Colts are looking for a super finish

When Indianapolis won 12 games a year ago en route to another division title in the AFC South, the Colts matched something Dallas had done between 1992 and ’95.

The Colts joined the Cowboys as the only team to win 12 or more games in four consecutive seasons en route to winning their fourth division title in a row.

Before the season was over, Indianapolis had picked up its first Super Bowl win during that period, while the Cowboys -- led by Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin -- picked up three during their run of success.

Whether the Colts can win consecutive Super Bowls remains to be seen, but the defending champions are favored to rule the South again.

Under Tony Dungy, who is the first coach in franchise history to have five consecutive seasons of at least 10 victories, Indianapolis is the 2-11 favorite in its division on the website Vegasinsider.com while Sportsbetting.com has the Colts at 4-11.

Jacksonville, which has played the Colts tough in recent seasons but has a knack for losing to supposedly inferior teams, is 3-1 on Sportsbetting and 7-2 on Vegasinsider. This is a crossroads season for quarterback Byron Leftwich, who is in the last year of his contract and has yet to play a full season.

Tennessee, which will be a fun team to watch again thanks to quarterback Vince Young but is not a serious playoff threat, is 8-1 on Sportsbetting and 12-1 on Vegasinsider while Houston, which should be better with Matt Schaub replacing David Carr at quarterback, is 12-1 on Sportsbetting and 16-1 on Vegasinsider.

Baseball

As usual, Kansas City fell out of contention in the American League Central long ago, but the Royals may have found a future pitching star by accident.

Leo Nunez, who was supposed to be a reliever but was forced into a starting role when other members of the staff went down with injuries, is 2-0 with a 1.80 earned-run average in four games against Boston, New York, Texas and Toronto.

A right-hander, Nunez will get a second shot at the Rangers tonight in Texas after holding them scoreless for six innings in a 10-0 Kansas City win that completed a three-game sweep last month in Missouri.

Boxing

Oddsmakers don’t believe International Boxing Federation middleweight champion Arthur Abraham will have much trouble remaining unbeaten when he faces Khoron Gevor on Saturday in Berlin.

Vegasinsider.com has Abraham, who is unbeaten in 23 fights with 18 knockouts, at -1100 in his second mandatory title defense. This means a bettor would have to wager $1,100 to win $100 on Abraham.

Gevor, who has won 27 of 29 with 15 knockouts, is +600, so a $100 bet on the underdog would bring a return of $600 if the upset occurs.

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bob.mieszerski@latimes.com