Making history out of plays
Posted: January 22nd, 2007, 2:43 pm
The team that loses with the ball in its hand is different from the team that loses on defense. It's a horrible truth — the failure of a team's defense to keep the other guys out of the goal (whatever that goal might be) — but nothing like the buzz-killing dead weight of the truth of failing to score when it mattered, when in control.
So I knew, with a minute remaining and the RCA Dome still shaking from the screaming, that this last drive by the Patriots was going to be in some way historic. It would mean either that they are still just as good as they have been, and that the Bears are doomed, or that they have fallen more than one place-kicker from the pinnacle of today's NFL parity era.
Until that 1:00 remaining, Peyton and the Colts were demonstrating that kind of arrogant, reckless patience that brings up in my soul the memory of so many bad writers. But then the Colts' special teams finally stopped the return man. One 1st down, Brady and one of his receivers had a miscommunication. a 19-yard pass later and still with 2 timeouts, then another good middle-of-the-field pass later, we had 24 seconds for Brady and Belicheck to prove the true situation one way or the other.
And then The Interception. Marlon Jackson with the quick pick of that rocket up the middle of the field, and Manning has finally done it. And it was historic — hey — the largest NFL final round comeback (from 21-3), two black head coaches in the big dance, Manning, now, at this moment, for the first time, the sure first-ballot Hall of Famer.
21-6 at halftime. Manning and his thumb. Sanders and his knee, both still moving on to the end, but the images of them at the time were the kind of familiar pain that makes you close your eyes instead of hit the brakes when you know it's too late. I was becoming familiarly annoyed at watching Manning and Dungy make their slow, deliberate, almost cocky comeback, having to keep catching up to tie it. hoping that the Patriots magic never seals the deal. Tempting fate, at its best, now I see. The Colts were begging themselves to lose the game, begging the Patriots to simply do what they do. Begging for a kind of normal to sneak its way into the heat of the field-level air in the dome. Instead, they won, and Manning is, by default, 3 years closer, at any given moment, to getting into the Hall of Fame, than he was before kickoff tonight.
Jim Kelly needed those four Super Bowls to make himself a first-ballot guy. Maybe he could have done it with 3, but definitely not 2. But Manning has the numbers, so that one final game appearance is enough, whichever way it swings. But if you travel in betting circles, I would (were I a gambling person) advise collecting your pile as soon as possible. For the first time in a big game, the Colts are not the sucker bet.
And for those of you who've never even heard the term, "flyover states," the Bears-Colts matchup is one of the most profound geographic rivalries in the National Football League. You should pay attention to this game for its historical significance. I thought the only historic event tonight would be in that last one minute. I was wrong, which is unusual, but, then again, I just watched Peyton Manning play through pain and Tony Dungy win a conference. You cant blame me if I'm a little woozy.
So I knew, with a minute remaining and the RCA Dome still shaking from the screaming, that this last drive by the Patriots was going to be in some way historic. It would mean either that they are still just as good as they have been, and that the Bears are doomed, or that they have fallen more than one place-kicker from the pinnacle of today's NFL parity era.
Until that 1:00 remaining, Peyton and the Colts were demonstrating that kind of arrogant, reckless patience that brings up in my soul the memory of so many bad writers. But then the Colts' special teams finally stopped the return man. One 1st down, Brady and one of his receivers had a miscommunication. a 19-yard pass later and still with 2 timeouts, then another good middle-of-the-field pass later, we had 24 seconds for Brady and Belicheck to prove the true situation one way or the other.
And then The Interception. Marlon Jackson with the quick pick of that rocket up the middle of the field, and Manning has finally done it. And it was historic — hey — the largest NFL final round comeback (from 21-3), two black head coaches in the big dance, Manning, now, at this moment, for the first time, the sure first-ballot Hall of Famer.
21-6 at halftime. Manning and his thumb. Sanders and his knee, both still moving on to the end, but the images of them at the time were the kind of familiar pain that makes you close your eyes instead of hit the brakes when you know it's too late. I was becoming familiarly annoyed at watching Manning and Dungy make their slow, deliberate, almost cocky comeback, having to keep catching up to tie it. hoping that the Patriots magic never seals the deal. Tempting fate, at its best, now I see. The Colts were begging themselves to lose the game, begging the Patriots to simply do what they do. Begging for a kind of normal to sneak its way into the heat of the field-level air in the dome. Instead, they won, and Manning is, by default, 3 years closer, at any given moment, to getting into the Hall of Fame, than he was before kickoff tonight.
Jim Kelly needed those four Super Bowls to make himself a first-ballot guy. Maybe he could have done it with 3, but definitely not 2. But Manning has the numbers, so that one final game appearance is enough, whichever way it swings. But if you travel in betting circles, I would (were I a gambling person) advise collecting your pile as soon as possible. For the first time in a big game, the Colts are not the sucker bet.
And for those of you who've never even heard the term, "flyover states," the Bears-Colts matchup is one of the most profound geographic rivalries in the National Football League. You should pay attention to this game for its historical significance. I thought the only historic event tonight would be in that last one minute. I was wrong, which is unusual, but, then again, I just watched Peyton Manning play through pain and Tony Dungy win a conference. You cant blame me if I'm a little woozy.