They just weren't good enough to overcome a few bad breaks. They could have easily won this game and could beat any other team in the playoffs, but the Colts team that took the field yesterday wasn't good enough to insure a victory. When Scifers booming punts suddenly died inside the 5 instead of continuing to fly into the endzone, when the strip that the Colts DBs had been going for all game (at the expense of their tackling) came it fell right below Gates where he fell on it, when the most flag happy refs in the NFL happened to see all 3 Colts penalties on the Chargers final drive after missing many throughout the first 4 quarters, this Colts team wasn't good enough to overcome it.
They weren't good enough to overcome Gary Brackett on the sidelines, or a 3rd string guard on an already struggling line. They didn't have what it took to replace their top two NTs and 3 cornerbacks.
The best team is the team that is good enough to overcome their bad breaks and capitalize on their good breaks. Sometimes the breaks stack the odds against a team, but to be the best they have to overcome it.
To the angry little people that throw around that "four letter word," Choke. This was as mild of a surprize football wise as you will find. The Colts were favored by a point or it was a pick. The game went to overtime. FO's playoff odds put the Colts at 13 to 1 at winning the AFC and 28 to 1 of winning the superbowl. This team was counting on a miracle run.
They weren't good enough to make it.