Indianapolis ? Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle Montae Reagor could feel the weariness long before Thursday’s game at Detroit. The constant hits, the barrage of meetings, the quick pivots from game plan to game plan had worn down his body and mind.

But Reagor and his teammates never succumbed to the Colts’ most grueling test of the season — playing four games in 18 days.

“Most people think we go out and practice one or two hours a day,” he said. “But it’s a lot of preparation, it’s emotionally draining and it’s hard on your body.”

While some believed the Colts’ first four games would prove their most difficult stretch of the season, coach Tony Dungy knew better. Few NFL teams had ever faced such a compact schedule, and he wondered how the Colts would survive.

The final answer came Thursday with Indianapolis’ fourth straight victory a 41-9 blowout at Detroit.

“I am really, really proud of the way this team came through it,” Dungy said Friday. “I told them I had never seen a team in that situation practice so hard before.”

The challenge began Nov. 8, with a Monday night home game against Minnesota. The Colts then played host to Houston before visiting Chicago on Sunday and Detroit on Thursday.

Dungy changed little.

He kept the practice schedule routine by continuing to give players regular days off and keeping workouts light. The strategy paid off.

Quarterback Peyton Manning increased his record touchdown pace, throwing 19 in the four games — more than 25 teams have thrown all year — and the Colts topped the 40-point mark three times.

Indianapolis’ maligned defense yielded just 61 points while producing a plus-12 turnover margin during the same span, in which the Colts reclaimed sole possession of the AFC South lead.

A day after their most recent rout, Dungy said his players deserved more than a passing mark; they also earned a weekend off.

“Our older guys were a little weary, and I think the toughest part for our younger guys was putting all those game plans in,” he said. “I think our young guys are growing up.”

The results could have been far different if the Colts had listened to the outside world, but there never was time.

They entered November on their first two-game losing streak since midway through the 2002 season, and with lots of questions directed at a defense that allowed 590 yards in a 45-35 loss on Oct. 31 at Kansas City.

Manning almost single-handedly changed the Colts’ fortunes.

He threw four touchdowns and guided the Colts on a winning field goal drive against Minnesota. The next week, Manning destroyed the Houston secondary, throwing for 320 yards and five TDs in a 49-14 thrashing. He followed that by throwing four touchdown passes in a 41-10 victory at Chicago, and then had six more TD passes at Detroit.

He can extend one NFL record — throwing for at least four TDs in a game — to six straight next week against Tennessee while continuing his pursuit of Dan Marino’s single-season record for TD passes. Marino threw 48 in 1984, a mark once thought untouchable. Manning now has 41 after 11 games, a pace that could give him an astounding 60 TDs when the season ends.

“Four touchdowns seems like an off week for him,” wide receiver Brandon Stokley said after Thursday’s victory. “It’s one of those things, you come in and expect that from him. It’s kind of funny to expect four or five touchdowns from a guy every game.”