Here is one article that got to my nerves, what an idiot.
For unbeaten Colts, it's better to be lucky AND good
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By Vic Carucci | NFL.com Senior Columnist |
Perhaps it was only fitting that the Indianapolis Colts' biggest victory of the season -- in the biggest game the NFL schedule has had to offer -- was decided largely by a questionable coaching decision.
By all rights, the New England Patriots should have won Sunday night's prime-time showdown at Lucas Oil Stadium. They thoroughly outplayed the Colts most of the way, yet wound up losing after Patriots coach Bill Belichick's bizarre call to go for it on fourth-and-2 from his own 28-yard line with 2:08 left.
You know the rest of the story: The Pats came up a yard short on the field, and about two minutes later, they were a point short on the scoreboard.
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| AJ Mast / Associated Press |
| Three-time MVP Peyton Manning and rookie head coach Jim Caldwell have had a few breaks along the way to 9-0, and they've taken advantage of them. |
From the Colts' perspective, it's consistent with the kind of story they've been writing on their way to a 9-0 record.
Sure, Peyton Manning has a career-best eight 300-yard passing games this season (including the 327-yard performance he had against the Patriots) and is a leading candidate to become the league's Most Valuable Player. But coach Jim Caldwell, for one, recognizes that his club is in no position to take anything for granted.
"This team has done a great job of fighting to make certain that we haven't lost one," Caldwell said. "There's been a few that have been awfully tight, so we feel good about where we are right now. But we've got a lot of work to do."
Do they ever. Consider:
» Week 1, the Colts beat Jacksonville by a mere two points at home.
» Week 2, the Colts allow Miami to control the ball for 45:07, then, while running only 13 plays in the second half, somehow hang on for a four-point victory.
» Weeks 3-7, the Colts have a stretch of four consecutive lopsided wins, but the only formidable opponent in the bunch is Arizona.
» Week 8, they edge San Francisco by four points at home.
» Week 9, they barely survive in a three-point win over Houston at home after Texans kicker Kris Brown misses a potential game-tying 42-yard field-goal as time expires.
As epic as the games between Indianapolis and New England have been, the most recent served as yet another sobering reminder to the Colts of how different their season could be if they didn't get a few lucky breaks and make enough big plays.
Although they entered Week 10 with the NFL's top passing offense, they have no running game to speak of. Their defense has outstanding pass rushers, but the secondary is banged up.
"(Beating the Patriots) makes you feel good, but it lets you know you're not as good as you think you are," second-year receiver Pierre Garcon said. "You have a lot of work to do. You have to go back to the fundamentals, go back to the basics and get back to the grind."
When you hear that, it's almost hard to believe the Colts share the distinction, along with the New Orleans Saints, of being one of only two unbeaten teams in the league.
This was my comment on the article:
Vic Carucci do you get paid to write this kind of BS article , and you consider yourself an expert? come on man, you gotta to be kidding me. First in football you have good plays and bad plays and that has nothing to do with luck. a 17 point comeback has nothing to do with luck either is the teams courage to never quit. Let go to 4 and 2 , if they've punted it and assuming no big return which could have happened, Peyton would've had to drive 40 yards from their own 29 to be in the same position they were after the 4-2 failure, do you think 40 yards in open field with 4 downs ,2 minutes and 1 timeout against a defense that was getting a beating in the 4th quarter was hard to do? dont think so and we have the same situation that ended the game , Peyton at NE 30 yard , the game wasnt over when they failed in 4th down , the Colts had to score to win which they did , there is no luck in that. 4 and 2 almost wins it , but guess what it was not an incomplete pass so again no luck ,the colts Melvin Bullit had to make a great play to save the game, how in the world is that luck? The reality is that there is such thing as a 12th round knockout , you might be winning the fight but if you get knockout in the 12th the result is the same as being knockout in the 1st. The Colts out played the Pats when it matter, 1 quarter of Colts "A" game was better than the Pats 3 quarters of "A" game. Its a shame that a so called expert try to overshadow a great team effort and superior game play ,i would 've expected that from a fan but not from a NFL columnist. Luck is what the pats had by calling that play on 4 and 2 , if they've punted the end result would've been the same except that this article would have not existed and on its place would been an article to praise on one of the biggest comebacks wins of recent times. The colts will get some of their secondary back from injury soon and Gonzalez if theyre LUCKY! Shame on you Vic Carucci.
