Dungy: 'We're still the same team'

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December 25, 2006

Tom James The Tribune Star Mon Dec 25, 2006, 11:02 PM EST

INDIANAPOLIS — Tony Dungy is scratching his head right about now, trying to figure out what the heck is wrong with the Indianapolis Colts.

Yes, the Colts are 11-4 and have won a fourth straight AFC South championship. But this team has lost four of its last six games, including four in a row on the road after Sunday’s disheartening 27-24 defeat at the hands of the Houston Texans.

Kris Brown’s 48-yard field goal with no time remaining proved to be the margin of difference for the Texans, marking the second last-second loss for Indianapolis in the last four weeks.

Despite a win-loss record that is among the league’s best, Indianapolis has been an up-and-down team this season.

The offense, despite putting up some pretty good numbers, hasn’t looked as sharp as in past years. And the defense has been downright terrible during the second half of the season, especially in those uncharacteristic road losses.

It’s been a largely frustrating year for the team and fans alike. Trying to figure out which Colts team is going to up on a week-to-week basis is anybody’s guess.

The frustration level has no doubt gone up a few levels after the unexpected loss to the Texans, which played out much like several of Indianapolis ‘ recent games.

“I think we practice hard. We play hard. And we were getting the job done earlier in the year. Late in the year, on the road, is where we’ve struggled,” Dungy said in a meeting with the team’s media Monday.

“That used to be something that we enjoyed. We took the challenge and played well. But we’ve lost three of our games in the fourth quarter and one game we just didn’t play well. Those are games that you’ve got to win to be champions.”

The team’s inconsistent play this season has been and continues to be a major problem to overcome. But Dungy is wary of is letting one loss, much less four losses, get his team down and forget the long-term goals that the Colts set at the beginning of the season.

As it stands now, Indianapolis is the AFC’s third-seeded team and may have very well lost out on a chance of obtaining a first-round playoff bye. San Diego and Baltimore are now the AFC’s top two seeded teams and have nearly locked up a bye and home field advantage through the postseason.

The best that Indianapolis can hope for is a loss by the Ravens this week against Buffalo and a Colts’ win at the RCA Dome against Miami.

“We can’t allow the disappointment of not keeping things in our own hands allow us to go out and play poorly this week. We’ve got to play with the same energy and emotion that we had [in a Monday night win over Cincinnati]. And then we’ve got to be able to string three or four in a row like that,” Dungy said.

“That’s the big thing. We’re still the same team that won a bunch of games earlier. Most of the teams in the playoffs we’ve played before. We haven’t played San Diego or Baltimore, but everybody else. But it looks like we’ve got a chance to beat everybody we’ve played. There shouldn’t be any worry about we can do. We’ve just to get ourselves ready to go.”

But can that happen? Can the Colts turn around their inconsistent play in time for a lengthy postseason run? That remains to be seen.

“We have been a little more inconsistent this second half of the year than what we’re used to. I don’t really know why or what that is. Somehow we’ve got to get some consistent play for the next month,” Dungy said.

n Injury update — Offensive guard Ryan Lilja suffered a bruised/sprained right knee in the first quarter of the Houston game. He did not return to the game and was replaced in the starting lineup by Dylan Gandy.

An update on Lilja’s availability for this week’s game with Miami won’t be known until Wednesday at the earliest.

No other injuries were reported from the Houston game. Safety Bob Sanders (knee) and tight end Dallas Clark (knee) may be able to see some playing time Sunday against the Dolphins. A final decision on whether they may or may not play will be made by the end of the week.

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