You could sense it in the third quarter at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The home team, which was according to many, “Man for man, better on paper” than their opponents from Miami, was beginning to realize the Fish from Florida were not going away.
You let a team that you are supposed to beat hang around and their confidence grows, and suddenly they are pumping their fists in the air as they run off the field to the locker room with a victory.
All that remains then is the analysis as to what went wrong and what adjustments have to be made before you fly across the country to play the defending NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers, who will be ticked about the beat down they took on national television from Seattle. Gee, thanks NFL schedule makers.
Less than ideal for the Colts, you might say, but it is simply the stark reality of a tougher schedule that finds them playing three of the upper echelon teams in the NFL in a five-week span. Couple that with another cross-country trek during that five weeks to play at San Diego, and the schedule for the guys who surprised us all last year is down right brutal.
That being said, when Pagano refers to the long haul as the big picture, I would agree, but just how far can a team fall behind early in the standings and expect to come back? It is worth mentioning again that it is just week three and the fact remains that only three of their final nine games this season will put a playoff team from a year ago across the line of scrimmage from them.
Taking that into consideration, there is indeed an opportunity here to return to the post season, but this team cannot afford to leave any easy markers on the table.
Give Pagano credit. He made no excuses for the loss and gave Miami their due respect. He took responsibility for the game plan (as he should) and tipped his hat to the Dolphins coaching staff as well. But his weary face told those of us looking at him after the game that this one was indeed a contest they should have won and he was visibly upset with the outcome.
The reality of the NFL is there will be injuries and the Colts have swallowed that bitter pill early with season ending surgeries for both Vick Ballard and Donald Thomas. While their contributions will be missed, the next man up mentality that served this franchise so well last year is now being put into play much earlier than General Manager Ryan Grigson had envisioned.
While these next five weeks may indeed bring the big picture clearly into focus, we should not lose sight of the fact that the Colts beat some teams last year late in the game, often in the final drive. The credit they received for doing such was just, but a dropped pass here or a missed tackle there and we are talking a different story as to how that splendid season could have shaped up.
They were certainly playing with house money, but they picked up a lot on the way, and that gave everyone some legit hope for this season. With higher expectations comes a more intense scrutiny of your performance and after two weeks there is certainly some concerns on West 56th Street.
The easy thing to do is to panic and wave red flags, but that is still premature. We rode the roller coaster with this group a year ago and when it stopped we all conceded it was a pretty fun ride.
Look for that ride to perhaps get a bit rough these next five weeks, (OK, it will be rocky) but it is still possible that it too will be an enjoyable one when that time period expires. This is what you wanted Colts fans, a larger stage and a brighter spotlight. In this case a white hot one.
Stepping up to the marquee requires the need for a better effort from both the players and the coaches, as there is no margin for error in the NFL, especially on the road. Yes we are now going to really find out what these Colts have in the tank, and it may just be interesting. Until then, I still say you should remain seated with your seat belt fastened. Lets see if they can ride the turbulence out.
Danny Bridges, who has the Colts pegged to go 3-2 in these next five games, can be reached at (317) 578-1780 or at Bridgeshd@aol.com.
