However, none of those statistics factored in the variable that is known as Peyton Manning getting the ball back and marching downfield with THREE TIMEOUTS!

Must be nice to have a QB that leads comebacks in the 4th quarter.

Sincerely,

An Eagles fan whose starting QB has a .250 winning percentage when trailing by 7 points or less in the 4th quarter.

The Indy offense did not start out strong (or the Pats defense played very well in the beginning). Maybe you haven’t started out strong on personal finance. You have dug yourself a hole and simply want to quit.

Don’t. Settle down and find a plan that has worked before. That’s what Indy did late in the game. They started playing like they knew how too. The offense starting making some good plays. The defense stepped up (or the Pats took the foot off the pedal). Indy took advantage of opportunities. You should to in your own life.

Never quit. Never think the game is over. Keep playing hard until the very end.

Oh and don’t take this to mean I think the Pats quit. You have two excellent football teams who battled back and forth. I am sure they will meet again this year.

Hmm. Too bad they don’t publish the number of times QBs have been in a position to drive for a winning TD and have failed (maybe they do somewhere). It would be interesting to see how often Manning has failed to drive 60+ yards for a winning score in that amount of time.

Even so, the Colts had two 79-yard drives that took less than 2 minutes in the quarter… and that was with the standard three downs.

I still think the Patriots have one of the NFL’s best offenses against a Colts pass defense that is inexperienced. That match-up is in the Patriots’ favor, while giving a Hall of Fame, and MVP favorite, quarterback the ball against a defense whose starters mostly have less than 2-3 years of experience in the NFL, is less than ideal.

I know it’s where the ball is, but I think you can draw a line from the feet and the ball and figure out where he was. I don’t think he was slanted backward, where the feet and the ball were significantly different.

I realize the replays weren’t conclusive and the referees wouldn’t overturn the call. However, if the referee spotted it past the 30 and called it a first down, the Colts would have challenged and lost on the same inconclusive replay.

So really the referee was very much deciding the game with the spot of the ball. If you just have the replays to by, I think the refs had a bad spot of the ball. Then again, I have the luxury of the replays and they don’t so it’s easy for me to say.

I’m certainly biased, you’ll get no argument from me. I tried to balance that bias by stating what journalists are saying about the calls. I also mentioned Maroney’s fumble so I did blame the players.

Leah,

I was devastated as well, but actually I felt the game went better than I thought. I think I would rather have the loss in a game where the Patriots showed that they are the dominate team vs. a fluky win. The Patriots now know that they have the talent to win big in Indy by having a near 24 point advantage (if Maroney doesn’t fumble on the 1).

Brian,
I don’t think there was an opportunity to make Peyton go 80-90 yards. That would assume that you can punt from your own 28 and pin the other team inside their 20. That’s a 52 yard punt with no return. I think Peyton would have more likely got the ball around the 35 or 40.

The wild card here is that you know that you don’t have to stop Manning for three down as you were trying all night. You have to stop him for 4 downs.

And actually, the last shot the Patriots had to win the game would have been to let Indy score with a minute-plus left instead of tackle them on the one and letting them have first down on the goal line.

As a former college coach I can attest to it being one of those you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t calls.

Having said that, I can see the confidence in Brady and the offense to get two yards. I mean it’s two yards with arguably one of the best offenses in the last few years. I also understand not wanting to give Peyton a chance to drive and win the game.

However, I’d rather make Peyton go say 80-90 yards in 2 minutes if we punt the ball, instead of 30-40 yards if they don’t get the first down.

I completely agree with your point that there are at least two other pivotal plays in the game where it can be won or lost. It’s always easy to look at the last pass, the last shot of a basketball game or the last matchup in baseball game. You can find at least 10-20 other points in a game where things never would have gotten to that point.

Yours truly,

Falcons Fan