The Colts and Bengals need to beat the Pats and Steelers before they can be considered equals.
I think the NFC East and South have a lot more talent than the rest of that conference.
This isn't last year or the year before or the year before. The Colts defense is vastly improved and the Pats are hurting. The road to the Super Bowl is going through Indy, whether it will be Cincinatti, Pittsburg, or New England trying to knock them off is the question.