In one of the biggest rollercoaster rides of my many years of following football, the Colts dropped out of the playoffs with a resounding 21-18 defeat at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Sure, one could make many excuses for the game, like the fact that the Colts were rusty after having not played a meaningful game for what seems like an eternity, but that fact this loss was a combination of the Steelers outplaying the Colts on both sides of the ball, and the Colts just beating themselves.

There is no question that much of the public scrutiny of this game will be based upon the questionable overturned interception call, after which the Colts scored their first touchdown. But, there are so many other controversial issues to discuss:

•  Peyton Manning's two long throws, one to the end zone to Reggie Wayne, and the other a 15-16 yard ball on third and two from the Steeler 36. I mean, why, why, why throw long when two yards gets you a fresh set of downs. At that point, the Colts had their full complement of timeouts, and even a run by Edge could have been called. But, rather, Manning went for the kill. This is the second time this season that he has done something similar. In the fourth quarter of the New England game, Peyton went long on fourth and less than 1 after three consecutive pass plays which ran no time off the clock, when killing the clock was the paramount task. There is no question that this was overly aggressive, and Peyton has got to get this tendency under control in the off season. Of course, there is also no question that without Peyton, there would have been no comeback in this game. Afterall, it was his call, not Dungy's, to go for it on fourth down from deep in their own territory on route to their first touchdown.
• The pressure. What the heck happened to the offensive line? For the last 4 weeks of play, the o-line has been porous at best. With Tariq Glenn continuing to have his game average 1-2 false start penalties, lack of reading / picking up the blitz by Dallas Clark, and an obvious deficiency in pass protection between the tackles, Manning has been a sitting duck. There is no question that this area must be addressed in the offseason; it hasn't been a concern recently, but with the losses to free agency, we need to be on the market for guards (and perhaps even a RT). And maybe, just maybe, we've had enough of losing 5-10 yards per game due to Tariq Glenn. Secondly, Peyton just has to calm down in the pocket. There is no doubt that Peyton commands the game like no other player in the NFL ever has. But, he needs to work on poise under pressure, and sometimes just needs to get up to the line and run it, instead of overthinking the game. When the Colts were successful in moving the ball in the 4th quarter, the offense was in a rhythm. When Peyton gets pressure, it seems like the pressure carries over even to the next play, and it is run with too much "anxiety" for lack of a better word.
• Marvin Harrison. Why is it that in every post-season game, Marvin is virtually shut out. It's almost as if the Colts don't factor him into the gameplan. This all started 3 seasons ago, when Marvin set records for most receptions in a season, and people thought that Peyton focussed almost exclusively on Marvin. Ever since then, it seems Peyton almost intentionally neglects Marvin. This has got to change; Marvin Harrison is one of the top receivers in the game, and has the ability to dominate it, if given the chance.
  
• Mike Vanderjagt's miss. Well, all season long, Vanderjagt has sat quietly on the sideline, and had yet to be called upon in a game winning situation. When he was during this game, he shanked the kick very widely to the right. With all of his outspoken criticism of Peyton and Tony Dungy a couple of seasons ago, one would have thought that Vanderjagt would be up to the task. But he wasn't. There is no question that given his price tag, Vanderjagt will be an offseason cut. With his limited ability to kick off costing us two roster spots for kickers, it's time for him to go.
• The defense. Well, Freeney is a monster, there is no question of this. But, the D wasn't able to stop Roethlisberger in the first quarter, and on two successive fourth and less than one yard to go in the fourth quarter, they couldn't stop Jerome Bettis. That said, Brackett's hit on Bettis on the 2 yard line, and Harper's subsequent fumble recover showed that this is not the same old Colts. There is plenty of work to do, with particular weaknesses being the secondary and the linebacking core. We need more playmakers on this unit. That said, Harper had a good game, despite his problems at home. He should be proud of what he achieved during the game, and if not for Roethlisberger's shoe string tackle, he would have been the MVP.
  

Despite all of the above, the Pittsburgh Steelers rolled into the Dome with an exception game plan, and executed it to perfection. Who would have thought that the first quarter would be dominated by Roethlisberger throws, rather than runs from Bettis or Parker? Props must go out the Steelers, to Bill Cowher, and to the MVP of this game, Ben Roethlisberger.

The rollercoaster ride that was this game played havoc with my emotions; one moment being on top of the world, and the next being crushed. In the end, the play that defined the game echoes of the similar last ditch Hail Mary from Harbaugh to Aaron Bailey in the 1995 AFC Championship Game against these same Steelers; Manning's pass to Reggie Wayne that bounced off his hands three times before falling incomplete to the turf. In my previous article I wrote about the Patriots loss in Denver. Consider this poetic justice, with Manning now joining Brady on the sidelines during this postseason.

Comments

Colts lost; that's all there is to it. Written by Guest on 2006-01-15 19:12:32 No excuses. Colts lost and were outplayed in every aspect of the game.

Written by kamran on 2006-01-15 19:13:43 There's no arguing with that.

Colts just lost!!!!!! Written by Guest on 2006-01-17 20:40:32 Colts came in to confident and went down hard

hey Written by Guest on 2006-01-17 21:00:50 the colts should of won but tony dungy was just sad because his son passed away    and hey kamran uncle its me zain

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