Colts, Saints in danger of losing undefeated records

Reporting from New Orleans — 

Nineteen years ago, the San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants both won their first 10 games of the season.

And both lost their 11th game.

This week -- for only the second time in the NFL’s modern era -- two more teams are 10-0: the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts.

And each could easily lose its 11th game.

The Colts play at Houston today, facing a team that just three weeks ago was a missed 42-yard field-goal try away from pushing them to overtime.

The Saints play host to the New England Patriots on Monday, a Patriots team that came within inches of beating the Colts two weeks ago.

As perfection beckons, the pressure mounts.

“From the outside, people have been talking about this for three weeks now,” Saints tackle Jon Stinchcomb told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “[But] this locker room has stayed focused on that next opponent, and that doesn’t change this week.

“We’ve got a lot of respect for the Patriots, obviously. I think across the league there’s not a franchise that over time, has stood the test of time [any better]. So we’ll have our hands full just like every week.”

The Colts have strung together an NFL-record six consecutive seasons of 12 wins or more. They’re two victories away from extending that streak. That said, Indianapolis has only one Lombardi Trophy to show for it, prompting the question of whether they tend to peak too early.

“Peaking is not an issue for us,” Colts President Bill Polian said on his weekly radio show in Indianapolis. “We want to play our best football 16 weeks a year and if we’re fortunate enough to get into the postseason, we’re going to try to play our best football then and we’ll do everything we can to aim at that if and when we’re lucky enough to get into the postseason.”

It’s a safe bet they’ll get that far -- a result the Colts might consider, well, perfect.

Year	Team	Final rec.	Opp. (wk. of 1st loss)
1929	Packers	12-0-1	Undefeated
1985	Bears	15-1	Dolphins (13)
1934	Lions	10-3	Packers (11)
1990	Giants	13-3	Eagles (11)
1934	Bears	13-0	Undefeated
1990	49ers	14-2	L.A. Rams (11)
1942	Bears	11-0	Undefeated
1991	Redskins	14-2	Cowboys (12)
1953	Browns	11-1	Eagles (12)
1998	Broncos	14-2	Giants (14)
1961	Chargers	12-2	Oilers (12)
2005	Colts	14-2	Chargers (14)
1962	Packers	13-1	Lions (11)
2007	Patriots	16-0	Undefeated
1969	L.A. Rams	11-3	Vikings (12)
2008	Titans	13-3	N.Y. Jets (11)
1972	Dolphins	14-0	Undefeated
2009	Colts	--	--
1975	Vikings	12-2	Redskins (11)
2009	Saints	--	--
1984	Dolphins	14-2	Chargers (12)

-- Source: NFL Tommy gun

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has thrown for 300 yards in five consecutive games, one shy of the NFL record shared by Steve Young, Kurt Warner and Rich Gannon.

The most consecutive 300-yard passing games in NFL history:

Player	Team	Year	Games
Steve Young	San Francisco	1998	6
Kurt Warner	St. Louis	2000	6
Rich Gannon	Oakland	2002	6
Tom Brady	New England	2009	5**

-- ** active streak. Source: NFL Ironman

Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre will play in his 272nd consecutive game today, matching the NFL record (for non-kickers/punters) set by Vikings great Jim Marshall.

Favre acknowledged last week that it would have been remarkably hard to accomplish that feat as a defensive player, as defensive end Marshall did, and said: “I’m honored to be mentioned in the same breath with him. I really am.

“I’m honored that I’m still asked to do this, people still want me to play. I think for me I’d love to sit here and say there’s a secret that I can’t give out. I think God has blessed me with a lot of talent and the ability to use it and overcome certain injuries that may have kept the next guy out.”

sam.farmer@latimes.com

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