Peyton, Colts Finally Win The Big One

No matter how nice I try to be in thinking good thoughts for the Indianapolis Colts after their 29-17 win over the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI last night, my mind still can only produce one thought... If the Patriots had converted on 3rd & 4, they would have won the AFC Championship and then gone on to win their fourth Super Bowl in six years. Tom Brady would cement himself as the greatest quarterback of his generation. And I wouldn't have to listen to all this crap about Peyton Manning and the Colts. Now, that is unfair. After all, America has been forced to listen to all the gushing talk about Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and the Patriots for the last five years. I guess I can stomach some Colts love. But it is so frustrating to know how close the Pats were to winning the AFC Title Game in Indianapolis and then seeing the Colts win the Super Bowl. Finding reasons to like the Colts -- and Manning -- is hard for me. My allegiance to Brady and the Patriots is too overwhelming to support the opponent. But seeing what Manning and the Colts did in beating the Chiefs, Ravens, Patriots, and finally the Bears on their way to their first World Championship since winning Super Bowl V, I found a new level of respect for the Horseshoes. These Colts are a perfect example of a team reaching the pinnacle after everyone counted them out. Remember the Detroit Pistons of the 1980's? They could never get past the Celtics and when they finally did in 1988, they got beat by the Lakers in the Finals. When all seemed doomed for the Bad Boys, they regrouped in 1989, faced the Lakers again, and won the NBA Championship. This Colt team was not considered the juggernaut that Indy teams from the recent past were. Yes, Manning is still one of the top two QB's in the NFL. Yes, Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark still catch Manning's passes. Yes, Tony Dungy is still their coach. But this team still had a below-average defense and they lost running back Edgerrin James to the Arizona Cardinals, replaced by his long-time backup Dominic Rhodes and rookie Joseph Addai. The Colts went 12-4 in the regular season (not exactly a bad year but certainly not the 14-2 mark they posted the year before) and were the No. 3 seed in the AFC. They played poorly at the end of the year (finishing the season on a 3-4 mark after opening 9-0) and still had a defense that couldn't stop the run. Against Kansas City in their AFC Wildcard Playoff game, the Colts were expected to get run over by Larry Johnson. The Colts proceeded to stuff Johnson and the Colts 23-8. In Baltimore against the Ravens, Manning was expected to be humbled by the powerful defense led by Ray Lewis and Ed Reed. Manning wasn't his usual All-Pro self but his team won the game, 15-6. At home in the AFC Championship game, the Colts were expected to crumble under the pressure of playing their decade-long nemesis, the Patriots. This looked like it would be the end for Indy as they trailed 21-6 at halftime. But Manning and his troops rallied in the second half and scored the winning TD with 1:00 to play, holding off the Pats, 38-34. Leading up to the Super Bowl, the talk was Manning and the Colts still had to become World Champions to end the talk of them being "chokers." Like the Red Sox beating the Cardinals in the 2004 World Series after finally getting over the hump and beating the Yankees to win the ALCS, the Colts knocked off the soon to be forgotten Bears and claimed the Super Bowl. Manning was named MVP. And the talk of the Colts not being able to get the job done will be forever silenced. Now, by tomorrow I will return to my anti-Manning, anti-Colt stance. I fully expect Brady and the Patriots to rebuild and win another half dozen Super Bowls before retiring to replace Hugh Heffner at the Playboy Mansion. But for today, Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts have my respect.