CAN ANYONE STOP THE COLTS? WHAT I SAW HERE IN BALTIMORE MAKES ME THINK!

January 13, 2007

Baltimore, Maryland

NFC Playoffs

Don’t let the noise coming from the Ravens defense fool you. We are used to all that talk coming from people like T.O. and the other host of morons that cannot produce. This squad is out for blood. What I do admire however is that the best LB in all the NFL Ray Lewis who is the chief of smack talk, came in with lots of talk, but lots of respect. He told me before the game “…I want to play the best. That is why I love the playoffs. You can’t be the best without playing the best. This is what I love about it. Payton and the playoffs.”

Coming into this classic if I would have told you that Lewis and his defense would be able to hold future hall of famer Peyton Manning and the Colts to 15 of 30 passing with NO TD’s in the air or on the ground and two interceptions we all would have mortgaged the house and went to Vegas. We would be homeless today.

Brace yourself the story is that did happen. The real story is not that worshiped Colts offense, but the much-maligned D, that stopped the Ravens for scoring any touchdowns also. It was only the fourth time in NFL history in the playoffs that both teams went with TD’s but the first also since 1979. On top of that the golden foot of Adam Vinatieri (he became the NFL’s all time playoff FG leader) kicked five field goals to cement the demise of the Ravens.

Peyton described the game as "Obviously, you want to get touchdowns, it's frustrating to settle for field goals. We saw the way the game was going and we thought we could win it with field goals, if we could get enough of them."

Dungy talked about this teams expectations of themselves, considering last year they got lots of love but little respect this season. He said, "Our expectations were the same as last year, even though no one else's were."

Hired by Bill Polian to fix the dismal defense, Dungy talked about that unit when he said, "they weren't always as bad as they looked. We knew what the problems were. We knew we were getting better. And now, we're starting to hit our stride at the right time."

“What can you say they played outstanding,” was Manning’s description of his defense that even he took shots at this season. “Our defense, we challenged them all week and they played outstanding,” was Dungy’s stance.

The quote of the night however had to be Dungy when Vinatieri hit what was the game sealing FG, you could see him mouthing on the sideline: MONEY! He was disappointed him last season and that was why he was sent packing. This season a golden foot sends him to the AFC championship game. For all the love I give the 300+ pound big uglies, Vinatieri showed why he is the best ever tonight.

As I leave to go back to Michigan, I can’t think that there were two very good football teams here today. I picked Indianapolis to go all the way back in May, and I am liking riding this horse!
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