Never for one second did it enter my head on Sunday that the Indianapolis Colts could possibly lose to the San Diego Chargers in the AFC Divisonal Playoff. Not after Marvin Harrison's fumble turned into the game-tying score, not after Darren Sproles' turned a short screen pass into a long touchdown, and not after Billy Volek hit the blue paint in the south endzone late in the fourth quarter. It wasn't until Peyton Manning's final pass glanced off the fingertips of Dallas Clark that I realized it was over. Once that football hit the RCA Dome turf all the good feelings from 2006, all the flashbacks of Marlin Jackson picking off Tom Brady and Reggie Wayne's Super Bowl touchdown dance dissolved. The Colts reminded you that they are still the same old Colts.
The playoff monkey never got off their back. It just hibernated for a year. How else can you explain another baffling Divisional playoff loss following a bye at home? This game was an exact replica of the 1999 Divisional game against Tennessee or the 2005 Divisional game against Pittsburgh. None of those teams belonged on the same field as the Colts. The Titans needed an all-time fluke (The Music City Miracle) just to get to the game. The Steelers played dirty and ripped up Carson Palmer's knee in their Wild Card matchup. The Chargers struggled to beat a Titans team that was easily one of the worst 10-6 teams in NFL history. The Colts were supposed to blow the doors off of every one of them. They didn’t.
What makes this latest choke-job the worst playoff loss in the Colts 24 years in Indianapolis is that there is nobody you can pin this on. There is no dropped interception by Quentin Coryatt, no shoe-string tackle by Ben Roethlisberger, no missed field goal by Mike Vanderjagt, no Peyton playoff curse (he did away with that last year). Plain and simple: the Colts got beat. But, it wasn't by LaDainian Tomlinson or Antonio Gates. Trailing late in the fourth quarter, the Chargers came back to win with Billy Volek and Michael Turner and someone named Brandon Manumaleuna on the field. It was Volek who engineered an eight play, 78-yard drive to land the knockout blow. Yes, the same Billy Volek who had completed FOUR passes in the past two years and the same Billy Volek who has been a career backup for seven NFL seasons. Billy Volek delivered the knockout blow.
A backup quarterback engineered the drive that ended the Colts Super Bowl defense
Since 1999 the Colts have had six seasons of 12 wins or more. That has translated to exactly one Conference and one Super Bowl championship. In fact in those six seasons, only twice have the Colts even gotten past the Divisional round. Bob Kravitz called them the Atlanta Braves of the NFL…I wouldn’t go that far. But, this is a team that has won exactly three big games in their streak of eight playoff appearances in nine years: the 2003 AFC Divisional Playoff in Kansas City, 2007 AFC Championship game vs. New England and Super Bowl XLI. That’s it. Three big wins in nine years. Forgive me if I’m wrong on this Colts fans but if I was in your shoes, I would hardly regard that as satisfactory. A lot of fans (i.e. Cleveland, Philly) would be thrilled with a Super Bowl ring, but this team should’ve done more than that. This could’ve been a team that people remember 20 years from now. By the way things look now, are we really going to be able to distinguish between the 2000 Ravens and 2002 Buccaneers and 2006 Colts? After last year, most (including myself) figured the Colts would win back-to-back or three out of four and go on a run similar to the Patriots. But, there will be no dynasty, in fact, there might not even be another Super Bowl. This team was better than last year’s team yet couldn’t even come close to accomplishing what the ’06 version did.
These images are what stand out to me in what should've been a Colts dynasty
The frustration is so overwhelming because of all the things the Colts were able to overcome this year with the injuries and everything else, they couldn't overcome Billy Volek and a San Diego offense missing their top three players with the game on the line. Now for Indy the 2007 season is over and the triumph of '06 is a distant memory. This is a team with unparalleled regular season success but with three of the biggest playoff flops in the last decade. The clock is running out for these Colts. The AFC South is getting better and though the Colts are still the top dogs, the days of them dominating that division appear to be coming to a close. They are still young but they will be losing Tony Dungy and Bill Polian, two pillars of perhaps the best run franchise in professional sports, soon. It’s gotten to a point where anything less than a Super Bowl is a failure. I guess that means 2007 gets another “F”.
My solution for Indy? Blow up the Dome. Blow up the Dome and move on. Get past the playoff flops and come back with a renewed sense of urgency.
In 2008 there will be a new coach (likely), new stadium, and a new day for the Colts.
And it’s all only seven months away.
SHOOTING THE REST OF THE SPORTS WORLD:
Swish: Ryan Grant
How bad did things look for Ryan Grant at the start of Saturday’s Divisional game against Seattle? Let’s just say that I got three different text messages from three different people after his second fumble hit the ground and the Seahawks jumped out to a 14-0 lead. But after those first few dreadful minutes of the first quarter, Grant turned in what was perhaps the greatest postseason performance by a running back in Green Bay’s illustrious history. Grant finished with 201 rushing yards and three touchdowns as the Packers outscored the Sehawks 42-6 in the final three-and-a-half quarters to advance to the NFC Championship game. Grant was a member of the Giants practice squad and buried on the depth chart just five months ago. Instead of cutting him, the Giants traded him to the Packers for a sixth-round pick. Since becoming the full-time starter in Week 8, Grant, not Favre, has been Green Bay’s MVP and has them one win away from the Super Bowl.
After two early goofs, it was the Ryan Grant Show at Lambeau
Brick: Vanderbilt and Michigan State
The Commodores jumped out to a school-record 16-0 before falling in double-overtime at Kentucky 79-73 on Saturday. These are the same Kentucky Wildcats that were beaten by UAB, San Diego and Gardner-Webb at Rupp Arena this season. Michigan State pulled a similar feat, falling to an awful Iowa team 43-36. These are the same Iowa Hawkeyes that were beaten by Bradley, Utah State and Louisiana-Monroe (who averaged 71 points against them). Everyone drops road games in conference play, so that is understandable. But when you lose to the 11th or 12th best team in your league and you’re fighting for a conference title, that’s inexcusable. The Spartans will bounce back, and I still think they’ll be right at the top of the Big Ten when it’s all said and done. As for Vandy, we’ll learn if they’re for real in the next two weeks. Three of their next four are on the road against #6 Tennessee, defending champion Florida and #18 Ole Miss, who entering Tuesday were a combined 43-4. Good luck with that Kevin Stallings.
Air Ball: The Dallas Cowboys
Is there a more overrated franchise in professional sports than the Cowboys? After Sunday’s loss to the Giants, Big D has now lost six straight playoff games, a streak dating back to 1996. In that time, the fellow members of the NFC East (Giants, Eagles, Redskins) have combined to win 15 playoff games. This year’s version had a ton of individual talent (NFL record 12 Pro Bowlers) but was big on smack-talk (Crayton), egos (T.O.) and off-field distractions (Romo) and came up small on the big stage. Oh yeah, and how does it feel to be Wade Phillips right now? He’s still 0-fer the playoffs and Norv Turner’s team is still alive. Norv Turner! Phillips and the 'Boys got away from the run even though Marion Barber dominated the first half (101 yards, just 28 in the 2nd half) and after a 20-play touchdown drive that ate up over 11 minutes of the 2nd quarter, they let the Giants march 69 yards in 40 seconds to tie the game. A 13-3 season and record-setting years by Tony Romo and Terrell Owens all in the toilet.
This will never, ever, EVER get old (more on this below)
Swish: Tom Brady
The Jaguars had a game-plan for their AFC Divisional matchup against the Patriots in New England: take away Randy Moss, sit back in coverage and wait. The result? Tom Brady had all day to throw and completed 26 of 28 passes for 262 yards. The reason why the plan backfired is because the X-factor of the Patriots offense isn’t Randy Moss - it’s Wes Welker. Welker is Brady’s security blanket and allows the Patriots to dink-and-dunk down the field when they have to. There is no third cornerback in the league that can cover him. Remember when Brandon Stokley went crazy during Peyton’s record-setting year in ’04 (68 rec, 1,077 yards, 10 TD)? Welker is just like Stokley, except he is five-hundred times better and that’s why this Patriots offense could be the all-time best. If Brady continues to turn in performances like this en route to a Super Bowl, then we could be seeing the greatest season that any player has ever had in NFL history.
Brick: Indiana
I know that they technically won on Saturday, but still that performance wasn’t exactly a reason get excited about IU’s Final Four chances. Indiana has as much talent and athleticism as any team in the country yet they rely too much on that talent and athleticism to win basketball games. Watching this team is like watching an NBA team: lots of one-on-one isolation and create your own shot offense. Players like Eric Gordon and Jordan Crawford are great at breaking down their defender and getting to the hoop, but they are also mistake-prone freshmen. Look I’m not a coach, and I’m not going to pretend to be one, but if I was Kelvin Sampson I would make sure my team got the basketball to DJ White on every possession. I know he was being double-teamed but at least make an effort to get him the ball. That way, he can kick to the open shooters, something that IU has a plethora of (yes, even Lance Stemler, technically…).
Illinois has about one-threehundreth the talent that IU does, yet they defended very well and if they even had one guy with an ounce of scoring ability, they would’ve won that game. The Hoosiers aren’t going to be able to do much against an Izzo-led Michigan State team playing the same way they did on Sunday. I’ve watched Memphis and North Carolina and UCLA and trust me, IU has a long way to go if they want to get to the level that those teams are playing at. I'm not saying they can't get there. Indiana is a young team and they will continue to improve. But, they aren't going to beat any Tournament-caliber teams playing like they did on Sunday. As a side note, Illinois dropped to 8-9 and 0-4 in Big Ten play with that loss. I don’t usually believe in the whole “coach winning with the previous coaches players” (i.e. Davis with Knight) theory but when you fall off the cliff like the Illinois program has done now that Bill Self’s recruits have all graduated, it certainly makes you wonder. I-L-L, N-I-T! (Sorry, I couldn't resist...)
Air Ball: Saint Louis
In a game that set basketball back to the peach basket days, the Billikens scored 20 points in a 49-20 loss to George Washington. Here are some of SLU's offensive statistics from that game:
Field Goals: 7-for-48 (14.6%)
Three-point Field Goals: 1-for-19 (5.3%)
Free Throws: 5-for-10 (50%)
The score at halftime was 25-7, which is more like a halftime score of a girls’ high school basketball game. SLU finished the game with twice as many turnovers (14) as field goals (7). Their leading scorer was senior center Bryce Husak with 5 points. The 20 points set a modern Division-I record low. The bottom line is that you will go your whole life without ever seeing a performance this pathetic. The best part about it is that I get to tease Rakestraw (voice of IUPUI basketball) because SLU beat the Jags (and scored 66 points in the process) the game before this loss.
SLU did not fare very well in the Basket Ball match versus GW
The Shots FANTASY Update:
Isiah Groped Me def. Boston Can Suck It, 7-2
Isiah Groped Me def. Carolina Coastals 8-1
Oh boy, Isiah Groped Me is hot, hot, hot! My boys are hitting their stride and by outscoring Boston Can Suck It and the Carolina Coastals 15-3 in the last two weeks, I’ve surged from 6th to 2nd and am only two games out of first. The key to Fantasy NBA is persistence. Usually, everyone else in the league forgets to set their lineup for one week and it ends up costing them. That never happens to me. I set my lineup when I come into work at 6 AM on Monday morning. You have to be prepared and also have no life.
Anyways, my player of the week award goes to Jason Richardson who has just been going off lately: 98 points, 9 three-pointers and a surprising 20 assists to just 9 turnovers. Also, Jose Calderon has been big in place of the injured TJ Ford and was ranked 22nd overall among all fantasy players last week with 27 assists and 6 steals.
Chuckie Three Stick-Up, Fantasy Golf
We actually just started but I’m already in a hole because I joined late and missed the first tournament. I spent about 15-20 minutes trying to think of a team name. I decided to bypass the sexually-explicit stuff involving the golf club shaft and “chipping from the rough” and keep it clean. I almost named my team “Racially Insensitive Remark” but I thought that was borderline offensive and it’s just too soon. Six weeks from now, we’ll be able to laugh about it.
Get here soon Fantasy NASCAR…
It's too soon....
The Shots What to Watch this week:
Portland at Boston, Wednesday
This is an intriguing matchup between the NBA’s biggest surprise and perhaps the NBA’s best team. Portland is a woeful 5-11 on the road but have gone a ridiculous 17-2 since December 3rd. The C’s meanwhile are finally starting to cool off a bit after a shocking home loss to Charlotte and a home-and-home sweep by the Wizards. I smell a collapse coming (hopefully).
UMass at Dayton, Wednesday
How entertaining is the Atlantic-10 this year? Screw the Big Ten Network, I’m going to call Comcast today and tell them to give me an A-10 package and if they don't have one, I'll yell at them. The Flyers are absolutely obliterating teams and will be taking on UMass on what is by far the most underrated homecourt in America, the UD Arena (the Flyers are 48-11at home since 2004). The Minutemen have dropped two straight, including a home loss to St. Joseph’s so a win here would right the ship. This honestly could be a five-bid league. The top three teams (Dayton, St. Joe's, Xavier) own wins over Pittsburgh, Indiana, Louisville, Virginia and Penn State, and URI and UMass have both beaten Syracuse at the Carrier Dome...not too shabby.
I love me some A-10 basketball. Make it happen Comcast!
NY Giants at Green Bay, Sunday
Here is the weather forecast for Sunday at Lambeau Field:
Day
Night
Partly Cloudy
High 12°F
Precip
10%
Wind:
W 12 mph
Max. Humidity:
57%
UV Index:
1 Low
Sunrise:
7:23 AM CT
Avg. High:
24°F
Record High:
47°F (1906)
Snow Shower
Overnight Low 5°F
Precip
30%
Wind:
ENE 5 mph
Max. Humidity:
72%
Sunset:
4:44 PM CT
Avg. Low:
7°F
Record Low:
-25°F (1985)
Last Updated Monday, Jan 14, 5:17 PM Central Standard Time
Hmm, a high of 12 degrees? As much as I love what Eli has done, he's been playing in 60+ degree weather throughout the playoffs. I don't think he'll be able to handle the conditions at Lambeau and this will be where the playoff run ends for my beloved G-Men.
I don’t buy this performance for one second. Even in a loss, Terrell Owens has to make sure that he is the center of attention. Maybe T.O. should blame himself for the loss. After all, he disappeared after the first half and was unable to take advantage of a depleted Giants secondary. It’s ok Terrell. “Getcha popcorn ready” (get some nice butter and salt for it too), dial up Patrick Crayton on your iPhone and enjoy Sunday’s NFC Championship game from the comfort of your own home.
I genuinely apologize for not posting this before. This is one of those clips that is so horribly awful that you haveto watch. If you dare, try to make it through the whole song. What’s great about this clip is that the game was actually worse than this halftime performance. You make me wanna…ah, ah, ah, ah…kill myself.
