Monday Morning Awards: Wild Card Round @Bills

MVP of the Game: Philip Rivers

It sucks it had to end this way for Rivers, as he had a terrific first season in a Colts’ uniform. Philip played really well on Sunday, as he was perhaps the only reason the Colts were able to hang in there with the Bills. Even though he had a few bad plays, like the missed throw on 4th down on the goal-line to Pittman, I really liked how Philip kept his composure and avoided the dumb throws he usually makes in tough games. Rivers finished the game with over 300 yards and 2 scores, which in my book is more than enough to win the MVP award.

Dud of the Game (The Grigsy): Rodrigo Blankenship/Kemoko Turay

Man were these guys’ mistakes frustrating. Turay and Blankenship single-handedly cost the Colts 7 points, which at the end of the day, was the difference between going home and moving on in the playoffs. Blankenship, or Clankenship as he is referred to in the Slack chat, missed an easy 33-yard field goal, which was even more frustrating after watching the Bills’ kicker make a 54 yarder. Turay jumped offsides on a hard count on 4th and short, a mistake you don’t want to see in high school football, let alone in the NFL playoffs. Aside from that mistake, Turay, like the rest of the Colts’ edge rushers, failed to generate any sort of consistent pressure on Allen.

Best Play of the Game: Jack Doyle’s long touchdown catch, followed by the two-point conversion

At that point, I honestly thought the game was already over, but the Colts’ offense managed to put together an amazing drive that was capped off with a long touchdown pass to a wide-open Doyle in the end-zone. After that, Rivers hit Doyle again for the two-point conversion to put the Colts within reach of the tie.

Worst Play of the Game: Turay’s offside, Blankenship missed chip shot

As mentioned above, two individual plays cost the Colts’ 7 points. Stupid, individual mistakes, are always hard to swallow, even more, when they cost you the game.

Best Position Group: Running backs

Once again, the running backs take home the best position group award. Taylor did not post any record-breaking numbers, but he was very solid and had some really nice runs. Hines was absolutely amazing as the change of pace back, as he racked up 75 yards on just 6 carries.

Unsung Hero: Isaiah Rodgers

Rodgers had a great return leaping over a Bills’ player, which set up the Colts with good field position, and he also made a couple of solid plays in the secondary filling in for an injured T.J. Carrie. With the Colts’ cornerback situation as thin as paper, if Rodgers manages to put together a solid off-season, he could be in line for some serious playing time next season.

Rookie of the Week: Michael Pittman

Pittman had a great playoff debut, racking over 100 combined yards and making some athletic grabs along the way. The only blemish in his afternoon was the dropped pass in the end-zone that would have put the Colts up 17-7, but that was more Rivers’ fault than Pittman’s.