Peyton Manning is one victory away from his first Super Bowl appearance. AP

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- It's hyperbole of the silliest kind to suggest that the Indianapolis Colts were unstoppable Sunday in Kansas City.

I mean, really. We can't prove it, but you just know they a hit a red light or two on the 15-minute bus ride to the stadium. Maybe even a traffic slowdown.

Once they actually got to the game, though, it was a different story for the Peyton Manning-led Colts. As always, there was red everywhere they looked in Arrowhead Stadium, but absolutely nothing gave Manning and the Indianapolis offense pause on this day. Certainly not the Chiefs' overmatched defense, which finished its workday red-faced and blending in perfectly with its surroundings.

For a second consecutive Sunday this postseason, everything the Colts' offense touched turned to points. And for a second consecutive week, an AFC West playoff qualifier paid the ultimate price, as Indianapolis swept No. 2 seeded Kansas City out of the NFL's Super Bowl tournament with a resounding 38-31 victory before a stunned Chiefs crowd.

We know it's going to sound ridiculous, but at this stage in the postseason festivities, something fairly important needs to be pointed out about these Colts, who are one win away from the franchise's first Super Bowl berth in 33 years: They may never punt again.

Ever.

We mean it. It's been two games and counting since Colts punter Hunter Smith stepped on the field. How's that for offensive execution, dear football fans?

"They're calling me the Maytag repairman,'' said the underused Smith, who for some reason chose to shower after the game. "But somehow I got more airtime on TV today in the locker room than ever. Everyone wants to know if I've ever gone two games without punting? And it's, 'No. Never.''

In fact, neither team punted in Sunday's slugfest, making it the first punt-less NFL playoff game in history. If that sounds exciting, well, it was.

And nobody is creating more excitement in the league these days than Manning, the NFL's co-MVP and undisputed "Quarterback in the Zone'' of these playoffs. When we say the Chiefs couldn't stop Manning and the Colts all day long, we mean they couldn't stop them all day long. Literally.

Indianapolis (14-4) scored every time it tried to Sunday, hanging up points on six of its eight possessions (five touchdowns and one field goal), with its other two drives being clock-killing measures at the end of the first half and all but the final eight seconds of the game.

Perfection is an elusive goal in the game of football, but the Colts are coming dangerously close on offense as they storm into next Sunday's AFC Championship Game at top-seeded New England (15-2).

"He is the master,'' Chiefs defensive end Eric Hicks said of Manning. "It's obvious why he's the co-MVP of the league. You have to take your hat off to him. That was an amazing performance. We just got beat. We just got our [butt] whupped. They took us behind the woodshed and just beat us. It's embarrassing.''

There's no embarrassment in losing to Manning and the Colts these days. In their two playoff wins, 41-10 last week at home against Denver and at Kansas City, the Colts have scored on a staggering 13 of 17 total possessions, with 10 touchdowns, three field goals, one fumble and three drives that ended on downs or with the halftime whistle.

In the blowout of Denver, the Colts notched touchdowns on their first four drives and scored on their opening seven. On Sunday, they produced touchdowns on their first three possessions and points on six of their first seven. Added up, that's 79 points in two weeks, and that's going to win Indy a Lombardi Trophy or two if they keep up that pace.

"It has felt easy out there, and that's a great feeling to have,'' said Colts receiver Brandon Stokely, who got his team's offensive outburst started by scoring its first touchdown on a 29-yard opening-drive reception. "When it feels that easy, everything you do is right.''

Against the shell-shocked Chiefs, the Colts had no penalties on offense, converted 8-of-11 third downs and racked up 434 total yards. Word is, they also tidied up the locker room at halftime.

"Our offense has been in rhythm the last two weeks,'' said Colts head coach Tony Dungy, a man given to understatement. "I don't know what more you can say about them. Obviously, Peyton is just playing phenomenal, making the checks, putting us in the right plays, making the clutch third-down plays. He's just been fantastic the last two weeks.

"We've got a tremendous offensive team, and we feel like we're going to score points wherever we play every week. It's fun watching it. I just wish we had a little more spread so we wouldn't have to hold our breath so much.''

Hold it if you must, Tony. But your quarterback is taking everyone else's breath away this month. Manning finished 22-of-30 for 304 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions against K.C., and his two-week playoff totals are even more astounding: 44-of-56 for 681 yards, eight touchdowns, no interceptions and a gaudy 156.9 quarterback rating.

"The whole [in the] zone thing, that's kind of deep for me,'' Manning said. "I guess [Michael] Jordan said that a few years ago. But that's deep. I'm just a football player. I'm hot right now. I guess right now we're hot on offense. That makes a little more sense.

"We've got a good mix going with our run game and our passing game. We are hot right now, but we're not tricking people. We're not running flea-flickers. We're not running reverses. We're running the same plays we've run all season.''

After watching Manning almost single-handedly end his team's once-dream season, Chiefs general manager Carl Peterson sought out the Colts' sixth-year quarterback near the Indianapolis locker room. Grabbing his right arm for emphasis, Peterson looked Manning in the eyes and told him:

"You are the MVP. That was the finest game I've ever seen a quarterback play, Joe Montana included. We tried to give you the full-throated 80,000-fan treatment, and it didn't make any difference. You are one hell of a football player. You deserve it all. Now go win the whole thing.''

Manning can't explain the groove he has operated in the past two weeks, but he admits that in the first half, the Colts discussed the possibility of having to score every possession to beat Kansas City, which rolled up 408 total yards and has no small stockpile of offensive talent itself.

"We kind of talked about it, about the third series or so, just amongst ourselves and the offensive line,'' Manning said. "We were hot early and we kind of stayed hot. We talked about being in a rhythm. 'Let's keep doing it. Let's don't self-destruct.'''

The only thing destructing in Indianapolis is the label that had haunted Manning for far too long: the can't-win-the-big-one tag. It took Manning six years to win his first NFL playoff game and only another seven days to earn his second.

And it's so much fun when you finally get the hang of it.

"I don't know how you could be any better than he's played the last three weeks,'' Dungy said. "Ever since I've been there, he's played great football. But to do it on a national stage, I'm really happy for him. Hopefully this will erase some of those doubts about what kind of quarterback he is.''

On Sunday, Manning was as close to perfection as a quarterback can be. And that's the thing about perfection. It can't be beat.

Don Banks covers pro football for SI.com.