Never mind 16-0. (Sorry, that number has been disconnected.)

Or the history book. (Closed and put back on the shelf.)

Or the 1972 Miami Dolphins. (Probably washing the empty champagne glasses from their annual when-the-last-unbeaten-falls toast as we speak.)

Never mind the questions about the goal of the Indianapolis Colts being perfection. (It's the Super Bowl, stupid.)

Or who will and will not play the last two regular season games. (Anyone know where backup quarterback Jim Sorgi put his playbook?)

The questionnaire changed yesterday for the Colts. The day they were sullied by the San Diego Chargers. They had not even trailed in a game in two months, but now they have lost and are like every other team that has already punched its playoff ticket.

"History," receiver Reggie Wayne said, "is out the window."

The issue is no longer what they will do the next two weeks. It's what they will do next month. And suddenly, they are not a team without issues.

"We're disappointed we lost. We're not disappointed about records," linebacker Cato June said in a mostly vacant locker room after the Chargers beat Indianapolis, 26-17, and turned a 13-0 Colts record into 13-1. "It really doesn't matter if you go 16-0 or 15-1. Going to the Super Bowl and winning it. That's what matters."

They swear they were not dulled by having little to play for — except for a line in a history book. Even while the Chargers were desperate to keep their own playoff fires warm.

"We weren't flat. We weren't this. We weren't that," center Jeff Saturday said. "We played bad, and they beat us."

They swear the growing hullabaloo about unbeaten records had not distracted them.

"No one wanted this to end," coach Tony Dungy said. "I certainly don't think we were unemotional."

We'll take their word for it. In that case, they just got whipped. Which begs its own questions.

Never mind the idea that offense can't be stopped. (You came here looking for Colts' touchdowns? The only two came when turnovers gave them the ball at the San Diego 26 and 4.)

Or that the defense won't give up costly plays. (Click on the fourth quarter highlights and you will find a 54-yard Chargers pass that set up a field goal followed soon after by an 83-yard Chargers run that went for a touchdown.)

Or that Manning cannot be pressured. (Four sacks, and various other body blows from the San Diego meanies. On fourth down at the San Diego 1 in the first half, he ad-libbed to a bootleg and was buried. No points, one omen.)

"This is certainly something," Manning said, "we need to respond to."

Manning was sacked only nine times the first 12 games of the season. He has gone down seven times in the last two. Suddenly, his protection is leaking. A disturbing thought for a quarterback with January coming.

Manning was sacked yesterday the first time he went back to pass. He was hurried and hit all day. Flash to the fourth quarter, Indianapolis behind 19-17 but at the San Diego 23, apparently marching toward a go-ahead field goal.

But on the next play, Manning was rushed into an intentional grounding penalty. The next play, he was sacked. Goodbye, field goal. Goodbye, 16-0.

Later, Manning used the word "disappointing" more than 10 times in his postgame press conference.

"We have to go back to work," he said. "That's all I know how to do. That's all we know how to do as a team."

The playoffs start soon. The Colts' most probable first opponent? The name may ring a bell. A team that has won five of its last six games, and allowed one touchdown in three weeks.

Never mind thinking about the 1972 Miami Dolphins. (Because pretty soon, they may have to start thinking about the 2005 New England Patriots.)

Mike Lopresti writes for Gannett News service. Reach him at mlopresti@gns.gannett.com.