When I visited H-town for xmas, I went to the Colts/Texans game. I cannot believe this is the same team.
Why would you been stunned that Rex Grossman played poorly? He's barely an average quarterback. I was stunned that he played so well in the playoffs. He makes poor decisions and it caught up with him when the team needed him to make plays.
I'm going to agree with Cat. Hats off to Peyton Manning. Now please stop doing so many damn commercials. Please.
LOL. This seems to be the biggest gripe about Peyton. I guess the fact that I don't have a tv warps my perspective on this a bit.
That motivation issue really seems to be the story for the Colts. They stopped the Chiefs and Ravens, but most people assumed that was because of those teams having terrible offenses. New England scored points, but really didn't do all that much on offense - a huge kick return and a INT for TD by Samuel were responsible for 14 of New England's 34 points. And they kept the ground game in check. Tonight, a lot of people thought Jones and Benson would be able to gash them... not so much. Looking back, it really seems like the Colts (particularly defensively) were waiting for the most important games to turn it on. They got it done for four straight weeks, and amazingly, it's the defense that's going to deliver them a Super Bowl. I've never seen anything like it.
I agree with The Cat. You have to hand it to their defense. Bob Sanders sure has made a difference, too. I have also been impressed by their running game. Both Addai and Rhodes run with some intensity.
Well, the TEAM was losing to the Colts. But when they had to start relying more on Rex to move them downfield, he folded and denied them any opportunity to come back.
The biggest gripe I have is how he and the Colts' receivers completely changed the way offensive football is played with their whining three years ago. After being thoroughly whipped by New England 20-3, they could've gone about the loss with class. Instead, they whined about being bumped off their routes and the New England defensive backs being physical. Well, you know what? It's football - it's a physical game. If you can't stay on your routes, maybe you should get more physical receivers. But, because everyone loves Peyton Manning and that offense, the NFL changed the rules, and (to me) it's been a more boring product ever since. I miss the more physical brand of football that existed up until three years ago, and that's my biggest gripe about this team. That said, I don't want to make it seem like I'm making excuses. The Colts were the best team in football this year, and when it mattered, it actually wasn't their offense making finesse plays. It was both the offensive, and especially defensive, lines consistently winning the battle at the point of attack and being more physical than their opponents. The story of the game tonight, outside of Grossman, is that the Colts were able to consistently get pressure from the front four. In spite of Grossman's flaws, he does have a good deep ball; however, there wasn't anyone open downfield because the Colts consistently dropped linebackers and got pressure without blitzing. They owned the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, a huge contrast from previous years.
Seriously. I've always been neutral about Manning, but his commercials and ego-stroking drove me over the edge into dislike. The MasterCard commercials were cute. The Gatorade, DirecTV, Sprint, Sony, and Reebok ones? Not so much.
It's going to all get blamed on Grossman, but the Bears' offensive line deserves a lot of it too. They were absolutely owned tonight and let the Colts consistently get in Grossman's face without having to blitz anyone. That left more men in coverage to confuse him. It doesn't excuse the terrible throws Rex made, but it was definitely a huge factor.
Here's what Gregg Easterbrook (who for my money is the best football analyst in the business) has to say about the subject: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/070123
