(OT?) -- Perhaps it wasn't Payton?

[bostonsteeler]

Indianapolis having another playoff meltdown, continuing a 15 year tradition. Used to be Payton melting; now its Luck.
Perhaps it isn't the QB; just team culture?

[SteelBuckeye]

Well, they do have an owner who seems to be more concerned with his twitter followers than anything else ...

[birtikidis]

Really?
is TY Hilton = to Reggie Wayne or Marvin Harrison?
Stable of RB = Marshall Faulk or the toher guy they had?
is Robert Mathis = Dwight Freeney?

The Colts are in perpetual rebuild mode because Manning's contract hamstrung them for so long.

[tiproast]

Colts philosophy in the Manning/Luck era has been to emphasize the offense, and not to invest much in the defense (witness the trading of a first round draft choice for a marginal RB in Richardson).

They can be gashed on the ground by any team willing to commit to the run. And they don't play well outside their dome.

[SteelBuckeye]

Colts philosophy in the Manning/Luck era has been to emphasize the offense, and not to invest much in the defense (witness the trading of a first round draft choice for a marginal RB in Richardson).

They can be gashed on the ground by any team willing to commit to the run. And they don't play well outside their dome.

Winner ... plus one

[tiproast]

Winner ... plus one

Thanks - did you notice Belichick punting from the Colts 26 at the end of the game?

If Dungy were still the Colts coach, Belichick kicks the field goal (or takes some shots into the end zone after the 1st and 10 inside the 30).

Belichick respects Pagano, I think. He had no use for Dungy.

[squidkid]

throw in 3-4 calls that went in NE favor too

[feltdizz]

Luck is good on throwing 15+ but he is HORRIBLE underneath. KC and the Pats saw something on tape and exposed him. He stares down WR's on short routes...

Notice how both Indy games had foes scoring in the 40's.... most if it was due to short fields because of Luck.

[tiproast]

throw in 3-4 calls that went in NE favor too

Agree that the PI call they got in the 2nd half was marginal.

Don't recall any others.

[feltdizz]

Agree that the PI call they got in the 2nd half was marginal.

Don't recall any others.

#17 was tossed on a 3rd down that wasnt called but that was it IMO. Colts were manhandled by a better team... the refs didnt change the outcome of that game. Pats went smashmouth and Colts couldnt stop it.

[tiproast]

#17 was tossed on a 3rd down that wasnt called but that was it IMO.

I don't possess the ability to see those kinds of plays - there's some weird kind of filtering that happens when I put on my game-day glasses.

[squidkid]

Agree that the PI call they got in the 2nd half was marginal.

Don't recall any others.

late hit on luck
PI no call on indy wr(brazill)
no hold call where dierdorf actually said NE guy got away with a grab
luck was also hit low(knees) on a sack. (slam dunk call if it was brady)

[tiproast]

late hit on luck
PI no call on indy wr(brazill)
no hold call where dierdorf actually said NE guy got away with a grab
luck was also hit low(knees) on a sack. (slam dunk call if it was brady)

Mathis went for a below the knee tackle on Brady on a near sack, and that wasn't called (or noticed by Dierdorf).

[steeler_fan_in_t.o.]

Indy came into this playoff as a division winner in perhaps the weakest division in football. If we ranked the playoff teams prior to the WC round, there is no way that you could legitimately ranked them as a top two AFC team. They were within a TD in the fourth Q. I don't think that this team underachieved.

Now, when you have a team ranked in the top two, who consistently go out in their first playoff game at home, that is falling short! I know because I saw and heard Bill Cowher's teams do that throughout the nineties.

[bostonsteeler]

Mathis went for a below the knee tackle on Brady on a near sack, and that wasn't called (or noticed by Dierdorf).

There may have been more blown calls favoring NE than Indy, but in the big picture they were irrelevant. NE was just far superior to Indy on that day. No two days are the same in the NFL though.