1. Everything I thought I knew about football turned out to be wrong.
2. Seriously, I have to give the Colts a lot of credit. More on that in a second.
3. Reggie Bush is an idiot. Not only does he not understand the concept of "scoreboard", he doesn't understand Saints' history. Go back to the the playoffs after the 2000 season. The Saints are hosting the defending champion St. Louis Rams and take a 31-7 lead in the fourth quarter on a touchdown pass to Willie Jackson. But wait! Jackson taunts a defender by waving the ball at him as he crosses the goal line. Immediately the Rams catch fire, scoring three touchdowns to make it 31-28, the eventual final. I'm certain the Rams would have won if the game had been a few minutes longer.
(Why should Bush know this game? It was, before last week, the only playoff win in franchise history.)
4. The Chicago defense was terrific, even if the stats-partially inflated by Bush's 88-yard catch-don't really show it. They should give the Colts all they can handle. But then, so should have Baltimore and New England.
5. Ah, the Colts. Do I really hate them? Yes. Not because Peyton Manning was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, though. No, I hate him because it was a golden spoon, covered in diamonds, and he still gouges his teammates' backs when he can't get it done.
6. That said, the biggest questions surrounding Peyton Manning have always been about his mental toughness. He's made some serious strides this postseason. I'm not saying he'll win the title, but he has made some progress, which he seemed to have gone years without doing.
7. Not to focus on the losers, but when Asante Samuel intercepted that Manning pass for a touchdown to make it 21-3, Phil Simms compared him favorably to Champ Bailey. Bailey's great. But Samuel doesn't deserve that because he's had an absolutely amazing career so far. He's taken three interceptions for touchdowns in the playoffs in his career, tying the NFL record. He started for the Patriots in their last Super Bowl win. And he had ten picks this year, matching Bailey. That's more in four years than some stars will do in their whole careers.
8. Marvin Harrison-well, I'm sick of hearing that guy talked about as the greatest receiver ever who, only for the simple reason that he loves sportsmanship and doesn't talk trash, flies under the radar. Well, Big Game Marvin had his typical performance today-four catches, forty-one yards, and some drops, including one on what would have been a huge gain. It doesn't matter since the Colts won...but geez.
9. For all you Peyton Manning haters, you don't have to give up hope yet. Dan Marino made a Super Bowl. Jim Kelly made four. Shoot, Neil O'Donnell made a Super Bowl. You see what I'm getting at?
Comments
Can you imagine Bush behind the Texans line? I don't think he would have done much. (I'm not calling him a bust, just pointing out that he didn't light up the world like, say, Gale Sayers.)
The least surprising thing about the game yesterday is that the Colts defense vanished against a real offense. Yes, they picked off Brady at the end, but they gave up 34 points. Too bad they're playing the Bears next.
It's funny that you call the Saints a consummate dome team. They are built for that kind of play, which was (I think) your point, but they had a better record away than at home this year.
I saw a great comment on a blog today about Manning going to the Super Bowl and now facing a QB from Florida, a team that owned him in college-maybe Tyrannosaurus Grossman will be all right.
There is actually a unified Diet Pepsi ROTY award on the NFL's website (you can vote now!), but I think that's a little less official.
You'll have to let me know if you make it to the Pro Bowl-for some reason I think that would be awesome, even though the game's a joke. One of my friends said he saw on CNN how bad the weather is here-I can't speak for everyone, but while it keeps snowing in the metro area, each storm is progressively lighter, so it's pretty much fine now.