INDIANAPOLIS -- Peyton Manning better not get any heat for this. He better not get any blame. He couldn't win this playoff game for the Indianapolis Colts, but by God he didn't lose it.
Dallas Clark lost it.
Reggie Wayne lost it.
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| Peyton Manning can thank his Colts teammates for Indy's season ending short of the AFC title game. (Getty Images) |
Kenton Keith lost it.
The Colts' defense lost it.
Maybe even coach Tony Dungy lost it, for allowing his family situation -- his kid enrolled recently at a Tampa, Fla., high school, triggering speculation that he will resign -- to become a distraction.
The San Diego Chargers won 28-24 on Sunday to advance to the AFC Championship Game, and kudos to the Chargers for overcoming a crazy rash of injuries to their offensive stars, but the Colts lost this game. And by Colts, translate that to mean "pretty much everybody for the home team except for Peyton Manning."
The Colts wasted a magnificent game by Manning, although missing six of his final seven passes could attract some finger-pointing his way. Still, the overall numbers say he was very good -- 33-for-48 for 402 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions -- and the overall numbers lie. Manning wasn't just very good.
A fresh slice of pizza is very good. An afternoon nap is very good. Manning was exceptional, perhaps as exceptional as he has ever been, and he has been one of the most exceptional quarterbacks in NFL history.
The difference in this game was support. San Diego's scrubs came to the aid of quarterback Philip Rivers. Nobody came to Manning's aid. If this game had been one of those team-building exercises where one person closes his eyes and falls backward, trusting someone will catch him, Manning would have plummeted straight to the floor. Nobody had his back.
Manning threw two interceptions, but both passed through the hands of his intended receiver before being picked off by a Charger. Both killed likely scoring drives, too. On the first interception, Pro Bowl receiver Wayne dropped a first down inside the San Diego 20 with 25 seconds left in the half. That's at least a field goal right there, gone.
On the second pick, backup running back Keith flubbed a ball at the San Diego 5 that would have given the Colts a first-and-goal inside the 5. Figure that was a seven-point turnover. So that's 10 points. How much did the Colts lose by?
There's more. Longtime Pro Bowl receiver Marvin Harrison, playing his first game since late October, lost a fumble at the San Diego 22 in the first half. That's another field goal, at the minimum, gone.
The Colts' season ended after neither Wayne nor stud tight end Clark could hang on to passes on third and fourth down with just more than a minute to play. Wayne was separated from the ball by safety Marlon McCree, but Clark simply dropped a soft toss near midfield. With open space behind him, Clark would have rumbled into field-goal range.
"Annoying," said Clark.
Baffling, says me. The Chargers came into the RCA Dome and won despite every conceivable factor going the Colts' way. For one thing this has been billed as the last game in the RCA Dome, which is scheduled to be replaced next year by a new facility, and Colts fans were ready. They were ear-achingly loud, and then some. The scoreboard urged the crowd of 56,950 to "make it personal," and they responded by booing a 14-year-girl at halftime because the girl -- a national Punt, Pass and Kick champion from New Hampshire -- was wearing a New England Patriots jersey.
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For another, the officiating didn't go San Diego's way. All four replays went in the Colts' favor, and a horrible holding call in the final seconds of the first half nullified a long touchdown return by San Diego cornerback Antonio Cromartie.
Finally, the Chargers were hurt coming into the game and then were banged up worse. Pro Bowl tight end Antonio Gates played but was ineffective after a gruesome toe injury suffered last week. NFL rushing leader LaDainian Tomlinson missed most of the game with a bruised knee. Rivers sat out the fourth quarter with a twisted knee.
And still the San Diego offense shredded the Colts. The Chargers gained 411 total yards thanks to three great quarters from Rivers -- 14-for-19, 264 yards, three touchdowns, one interception -- and timely contributions from backup running back Michael Turner (71 rushing yards), third-team running back Darren Sproles (56-yard touchdown catch), third-team wide receiver Legedu Naanee (whose 27-yard rumble with a screen set up the game-winning touchdown) and backup quarterback Billy Volek.
It was Volek, who completed just three passes all season, who rallied the Chargers from a 24-21 deficit in the fourth quarter by driving 78 yards for the winning score. He completed all three of his passes on the drive and ended it with a 1-yard scoring sneak.
"We've got some guys who compete and fight and scratch and claw as good as I've ever been around," Chargers coach Norv Turner said. "I told them in the locker room I've been doing this a long time -- a long time in this league and a long time before -- and I've never been around a more gutsy performance by a team."
Fair enough. But the Chargers got all kinds of help from Indianapolis, right down to their final scoring drive. A Volek incompletion on third down was nullified by a facemask personal foul on Colts safety Marlin Jackson. Instead of fourth-and-3 from the San Diego 43, the Chargers had a first down at the Colts 42. On the next play Naanee went 27 yards to the Colts 15. Turner then barreled three times for 14 yards, down to the 1, where Volek finished it off with the sneak.
In the quiet Colts locker room after the game, team officials began clearing out the locker room immediately. Everything had to go, right down to the nameplates over the lockers -- which were removed even as the players were somberly getting dressed.
It was coldly efficient, unlike the sloppy bumbling of teammates that cost Peyton Manning a crack at the Patriots next week in the AFC title game.
