Sunday, Bloody Sunday

I'm simply in a state of shock. Another January, and another Colts playoff meltdown. Their most promising season yet, a 13-0 start, best since the 1998 Bronco's, an offense that dimantled everyone they faced and a defense that could stand firm against any given team. The Patriots were a notch or two lower in terms of being the threat that they were the last two years and the Steelers and Broncos were the biggest obstacles, and Indy took Pittsburgh apart in the regular season. And over in the NFC (which lately stands for "No Friggin' Chance")...please, there's only one legitimate contender, the Seahawks.

But alas, the Steel Curtain lays waste to another championship run. They outhit them, outplayed them and outcoached them. You can cite any number of excuses, the Colts were rusty, they hadn't played for anything in a month, Dungy's personal problems may have been a factor, etc. But the fact is, Pittsburgh did their homework and figured out how to neutralize Manning. They didn't sit back in zones and try to simply cover the pass; they came at him more aggressively than I think any tean ever has. They hit him, knocked him down and were in his face all day. And some very mind blowing and questionable calls seemed to suggest that the refs were trying hard to help the Colts win...and they still couldn't ge their act together.

Why can't they win in January? Why do they fall so flat on their face in the playoffs? It's not like they're even very close well matched nail-bitters. It's mostly been a thumping or a total Indy collapse against teams that are given no chance to beat them.

From a football fan perspective it was a great game to watch. More drama and emotional swings than we've seen in a while. What a finish...to catch a break like recovering a fumble with less than 2 minutes to go, return it to almost midfiled, finally put together a very Colt's like final last ditch drive, and then have the leagues most reliable kicker miss so bad that he may as well been kicking at a phantom set of goal posts in the corner of the stadium.

Oh well. There's always next year...again. For now, one can only hope that the Steelers can finally go all the way themselves. Give Jerome Bettis a nice sunset to walk off into and see Bill Cowher hoist a well deserved Lombardi trophy.

Go, Steelers!