26-17 was the final score as the Indianapolis Colts fell for the first time this season to the San Diego Chargers. Miami Dolphins fans no doubt rejoiced, as they will be reminding us until next season that they are to this point NFL's only team to play out a season and postseason undefeated.

While Indy is no doubt disappointed at missing its chance to make history, this might be the best Christmas gift they could have gotten.

See, entering the postseason undefeated has its drawbacks. Defeat, for all its ugliness, has its advantages in showing weak spots, and areas that need improvement. And going into the postseason with ANYTHING that needs improvement can be death for a team. Indy knows this all too well, having run up against a brick wall called the New England Patriots in previous attempts to garner the Lombardi trophy for their hometown. The bigger you are, as the old adage goes, the harder you fall. Better to fall in the season while there's still a chance to pick yourself up.

Add to that the media frenzy that would surround a team in its quest to unseat Shula's acquatic mammals in NFL history. Think Barry Bonds' homerun season times about 60 (since every player and coach on the team would have media dripping from their shoulders). Think the Eugene Robinson Superbowl sex scandal a few years back was big? While the Colts seem to have their act together, there's likely to be SOME member of the team that would fold under the media scrutiny. And as the Robinson saga showed, sometimes the small, seemingly irrelevant stories can quickly conspire to dissolve a team that's worked hard to get where it is.

Barring a complete meltdown, the Colts should be possessing of a nice piece of hardware for their front office, the first since their Baltimore exodus years back. The loss to San Diego may have helped clinch it.