Why are Colts fans so keyed up about the team's win over Tampa Bay?

Forget liberal or conservative bias in the media. I want to focus on "Colts Bias." Seriously, I can understand being excited with the team's 5-0 start, but come on. If you watch ESPN (or any other sports media outlet), the major NFL analysts want to talk up the Colts as "reclaiming their spot" as the best team in the league, due to the fact that they overcame the Tampa Bay Buccaneers while missing five starters. First of all, in an effort to bolster the Colts, many want to tarnish the New England Patriots and Dallas Cowboys (the two main challengers to the Colts' throne) for each team's lack of strength of schedule. But you can only beat the teams that you play, and so far, the Pats and 'Boys have been far more convincing than the Colts. And if you want to talk strength of schedule, look at this.

The Colts have beaten the Saints (0-4), the Titans (3-2, with wins coming over the Falcons (1-4), Saints (0-4), and Jacksonville (3-2)...a whopping combined total of 4-10), Texans (another misleading 3-2: they beat Kansas City [in a week where KC was missing the heart and soul of their team, Larry Johnson], Carolina [who have beaten 0-4 Saints, 1-4 Falcons, and 0-5 Rams], and 0-5 Miami), Denver (who was completely HOUSED by the Chargers yesterday, 41-3), and Tampa Bay, which will lead me to the point of my argument.

Blind supporters of the Colts (you know, the kind of people who make up about 95% of ESPN) point out that the team was missing five starters. But, my God, the Bucs were missing their best offensive lineman (Luke Petitgout) and their starting RB (Cadillac Williams); plus, one of the five absences for the Colts was Marvin Harrison, you know, the most overrated receiver in the league. And if you want more proof that Indy's win was not THAT big, let us look at the three teams that Tampa Bay has defeated: 0-4 New Orleans, 0-5 St. Louis, and 3-2 Carolina (who, as written above, have three wins as the result of beating teams with a combined record of 1-13).

Now, as I said before, you can only beat the teams that you are scheduled to play. And I also a firm believer in what Bill Parcells preaches: "you are what your record says you are." But when people want to excessively trash New England and Dallas for not playing anyone, all while the Colts have been playing comparable, if not inferior, teams (and whose wins have not come in the impressive fashion that the Pats and Cowboys have provided), yet are still the darlings of the league, well, that does not sit well with me. Unfortunately, next week the Cowboys and Pats will have to slug it out against each other, knocking off yet another undefeated team, while Peyton and Co. sit at home watching the proceedings on television. And to make matters worse, the NFL (in yet another case of blatantly fudging the rules to make things easier on the Colts), have given the "champs" a very easy schedule.

Super Bowl winners are supposed to have the toughest or close to the toughest (depending on how weak the team's division foes are) schedules, but look at Indy's. The top three remaining teams on their list are: San Diego (2-3, a team that is, despite the drubbing of Denver, looking very beatable), Baltimore (nowhere near as formidable as they were last year), and, of course, New England, who will provide the only true test in 16 games for the Colts.

How does this happen? Well, when you have a league that is willing to bend the rules to make it easier for you to win (remember how the Colts' pussy receivers whined that the Pats were "too rough" after they choked against them in 2004? And then the league changed rules of play around to accomodate said pussy receivers? Or how the Pats had an excessively tough schedule in 2005 [even for a SB winner...if you don't believe me, look it up], which resulted in numerous injuries that they weren't able to shake, leading to what should have been a cakewalk for Indy [before they choked yet again against Pittsburgh at home in the playoffs]? Well if you don't remember these things, I do, and there are plenty more circumstances where the Colts did not earn certain successes, but were given them), good things happen to you. Obviously I have gotten on a bit of a digression from my original point. I assure you, however, that the Colts week 5 win over TB was not NEARLY as impressive as certain folks would have everyone to believe.