Spontaneous Combustion

That wasn't even the other shoe dropping. In fact, that wasn't even 10 pairs of shoes dropping. That was out right bad football playin'. But before I begin:

1. The Chargers came to play. They knew they needed this win to keep their playoff hopes alive, and darnit all if they didn't do that. But they just plain had the Colts number...all 22 of them...plus a few coaches. So, Kudos to the entire team for not letting that RCA Dome crowd get to you. There are 10 other teams this season who couldn't do what you did.

2. I am as critical (if not more) of the teams that I cheer for than I am of their opponents, so this may get ugly, but I'm so mad right now, I could scream. Oh wait...I already have.

3. I'm not allowing comments on this post because...well...it's my blog and I can do whatever I want on it. :) But trust me...I'll get PLENTY of thrashing at work tomorrow.

Now...back to our regularly scheduled blog...

I went to lunch after church and missed the entire 1st half, but I'm pretty certain that I just missed being even more angry than I already am. The Colts went into halftime 13-0, which is the first time they've trailed since the St. Louis game in week 6. So I was already walking mad when I sat down to watch the second half. It started out pretty well and the Colts came back to actually lead the game 17-16 by the end of the 3rd Quarter. However, the team (specifically the offensive line) decided if Tony Dungy wasn't going to sit them, then they just weren't going to play their game. This game Peyton didn't even need to sack himself...the Chargers did all the work for him. The offensive line checked out before the opening whistle even blew and Peyton got sacked more times in this one game than he gets sacked in oh I don't know 5 games combined. I was volunteering to do the chewing out of every member of the offensive line before the game was over. And then Peyton showed just how imperfect he is even after 8 years in the league. It was 2-11 on the 30 yard line (perfect field goal position for Mike) and Peyton gets rushed like he has been all day and then decided to intentionally ground the ball and I mean blatantly. There wasn't even a Chargers player where he threw much less a Colts player. 10 yard penalty and a loss of down. 3-21 on the 41. So then, seeing as how the offensive line came to play, Peyton gets sacked AGAIN eliminating all chances of him getting a last ditch effort pass off and get back into field goal position. That was without a doubt the biggest ROOKIE mistake he's made in a long time. (My opinion of course.) So then I volunteered to chew out the offensive line and Peyton...but only if I could start with him.

Now, of course, I've watched my share of post game press conferences and interviews with Peyton over the years and he rarely blames the loss of a game on anyone but himself, so I'm quite certain, though I've only seen one quote so far, that Peyton will either blame it on himself (much deserved) or just say "we" and "us" and "them" a lot. He doesn't tend to point fingers at specific people. I'm actually hoping this will bring them back to reality that they aren't invincible and that they can be beaten...something I've known all along, but no one would listen to me. In fact, all week long I had that feeling that this was going to be THE week when everything fell apart. Guess I should trust my gut a little more and spare myself the anger and disappointment. I'm glad to know that the articles I have read show that the team is (a) disappointed in themselves and (b) keeping their focus on the ultimate goal...the Super Bowl. It's definitely not an undefeated record that matters in this sport. It's getting to the Super Bowl and winning it. Eyes on the Prize boys...Please keep your focus because I have this great fear that all of this will be for nothing and you'll lose that first playoff game and end it all before Motown.

I mean come on. The whole point of Home Field Advantage through the playoffs was for everyone to play in doors with the home team crowd in the stands, but obviously the Chargers showed the Colts just exactly how much that didn't matter. Playing good football...a solid 60 minutes of good football...is what matters no matter what stadium you're in.

My kudos to:

1. The Chargers, again. You've now beaten all the active members of the Manning family this year.
2. The Colts receivers. Even when Peyton was getting rushed and he threw up a crazy pass, y'all still caught the balls. Well played!!
3. Edgerrin James for not giving up even though the Chargers did a heck of a job stuffing you at the line of scrimmage most times. You should have been handed that ball in the 1st half, but no...Mr. Pass Happy (of yeah...I said it) decided against it. (Let's read that defense a little better next time Mr. Audible/Game Tape Junkie)
4. The Colts defense for the interceptions and the fumble recovery. Regroup and I'll see you next week.

If you can't tell I'm really ticked off at Peyton right now. I haven't seen him play that terribly in I don't know how long, but I do realize that some of it wasn't his fault because his offensive line wasn't helping much. I expected them to lose. I just didn't expect them to lose this way.

2 more regular season games left
1 guaranteed playoff game
Let's get through that and see what happens.

Oh how I wish it was February 6th already...at least then I'd know for sure.