***OFFICIAL AFC TITLE GAME pats @ COLTS ***

[TheNoodleMan]

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If Colts win AFC Championship and Manning throws another 2-3 INTs, gets to the Super Bowl and throws another 1-2 INTs, but the Colts somehow find a way to win because the Bears self-destruct, is he off the hook?

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He'd be more than off the hook. That scenario absolves him more than any other by showing that its a team game and that it wasn't just him that hadn't won one yet.

Its easy to act like Peyton is some terrible playoff choker but the fact is he has masked some pretty flawed teams. Last year is the only year that you can legitimately say that the Colts were the best team and blew it.

[battschr]

gocoltsgocoltsgocoltsgocoltsgocoltsgocoltsgocolts! !!!111!!!

[Edge34]

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This Sunday has the potential to be the best Sunday of my NFL-watching life. Finally, the Colts get the Patriots right where they want them - the RCA Dome. The Colts D is stepping up with the emotional leadership of Bob Sanders, and even Pats fans have to be honest, Peyton can't keep playing as badly as he has forever.

Larry Johnson and Jamal Lewis couldn't run on the Colts. They made Steve McNair (2007 version) look like the Steve McNair they routinely beat down when he was a Titan. Plus, the mere fact that the Colts have beaten New England IN New England the last two times...well, if our D is that bad and we beat you in YOUR house....you get the point.

Colts get to the Super Bowl. Can't wait to hear the "they just got lucky" talk if this goes the way I hope it does.

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Edge, you know I'm with you but don't get your hopes up. The Colts can't beat NE until they do. I agree everything is in favor of the Colts, well everything except that they're playing the Pats. I'm rooting for the Colts, but getting your hopes up for this game seems like a one way ticket to shot-in-the-groin town.

Cody

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Cody, all the years of putting up with all the Tom Brady manlove have made me numb to it all. This year is the perfect set up. Peyton hasn't been playing well, and all we've heard from Pats fans is how bad they think the Colts are.

Well, if we win, which I think we will, that's going to be a lot of fun (Peyton can't win the big one, Colts can't beat Belichick, etc.). And you know, IF we lose, which I understand is a possibility (although Tags isn't controlling the refs anymore [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] ) then what do the Pats fans have to brag about? They beat a team they've been running into the ground all year, even AFTER we beat them in their place.

So hey, I've taken heat from Pats fans before, and my custom title isn't getting changed any time soon. I'll enjoy the game and pull HARD for the Saints or Bears if we go down.

[chev9]

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IF we lose, which I understand is a possibility (although Tags isn't controlling the refs anymore [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] ) then what do the Pats fans have to brag about?

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Super Bowls 36, 38 and 39 come to mind

[BeneathTheWheel]

god patriot fans are douchebags

[Needle77]

Mike Smith(Jaguars D-Coordinator, remember they are in the same division so he see's them twice a year) talks about the Colts better defense

Link to article Link:

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Jaguars Defensive Coordinator Mike Smith says the Indianapolis Colts defense is doing the same things they’ve always done, just doing them a lot better.

“They’re fitting (playing assigned gaps) better and tackling better; much better job of tackling,” Smith said of the Colts defense, which limped into the postseason with a dead-last ranking in run-defense but has since turned in dominating performances in wins over Kansas City and Baltimore.

So, coach, how have they done it?

“I think Bob Sanders makes a difference. Since he’s been back, he’s solidified their run-defense,” Smith said of the Colts’ star safety.

What about scheme? The Colts loaded the tackle box with eight and nine players on first down against the Chiefs and Ravens, yet, both teams ran head-first into the pile, instead of throwing against a defense stacked to stop the run.

“That’s the way Tony’s defense is designed,” Smith said of Colts head coach Tony Dungy. “They load the box on first down and try to get you into second and long and third and long and go to their ‘cover two.’ Maybe teams are being stubborn in trying to run against a loaded box.”

“Cover two” is a defensive alignment that favors pass-defense because it employs four pass-defenders and only seven against the run. It is Dungy’s base defense.

In beating the Colts in last year’s playoffs, the Steelers threw early and often in getting out to a 21-3 lead. Last December, however, the Jaguars rushed for 375 yards against the Colts, despite the Colts’ strategy to load the box against the run.

What strategy will the Patriots employ in this Sunday’s AFC title game in the RCA Dome? Will they try to run the ball on the early downs against a loaded box, or do what the Steelers did a year ago?

“Both offenses are going to have opportunities to make big plays,” Smith said in analyzing the game. “I think it’ll be a chess match between the two quarterbacks, and I think there will be a decided advantage for (Colts quarterback Peyton) Manning because he’ll be playing at home. He’ll be able to use the advantage of being to able to communicate his pre-snap reads. I think New England will have a chance to use their multiple personnel groupings and see how the Colts decide to defend that, and that could be an advantage for New England.”

Smith would not predict which team would win, but clearly believes the site of the game will be a major advantage for the Colts.

“The crowd will be a factor against Brady because he’s going to have to make a lot of decisions post-snap instead of pre-snap,” Smith said.

San Diego was the AFC’s number one team going into the playoffs but lost to the Patriots this past Sunday in a stunning upset.

“It looked like they had the best personnel,” Smith said of the Chargers. “It was a game of breaks. They had two bad breaks: the fumbled punt and the fumbled interception. Those were the two crucial plays in the game.”

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[Edge34]

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IF we lose, which I understand is a possibility (although Tags isn't controlling the refs anymore [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] ) then what do the Pats fans have to brag about?

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Super Bowls 36, 38 and 39 come to mind

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Forgetting something? If you want to live in the past, that's fine. I'll live right now, and we've got the guy who won ALL of those Super Bowls (and he never wore #12).

[Richard Tanner]

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If Colts win AFC Championship and Manning throws another 2-3 INTs, gets to the Super Bowl and throws another 1-2 INTs, but the Colts somehow find a way to win because the Bears self-destruct, is he off the hook?

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I think we talked about this in another thread. In any case, Yes he is! Don't you understand, a QB's worth is completely seperate from his play on the field. If the team wins, it's the QB (after all he "just wins football games) but if the team loses, it's a chokejob worthy of Latrell Sprewell.

In all seriousness, I heard a saying the other day that explains this idiocy: "Players win awards, teams win championships, but championships define players." It's rediculous, but sadly true in the minds of most sports fans.

Cody

[SuperUberBob]

It's fine time that Manning doesn't blow up and the Colts beat the Pats. The Pats aren't as good as they used to be. It's all for the taking for the Colts. If they lose here, they may never beat the Pats in the playoffs for the next 100 years.

[Scary_Tiger]

It's not a chokejob is the Colts lose. This year's Colts aren't as good as this year's Patriots. Sure the Patriots aren't great, but the Colts are mediocre. This is a team that had a worse point differential than the Jaguars, Chargers, Ravens, Patriots, Saints, Bears, Cowboys and Eagles. They just aren't that good.