial to rest our guys than to go in the other direction. So we’ll play it out, but everybody’s way, way ahead on this. ... We don’t even have our division won, so that’s what we’re focused on.”

A week after beating Cincinnati, 45-37, in the highest-scoring NFL game of the season, the Colts once again proved they’re versatile enough to grind out victories, too. Edgerrin James ran for 124 yards in 29 carries, becoming the first back in 24 games (counting playoffs) to gain at least 100 yards against the Steelers.

“That’s what I like about our team,” Dungy said. “We’re comfortable playing any style. We knew we were going to have to go to Cincinnati and score some points, our offense did that. Today, we felt like it was going to be tough on our offense. ... Our team just seems to be able to do whatever it takes.”

The only points the Steelers could muster were the result of an opportunity created by safety Troy Polamalu, who intercepted a Manning pass near midfield late in the first quarter, then weaved his way 36 yards to the Colt seven. Two plays (and two false starts) later, Roethlisberger threaded a 12-yard touchdown pass between a pair of defenders to Hines Ward.

It was one of the few defensive breakdowns the Colts had all night. They limited the Steelers to less than a third of their 23.6 scoring average, and to 197 yards -- 108 yards fewer than Pittsburgh’s average.

Gone are the days when the Indianapolis defense was the glaring weakness on an otherwise elite team.

Conceded Manning: “I sleep a lot better on Saturday nights.”

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Best starts

Best starts in the NFL since 1970:

*--* W-L Team Year 14-0 Miami 1972 13-0 Denver 1998 12-0 Chicago 1985 11-0 Indianapolis-x 2005 Miami 1984 Washington 1991

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*--* W-L Team Year 10-0 Minnesota 1975 N.Y. Giants 1990 San Francisco 1990 9-0 Minnesota 1973 Kansas City 2003

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