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Three games into the 2007 season, the Indianapolis Colts have gotten all the pundits cooing over them, claiming they're even better than last year's team that won the Super Bowl. Says Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports:

There has been no championship hangover. No loss of hunger. No overconfidence. No chemistry issues, despite a bunch of new faces.

Safety Bob Sanders is more than happy to agree:

"I think we are better," Colts safety Bob Sanders said. "We heard what a lot of people were saying about us, but who cares? We plug in players and go. People can think what they want about us, that we're not as good. They can talk about the other teams. But we're better."

The Colts, however, have no choice but to be better, as they may be playing in the best division in the NFL. The combined records of all AFC South teams is currently 9-3, and all those losses are within the division. The Houston Texans look much better than many had expected, and the Jacksonville Jaguars seem to have recovered from a Week 1 struggle against the Tennessee Titans, who have frankly shocked people with their early success.

This year's Colts, however, already have an advantage over last year's Colts. Those Colts lost at Tennessee and Houston. This year's team walked out of those division rivals' stadiums with tough wins. The improved AFC South might help the Colts in the long run, because the lack of easy wins within the division will always keep them at their competitive best -- unlike the AFC East, where the New England Patriots are expected to roll over their division opponents. There's room for complacency there.

There's no room for complacency this year in the AFC South, which, at this rate, could produce both Wild Card teams. If the Colts win this division once again, they will have earned the "Elite Team" tag everyone wants to put on them.