Another snowstorm is set to hit Indianapolis tomorrow, and city officials had been concerned it might affect the putative Super Bowl celebratory parade through downtown; this is no longer an issue.
The parade will instead be in New Orleans, even as their city had actually planned one win or lose.
Last night’s game in Miami Gardens was a grave disappointment for the Circle City, and a shocking end to a season that saw central Indiana’s team, a la New England in 2007, go undefeated (in games they actually tried to win), yet fail on the world’s biggest football stage.
There was the good, the bad and the ugly from this game.
The ugly, of course, is the ultimate loss and a season many will see (and should see) as a failure.
It was good to see Peyton Manning throw for 333 yards, but he made some bad mistakes, more akin to 1998-2005 Peyton than the 2006-2010 four-time MVPÂ versions.
Joseph Addai had his best game in three years; Reggie Wayne, playing banged up, had his worst.
The Colts outgained the Saints by 100 yards, held the league’s best offense to a very mediocre 332 yards (well below their season average, and just 51 on the ground, including a goal-line stand, despite having two injured starters), yet gave up long drives when it mattered, and did not make any big plays, while the Saints made at least one.
No one here or anywhere realized Adam Vinatieri was out this entire this season until Matt Stover missed a long field goal (one he shouldn’t have even been attempting) that changed the momentum of the game as much as New Orleans’ unorthodox onside kick to open the second half.
Jim Caldwell “managed” this talented team well all year (save for the Dec 27 Jets game), then made poor decisions:Â Stover’s field goal attempt; three runs inside your own 20 late in the first half (after calling a time out to set up a drive!) that led to New Orleans’ second field goal; not getting the ball out of bounds to stop the clock on Indy’s late drives.
This Colts team is young enough, especially where it counts, to be solid next season; but 71 year-old Tom Moore, the only offensive coordinator Peyton Manning knows at the pro level, is retiring.
As I drove into work this morning, people didn’t seem depressed like the past two winters when the Colts lost to San Diego. Then, a long, cold off-season awaited, as those games ended Indy’s season about a month earlier than this year, without a single playoff win, and to a team that is cocky and unlikable. New Orleans, overall, is likable, even if the media (Katie Couric, Spike Lee, et al) really got unnecessarily annoying with their “the world is cheering for this city due to Katrina perpetual hype…” the past fortnight, as if the Colts are an evil empire akin to New England.
And regarding New England, there were some similarities between the Colts’ loss and the Pats’ loss two years ago. But Colts’ fans last night were solemn, even gracious, as losing to New Orleans didn’t seem to bother them as much. This was shown on local TV, in blogs, commentaries, and on talk radio this morning. No excuses. I doubt New England fans felt similarly after their loss to New York in Arizona.
OK, it’s over. Seasons change.
Now we move down a (shorter) road to the Final Four and baseball season…
{BTW, the super bowl ads, save for a few, were as juvenile and terrible as ever.}
About AJ Kaufman
