game balls

Ok. It's been almost an hour since the game ended and my heart has almost stopped racing. I had a feeling the Chargers would play the Colts tough this week, and they did. I just want to give out some props to some guys who made this win possible:

• Adam Vinatieri - Accounted for 11 of 23 points, including the long clutch game winner
• Peyton Mannin - If he keeps willing his team to victories how do you not give him the MVP?
• Melvin Bullitt - Played a great game in Bob Sander's absence. He was huge on several run stops and played pretty good in pass coverage too.
  
• Freddy Kiaho - 10 solo tackles including multiple tackles for loss of LT
• Anthony Gonzalez - 6 catches for 95 yards and a touchdown. He even had the good sense to drop a ball he would otherwise have fumbled ; )
• Chad Simpson - Averaged 24 yards per kick return and gave Peyton the ball in comfortable spots on the field.
• Hunter Smith - 3 punts, all downed inside the 20. Five successful holds for Vinatieri kicks.
• Robert Mathis - consistent pressure on Rivers, credited with 1.5 sacks. His forced fumble probably saved a TD and caused a HUGE momentum swing to start the second half.
• Tony Dungy and Tom Moore - They were all over the strategy in that 4th and 1" situation at the end. I question the run up the middle, but who am I to quibble with genius.
• Marvin Harrison - Speaking of 4th and 1", that was an incredible clutch catch by Marvin to convert that one and put the Colts in Vinatieri's range.
  
• Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes - Both had very solid games. Rhodes made that LB look silly on his TD catch.
• The O line - Opened up nice holes for the running game (Colts averaged a satisfactory 4 yards per carry). Withstood a furious Chargers pass rush.
  
• Jamey Richard - Took over for All Pro, Future Hall of Famer Jeff Saturday in a tight game with his QB at max intensity and didn't totally suck. It was obvious that they weren't as good without Saturday, but there were only a few plays where you really noticed him. In terms of good OL play, that's exactly what you want.