Indianapolis ? Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts would define perfection as winning a Super Bowl title. Anything more would be a bonus.

But with five weeks left in the regular season, the Colts’ arduous, three-decade quest to return to the Super Bowl now carries an added burden – trying to join the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only unbeaten teams in NFL history.

Forget that the Colts already are 11-0, could clinch the AFC South title in the next two weeks and may soon wrap up a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

The big question now around Indy – and the NFL – is whether anyone can beat this team.

Coach Tony Dungy wants everyone to keep things in perspective.

“Hopefully we win the next two, because that means we will wrap up the division,” he said Tuesday. “If we win them, we know there will be a lot of talk about, ‘Can you go undefeated?’ But that’s never really been our goal.”

What the Colts have demonstrated through September, October and November is that they can win games in almost every conceivable fashion.

Shut down Manning and the offense, and Indy can win the slugfest. Force the Colts into a shootout, and they’ll score more points. Take the lead, early or late, and the Colts can rally. And if an opponent dares the Colts to protect a lead, they’ve proven they can run out the clock.

“It’s a matter of it all coming together at the right time,” running back Edgerrin James said.

How good are the Colts?

Indy hasn’t trailed in a game since Oct. 17, the offense has averaged nearly 36 points in the last eight games, and the defense has allowed an AFC-low 159 points.

On Monday, former Bears and Saints coach Mike Ditka said on a national radio talk show that this offense was the best he ever had seen. Last week, Don Shula, architect of the Dolphins team that went 17-0, said he believed the Colts could continue knocking off challengers.

“As long as they stay healthy, I think they’ve got a great shot at it,” Shula said.

During the past four weeks, the Colts also have demonstrated their mettle by knocking off three of the conference’s top contenders – winning at two-time defending Super Bowl champ New England and AFC North leader Cincinnati before taking out Pittsburgh, 26-7, on Monday night.

That also meant exorcising some old demons.

The victory over the Patriots was Indy’s first in Foxborough since 1995, and Monday night’s victory ended a 21-year drought against the Steelers.

Those victories essentially have eliminated all three teams from the home-field chase. That makes Denver (9-2) the only serious contender to force the Colts out of the RCA Dome in January, when Indianapolis has been most vulnerable playing outdoors in the cold.

For now, though, it means little to the Colts, who can wrap up their third straight AFC South title with two more wins – Sunday at home against Tennessee and Dec. 11 at Jacksonville.

“We want to see if we can get that done,” Dungy said. “So our focus is winning the first one. This is a very critical two-week stretch for us.”