On Sunday, the lowly Cincinnati Bengals were dispatched 35-3. This week, the winless Detroit Lions will be similarly conquered.

It's almost guaranteed.

"I was proud of the team for really dialing in and getting focused and taking care of our business (against Cincinnati)," Colts coach Tony Dungy said. "That was kind of the thought for the day - `Do our job' - and we did it. ... Now we have the same type of challenge. We have to follow that up with a better performance against a team that doesn't have a great record but has some talented players."

Beating bad teams may sound easy. But look around the NFL, and you'll find a slew of games in which good teams absolutely blew it against fluff opponents. The New York Jets lost to San Francisco. The Denver Broncos got crushed by Oakland. The Dallas Cowboys lost to St. Louis.

The NFL is supposedly built on parity, but the Colts (9-4) haven't necessarily bought into the notion.

Look through the Colts' recent history and it's tough to find a game that they really, truly blew.

They lost late-season games here and there, but only when they were resting their starters because playoff position was secured. There was a loss to Jacksonville this season and Houston in 2006, but those were against division rivals and are excusable. Indianapolis dropped some road games to 7-9 teams at Kansas City and Washington in 2004 and 2002, respectively, hardly embarrassing.

So when was the last time the Colts collapsed in a game against a truly horrible team? When was the last time they lost a game they had no business losing? You've got to go back to 2000, when Jim Mora was the coach, a 27-25 loss to a Chicago team that was 5-11.

Eight years without a major hiccup, that's the truest testament to Dungy's skills as a motivator and a preparer of teams.

Those things will be on display against the Lions at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Colts, who will have center Jeff Saturday back in the lineup, should win. And they need to win to stay ahead in the wild card race.

"Again, the focus for us will be getting better, doing our job and trying to improve and keep ourselves in the playoff picture right where we are," Dungy said.

Eventually, the Colts will lose one of these so-called easy games. They'll feel the sting that the Jets must have Sunday.

I doubt it will happen this week, though, as the Lions are hideously bad.

But even if the Colts do somehow let the unthinkable happen, consider this: When they lost to Houston in 2006, it was the proverbial wake-up call, and they won the next five games, including the Super Bowl.

See also

*Panthers beat Bucs to take control of NFC South

*Andersen retires; NFL notebook

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