The Game

In college, I couldn't stand Payton Manning. He played for Tennessee who seemed to beat OSU in every big game and I'm just not kosher with that. When it came to must-win SEC games, though, he could never come through. So he was a choker when it counted most, but somehow beat my team for the best of the second-best.

In the NFL, I've been rooting for Payton since he arrived. Classy. Smart. Damn good. I dig it. It killed me that he consistently was kept out of the Superbowl for years because of the shortcomings on the other side of the ball...because of things he had absolutely no control over. This year they finally got it right, though, and the defense came through when they needed to. At the very least I wanted Manning to get his shot. He did, and he made the most of it.

One of the more famous quotes from this football season - and maybe in all of NFL history - is "They are who we thought they were!" Well, Grossman proved he was who he thought I was, and that's an inconsistent quarterback who becomes absolutely nothing better than mediocre at best when pressured in between his flashes of brilliance. He's from the same tree as Jake Plummer when it comes to football ability and consistency. I bet $25 that he would throw an interception that was returned for a touchdown, and my boy delivered. That was a $125 return, thank you very much. He's my favorite player!

Lovie Smith had success with the run, then put the ball into Grossman's hand. On third and 2? Really? I'm not a head coach and goodness knows I don't know what was going on down there on the sidelines. From my ignorant opinion, though, it seems like both the game situation and weather conditions lent themselves to the running game and Smith got away from it. Eh, who knows. Again, I'm no NFL head coach.

The Colts really put together a team effort. Payton had a good game...not great. Receivers did their best to get open when they needed to. Addai warmed them up, then Rhodes shut them down (this really reminded me of what they hoped Barber and Dayne could turn into). And their defense rattled the bears instead of the other way around. On the other hand Chicago just seemed to melt down on offense, got worn down on defense, but got down the damn field on special teams.

Devon Hester....sweet geebis, that guy is good. In all honesty I think he has an argument, albeit mild, for the MVP of the game. He pretty much accounted for 37 yards of field position just because he was on the field for kickoff returns. When you start your drives from the 37-45 yard line area that can wear on a defense's psyche a bit. Fortunately the Colts handled their business well and Grossman didn't.

Droping a snap, good times. Hiking the ball into yourself, great times. Tripping over your own freakin feet as a professional football player in the NFL, priceless.

Vinatierri makes a 40+ yard field goal down the middle in the snow, but he misses a 20+ yard field goal in the rain. Wait, forget the distance and conditions...he missed a field goal in the playoffs! What the heck? Oh well...I guess it had to happen sometime.