It\'s highly likely that 15 years or so from now, when Peyton Manning is at the Hall of Fame podium, this is the game that will be in the forefront of everyone\'s mind; the turning point that raised his career from all-time great to all-time elite status. Tremendous courage leading the Colts back, down 18, with some help from a steady running game, his two tight ends, and a defense, that although torched throughout, held the Patriots to a pair of field goals when they needed to. Of course, it\'s mostly null-and-void if Manning throws four picks and loses the Super Bowl, but I doubt that will happen. Colts 31, Bears 17.
As far as the Patriots, the bottom line is they blew a 21-3 lead to a quarterback they had previously owned in the playoffs and squandered their chance at making football history by being only the second team ever to win four Super Bowls in six years. I would love an explanation of why Belichick opted to run on 3rd-and-10 from Indy\'s 29 with 4:29 left and the game tied. I don\'t see how he could have possibly thought a field goal would hold up the way his defense had been battered in the second half. A questionable decision, though it still could have worked had the Patriots ran out the clock a little later, but again, Belichick baffled me by passing on 3rd-and-4 with a three-point lead and 2:30 to play. I mean, one more first down virtually kills the Colts\' chances and I just didn\'t understand why he didn\'t challenge the NFL\'s worst-rated rushing defense with the game, and ultimately, the season on the line. If somone can come up with a worse loss in franchise history, I\'m all ears.
