Colts have looked shaky -- which might be good thing

	Peyton Manning and the Colts are 6-0 for the second straight season. Damian Strohmeyer/SI
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Steering my rented Jeep down Interstate 65, dodging trucks and construction barriers while inhaling convenience-store coffee, I am midway through the Chicago-to-Indianapolis 200, and man, do I need a pit stop.

Things are about to get mighty interesting in this part of the football universe. With 6-0 records, the Bears and the Colts are the league's last undefeated teams, and while Chicago need only handle the 49ers and the Dolphins to stay perfect through the first half of the season, Indy is about to discover a lot about itself with consecutive road games against teams that are currently 5-1.

Colts at Broncos, followed by Colts at Patriots: This is when it starts getting good. As I cruise through Gary, Ind., home of Professor Harold Hill, I'm wondering if Indy will be exposed as a fraud or legitimized as a Super Bowl contender the next two weeks, and my money is on the latter. In fact, I've got a sneaking suspicion I'll be cruising down this freeway again come January.

If Indy can defeat Denver, which has given up only 44 points (and a mere two touchdowns) in six games, the Colts will be well on their way to home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs -- a distinction I've all but conceded to the Bears on the NFC side.

And though that guarantees nothing (see: RCA Dome, Pittsburgh at Indy, January 2006), the anticipation of a Windy City/Naptown smackdown in Miami would turn this soon-to-be-snowbound region into an NFL hotspot of fantastic proportions.

Think about what a cool Super Bowl matchup that would be, at least in terms of pregame hype: Fearsome Defense vs. Awesome Offense. Student (Lovie Smith) vs. Mentor (Tony Dungy) -- the first two African-American head coaches to guide their teams to the ultimate game. And for dramatic effect, Ownership That Sullies the Family Name (Halas) vs. Ownership That Enhances It (Irsay).

More Peyton Manning commercials than ever before!

OK. Deep breath. It's only October, and in this era of instant, definitive proclamation, I'm not going to insult you by telling you what will happen in January, except that Bob Griese and friends won't have to sweat out the frightening prospect of either of these teams going undefeated. The odds are that one or both will falter before the next conference champions are crowned.

I've already given you my reasons for picking against the Bears, so let's turn our attention to the Colts, who've quietly become only the ninth team in NFL history to begin consecutive seasons with a 6-0 record or better. A victory on Sunday would place Indy alone with the Green Bay Packers (1929-31) among teams with consecutive 7-0 starts.