Ugh...the Colts

The Falcons lost, and whatever, they weren't great on the road this year and a rookie QB starting his first playoff game on the road isn't likely to win it. The Cardinals played a better game and came out with a better gameplan, neutralizing Michael Turner and putting the game in Matt Ryan's hands.

Ok, that's out of the way. Now to the more interesting game. The Colts and the Chargers. Save for one magical post-season when their running game and defense were clicking and Peyton led a remarkable comeback against the Pats, they have had post-season letdowns every year. Losing to the Pats is one thing. Those Patriot teams had better defenses. But to lose to San Diego two years in a row, especially this year's team that was a fluky 8-8 division champ, that should have never been in the playoffs to start with, that was only in because Herm Edwards is the worst clock manager in football by far, this loss was just indefensible and inexplicable. The Colts defense, built for speed, couldn't contain Darren Sproles.

The key play of the game though had the Colts on offense. Up 17-14 and trying to grind out the clock, the Colts had a 3rd and 2 on the Indy 9 yard line. There's two options and only two in this situation: run for the 1st down or play action fake and throw for the first down. That's it. Instead, inexplicably, the Colts come out lined up with in the shotgun with an empty backfield. This is the first time I've seen them come out in that formation all year. So of course, Manning gets sacked and they're forced to punt. And that was the game.