[TomWilkinson]

The Indianapolis Colts don’t have to answer any more questions about a perfect season. Instead they now have to answer questions about rebounding from their first loss.

"I guess people won't have as much to say if we don't play our starters the whole way or ask how can you denigrate the game that way," coach Tony Dungy said. "But we'll play, and I'm sure we'll play hard. We want to be sharp."

Cornerback Nick Harper said, "I'm definitely not relieved," he said. "I'd rather keep winning. But life goes on. We got the 'L,' but you can't dwell on the past. That game is over."
Dungy said he will probably treat the Colts last two games more as preseason games with backups getting a great deal of playing time.

"We're going to go out there and play to win, but how much we're going to play everyone, I don't know," he said. "The guys who are healthy, we want them to practice so we can get better."

One area that needs improvement immediately is pass protection. Manning was sacked only 12 times before Sunday, but the Chargers got to him four times and harassed him all day long.
"I think we'll play our game and play well," Dungy said. "We're going out there to win the game, and we're certainly not shutting down our offense or defense. That's not the case at all."

A better guess is that the Colts will play the starters a quarter or so and then let the reserves take over. The Seahawks will probably do the same thing this week, and in the finale against Arizona, even the 2nd string for the Colts could beat the Cardinals.