What's Going On?

I'm so confused right now.

I thought the Colts were the team that choked in a big game.
I figured Peyton Manning would never be any good in a playoff game.
I assumed the Patriots were unflappable.
I knew Tom Brady was unstoppable with less than two minutes remaining.
I knew Manning was the one who would throw a costly, game-ending interception.
I was sure the Colts would be the team to blow a 21-3 lead.

I was wrong.

Don't get me wrong, one game doesn't change everything for me. But there was uncharacteristic behavior from both teams during this pulse-pounding AFC Championship Game. But I'll get to that in a minute. Give me a moment to let this sink in. The Colts are going to the Super Bowl on the arm of Peyton Manning. The Colts are going to the Super Bowl to face the Chicago Bears. Great. Two weeks of Peyton Manning cell phone commercials, two weeks of seeing the Super Bowl Shuffle repeated over and over and over, Manning selling flat-screen TVs, reminders of William "the Fridge" Perry, Manning advertising credit cards, and tours of the ESPN headquarters in Bristol with John Anderson and the Manning family, including parents, as well as Eli and Peyton and their loser third brother (who looks just like the other two but apparently got the shallow end of the Manning gene pool, athletically speaking).

Ok, back to the game. I'm not going to recap the whole game, if you didn't watch it, you might as well stop reading right now, because you're going to be clueless the rest of the way. Let's look at the uncharacteristic nature of this game. First off, each of the quarterbacks did things that they aren't usually known for. Let's go with Tom Brady first Although he lost this game, has pretty much everything else going for him, so I don't want to hear anybody feeling sorry for him. I can guarantee he won't be feeling sorry for himself, and even if he is, he can just go bury his sorrows in his supermodel girlfriend. His stats for the game: 21-34, 232 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT. That's a pretty good game. What's so very strange about this stat line is when the INT occurred. Tom Brady doesn't get picked off with under a minute remaining...ever. But that's what happened. That sort of thing is normally reserved for...

...Peyton Manning, owner and operator of Bill Simmons' so-called "Manning Face." The AFC Championship Game qualifies as a big game, unless I'm mistaken. Manning is known for choking when it counts most, and he lived up to his reputation early in the second quarter when his pass was picked off by Asante Samuel (not Samuels, as Phil Simms repeatedly kept pronouncing it) and returned for a touchdown, making the score 21-3. However, after that Manning turned it around, engineering a FG drive just before halftime and then a touchdown drive to open the third quarter. His overall numbers do not tell the whole story, as he went 27-47 for 349, a touchdown pass, as well as a QB sneak for a TD and the INT by Samuel. What was most impressive (as well as unprecedented) was Manning leading his team for the winning score with less than 2 minutes remaining. He seemed so in control, which has been a radical departure from his past postseason exploits.

This is the headline on the recap of the game on ESPN.com:
Manning finally wins big one, leads Colts to Super Bowl

I'm sure it's great for Manning to beat the Patriots, and get that monkey off his back. However, if you ask me (and nobody did, but I'm going to answer anyway), the big one would be that game in Miami in two weeks. That's the Super Bowl, not the Pro Bowl or some worthless exhibition. It's more important than beating the Patriots, and if the Colts manage to win that game, then sure, you can say Manning has finally won the big one. But until then, the Colts have won the Lamar Hunt Trophy, and they can take down that ridiculous banner that says "AFC Finalists" and replace it with one that says AFC Champions. Manning managed to remove the Patriots from his back, and sure, he might be entering a period where he becomes known for clutch performances, but one step at a time. If he wins the Super Bowl, then you can say he won the big one. After all, it's called the SUPER Bowl for a reason.





Couple leftovers:

-You can't call the pass interference against the Patriots corner (can't remember who it was) who was guarding Reggie Wayne when he got that flag in the endzone for not playing the ball. Well, you can call it, but you'd also have to call the same thing for the Colts corner who essentially tackled Reche Caldwell in the endzone later in the game.

-Speaking of Reche Caldwell, he is not going to be a wide receiver for the Patriots after the game he played. He dropped at least 3 passes, one that was a sure touchdown, as well as a pass where he was literally all by himself on the sidelines. Actually, the Patriots don't like spending money on receivers (see Deion Branch) and so, by dropping those easy passes, he probably drove his asking price down enough for the Patriots to re-sign him. Smart move, Reche.

-As John Madden says in The Replacements, "I love seeing a fat guy score...because then you get a fat guy dance." I'm with John on this. Three TDs by linemen in Patriots-Colts game, which not only sets a record for linemen-related scoring in a game but also, I'm pretty sure it's the highest weight total of touchdowns scored in a contest.

-Reggie Bush should never taunt Brian Urlacher. Nobody should taunt Urlacher. It's just not smart. That takes care of me mentioning the Saints-Bears game, that I didn't really care about.

-The Rose Bowl of 2006. Michigan-Ohio State in 2006. The AFC Championship. All three games were very highly hyped but ended up actually living up to the billing that they incurred.

-Next time I write something it'll probably be about some kind of basketball. Although I'm not sure if anybody reads this, so I'm going to have to write about whatever the hell I want to.