Rest proves to be Colts' most effective weapon

INDIANAPOLIS -- There were no I-told-you so's. Too early for that.

But make no mistake: Whether the Indianapolis Colts were saying it or not afterward, what happened Saturday night in a 20-3 AFC divisional playoff victory over the Baltimore Ravens was exactly what they wanted to happen. All that rest the Colts got late in the season? The rest that sparked controversy and disbelief nationally, as well as a near-mutiny from the fans?

While that raged around them, this was what the Colts wanted:

They were fresh. They were ready.

And rust, pregame, month-long speculation and debate aside, was not a factor.

"I thought we came out sharp on both sides of the ball and kind of set the tempo for the game," Colts quarterback Peyton Manning said after completing 30 of 44 passes for 246 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. "Obviously, being healthy was important. We had a lot of guys back. ... There's no question veteran football players are going to be a little sore and nicked up late in the season. There's no question the guys used the off week."

They used the off week, Manning said, to work as well as they have in years. They called it "preparation week," a week that came in the wake of the controversial decision in Week 16 to pull starters while leading 15-10 late in the third quarter of what became a 29-15 loss to the New York Jets. That was their first loss of the season after 14 victories to start the season and the Colts drew the ire of many -- fans and media included -- for not pursuing a historic unbeaten regular season.

But the Colts eschewed perfection for one reason and one reason only.

They wanted to be rested and ready for what they knew would be a difficult postseason run.

And on Saturday night, they were just that.

Throughout the final days leading to the game, Colts players and coaches talked of good bye week practices, and a healthy hop to their collective steps. Colts coach Jim Caldwell sounded as close as he ever will to cocky on Thursday when he talked of the team's preparation, saying the Colts' three bye-week practices were perhaps the best the team had had in eight seasons and adding almost obligatorily that, of course, they had to do it on the field for it to matter.

Which on Saturday they did.

The Colts weren't as dominant Saturday as the Saints had been hours earlier, but against an opponent that likes to brawl and punch, the Colts did just that, beating the Ravens at their game and making a team that was dominant last week decidedly ineffective.

And they did so with defense, holding the Ravens to 270 yards -- 87 rushing -- and 12 first downs and forcing three fourth-quarter turnovers. Never in the second half did you have the idea the Ravens were getting back into it, but any such ideas the Ravens might have had disappeared as the Colts continually took possession in their own territory.

The game turned Saturday as so many playoff games do, quickly and without warning -- a blink-and-you-missed-it turn of circumstances late in the first half.

Eric Foster and the Colts are feeling stronger than ever thanks to some late-season rest. (Getty Images)

Maybe freshness enabled a comfortable second half. Maybe not, but either way, as defensive end Dwight Freeney put it afterward, there are some similarities between this year's Colts team and the one that won the Super Bowl in 2006, similarities that extend beyond beating the Ravens in the divisional round. That year's Colts team won in different ways, winning a defensive struggle against Baltimore one week and the legendary 38-34 shootout over New England the next.

"Sometimes, special teams win games," Freeney said. "Sometimes, defense wins. Sometimes, the offense wins. That's what the makeup of this team this year is."

None of which guarantees anything next week, but what is certain is that the Colts on Sunday morning will feel absolutely as good about their situation as they could possibly feel.

The Colts rested players and honed themselves for the postseason because they knew none of these games would be easy. They weren't a run-away-and-hide team during the season. They were a gut-it-out-late, find-a-way-to-win team that knew it had to be as healthy as possible to win close, competitive playoff games.

On Saturday, despite some shaky moments, that's what the Colts were, and on that same game, the Colts proved -- if only to themselves -- that their controversial late-season strategy was the right choice for them. Even if there were no I-told-you-so's.