Forget for a moment, if possible, Bill Belichick’s ill-fated fourth-down decision that enabled the Colts to remain the league’s only undefeated team except for the Saints. The fact is that, no matter how close they came to losing Sunday, the Colts managed to register their 18th straight regular-season victory — tying the second-longest regular-season streak shared by the 2003-04 Patriots. Indy's thrilling, last-minute 35-34 victory over arch-rival New England, which made for great television down the stretch of a game that was a pretty sloppy affair for the most part, also enabled the league record for consecutive wins to remain an inviting target. Wins on the road against the Ravens and Texans the next two weeks, followed by a victory at home against the suddenly resurgent Titans, would allow the Colts to tie the league mark held by the Patriots (2006-08). A victory one week later at home against Denver would be the icing on the league record book.

But, as was the case one week earlier, the Colts had enough dropped passes by their receivers and blown coverages by their bruised and battered pass defense to make a perfect season seem more and more like a pipe dream. Can Indy’s defense continue to bend — like it did in allowing Tom Brady to pass for 375 yards and run up a 31-14 lead with 14:18 remaining — but not break in its latest quest to keep a perfect season alive? A closer look at the Colts' remaining schedule seems in order.

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Clearly, there don’t seem to be any cakewalks on the horizon. Right off the bat, a trip to Baltimore this Sunday against a Ravens team that seems a lot better than its record indicates should present a significant challenge. Think Ray Lewis and his friends on defense won’t be out for blood? The contest a week later in hostile territory against the Texans, who, like the Patriots Sunday, came oh so close to beating the Colts in Week Nine, could be even more challenging. The Colts return home the next week, but they could run into a real hornet’s nest in the Titans, who have undergone a major turnaround since replacing Kerry Collins with Vince Young under center. If there is an easy mark on the schedule, it might be at Buffalo in the regular-season finale. Games against the Broncos, Jaguars and Jets will hardly be picnics before the Bills matchup.

All that said, it’s certainly not a stretch to suggest that the Colts can just keep on keeping on if they continue to show the amazing resilience that has become a 2009 trademark. Young players such as SS Melvin Bullitt — who stopped Patriots RB Kevin Faulk in his tracks on the Pats’ failed fourth-down pass attempt that set up the Colts’ winning score Sunday — and RCB Jerraud Powers — who deftly broke up a pass to Wes Wekler on the preceding play that could have given New England a first down and a probable victory — continue to come up huge on a weekly basis. Could it be that these young guys are just really good, and that Colts GM Bill Polian is simply further demonstrating is unmatched flair for finding NFL diamonds in the rough?

And let’s not forget the team’s old reliables, led by Manning, who pounced on the opportunity Belichick afforded him last night like a bee in a clover patch, and Reggie Wayne, whose game-winning fingertip catch is the latest exclamation point in yet another outstanding season. On defense, DE Robert Mathis (eight tackles and two sacks) has been an absolute beast when it has counted most. Is it too much to ask these players — don’t forget TE Dallas Clark and DE Dwight Freeney, both of whom were first-teamers on Pro Football Weekly’s Midseason All-Pro Team — to keep on performing at such a high level?

Maybe not.