AFC Championship Live Blog: Where Have You Gone, Ted Marchibroda?

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Indianapolis gets the second half kickoff and inches its way to midfield. The crushing questions from the first half are as follows:

(Bevo) When the Colts lose this game, will Manning blame his receivers ala last year's offensive line finger pointing?

That was awfully turdish of Manning last year, wasn't it? As I'm writing this, Reggie Wayne drops a pass that would've been good for a first down inside the Patriots 30. The drops haven't been egregious, but there have been at least four or five opportunities that Indy has pissed away because their receivers either couldn't or wouldn't fight for the ball.

Indy's inside the New England 20 right now, and looking very confident.

(Off In The Woods) Do you think the other studio analysts have the UN translators in their ears to help them understand what Shannon "notso" Sharpe is saying?

It's a fascinating scenario, but who could possibly translate? Shannon Sharpe is like the white Keith Richards. You might only pick up every fifth word, but the point is eventually made and succeeded by Shannon or Keef laughing at himself for eight seconds.

New England 21, Indianapolis 13.

Give the Colts credit, as they took the second half kickoff and drove for a touchdown. Peyton Manning and his fake moustache sneak it in from the 1, and we Have A Ballgame. It'll only make the loss more crushing in Indianapolis. Gotta love false hope.

New England goes one, two, three and out. Sauerbrun roid-rages a punt to the Indy 24, but the Colts strike for a 25 yard pass, a 19 yard Rhodes run, and another drop by Marvin Harrison. The Patriots are coming unglued on this Indy possession, as they give away a first down on a Richard Seymour offsides penalty. That mistake is compounded by Ellis Hobbs, who faceguards Reggie Wayne in the end zone for a pass interference penalty.

New England 21, Indianapolis 19

The Colts, perhaps as revenge for a New England lineman scoring an earier touchdown, runs a play action pass to Dan Klecko for a touchdown. Nice patience by Manning.

New England 21, Indianapolis 21

Under a heavy rush, Manning lofts a pass toward Marvin Harrison on the right sideline of the end zone. Harrison makes the tough catch in traffic, and we're tied!

The elation is short-lived for Indianapolis, as Ellis Hobbs returns the kickoff 80 yards to the Indy 21. The crowd, to its credit, doesn't take a play off. That's no help, as Jabar Gaffney streaks toward the post for a 15 yard pass.

On second and goal, Reche Caldwell drops a sure touchdown after Brady had run for his life. Jabar Gaffney makes up for the mistake on third down, as he leaps and snares Brady's pass along the backline of the endzone. He's forced out of bounds by the Indianapolis defense before both feet hit the ground, and the referees award the touchdown. Now it's under replay.

AA here......not sure what happened to RUTS, but I'll finish this thing out. It's 28-28. Great game.

Brady's Ball. New England is going nowhere, and the RCA Dome is hoppin'. Pats go nowhere and Simmons is starting to cringe.

The key to the Colts' defense Bob Sanders is hurt. That might be huge.

Seriously.....what is Grolsch trying to do with their ads? I would drink piss before I drank Grolsch.

Manning throws a duck up for Wayne, and he keeps falling over his own feet. "He's gotta get shoes that work"- PS. Peyton then trips over Addai, and the Pats curse is coming on fast. Peyton somehow hurt his little thumb on the last play, and is crying on the bench.

Okay, there needs to be a new caveman commercial every single week. A facemask call puts the Pats almost in FG range already. "Be Ready"- Peyton to Jim Sorgi........that's a scary thought.

"Open up the whole just a little bit"- Phil Simms.......that's what he said to that prostitute the night before

Wow......Caldwell is WIDE-OPEN.....and drops another pass. Amazing. You know what makes Tom Brady Great? He can hit Heath Evans with a pass in the 4th quarter with the game on the line. Should have been a pass interference call there.

"A lot of hand fighting"- PS

31-28 after a Gostkowski FG.

Cut a rug Dallas Clark.....huge pickup into Pats territory. Vinatieri comes out for a FG....."Again he's never missed"......Nancy tries to jinx Adam....no such luck.

31-31 ALL.

Hobbs runs another one back to midfield, and the Colts are going to blow this thing.

Right on que Brady hits Graham for a 20 yard game. The Pats play like wimps to setup a Gostkowski attempt. And it's good.

34-31 Pats......and it's Peyton Time!

Peyton throws a dangerous pass on second down....get ready for the face. Peyton then thows a 2mph pass to Moorehead and it's batted down. Awful series.

Brady out onto the field to close it out. Two many players in the huddle so it's 1st and 15. You don't have to count them Phil Simms.....there's more important stuff going on at the moment. Colts call timeout, and they only have 1 left. It really comes down to this one play for the Colts. Can they exorcise their demons?

Well we will get to find out. Bobby Sanders almost picks off Brady, and the Pats will punt.

Colts ball at the 20 and completes a first down duck to Reggie Wayne. The Pats are blitzing every down. Incomplete to Fletcher on first down.

Peyton lofts a pass to Fletcher who makes up for a drop on first down.

Holy shit......Reggie Wayne on the catch and flips the ball carelessly into the air and grabs it back again. Wouldn't have mattered though because of a roughing the passer penalty. This is getting intense.

I needed that commercial break....."Do You Remember Me?".........I'm too lazy to turn off bold, and I think this part of the game warrants it, so I'm keeping it going.

So it's Colts ball at the 11. "The biggest eleven yards in Indy history right here"- Nantz....that's an understatement. Colts run the ball with Addai for a few, and take off some clock. They run the ball again, and it'll be third and two. Timeout Pats......

Here we go.....1 minute left......3rd and two.

TOUCHDOWN! Another run, and Addai gets it. The rookie steps up.

So we get to see if the Golden Boy can pull another one out. 1 minute....and 2 timeouts.

Hobbs on the return and he gets it back to the twenty. Incomplete on first down as Reche "Big Eyes" Caldwell was heading in the wrong direction. Brady gets 19 yards on second down and picks up a first......another 14 and there's 24 seconds left as the Pats call a timeout. One timeout left for the Patriots and Peyton can't watch.

PICKED OFF!!!!!!!! Marlin Jackson! Demons officially exorcised.

Largest comeback ever in a Championship game, and the first Super Bowl matchup between African-American coaches. Great game. So that's your Super Bowl......Indy versus Chicago. Great matchup......we can only hope that Peyton blows his next game.

Thanks to RUTS for taking on the game, and I apologize for the posting errors.

Yours truly will have a special appearance on Sports Bloggers Live during Super Bowl Media Week, so keep an eye/ear to the streets.

19 Comments:

Nice to know I could score a TD for the Colts at my current weight.

Eric (Extra P.) said...
Jan 21, 2007, 9:00:00 PM  

"How could Reche Caldwell not handle that one?"

Dude, he might be a Patriot now, but he's still Reche Caldwell.

Eric (Extra P.) said...
Jan 21, 2007, 9:07:00 PM  

What is this, offensive lineman day? That's 3 TDs now from the O-Line

Marco said...
Jan 21, 2007, 9:26:00 PM  

This is getting a little ridiculous with the scoring linemen.

Am I only one who hates that "force out" rule? You're either in bounds or you're not. Why, in a league obsessed with replays and scrutiny of officials, are refs forced to arbitrarily decide if a guy will come down in bounds?

Scrappled said...
Jan 21, 2007, 9:33:00 PM  

Are you ready for Jim Sorgi?

Marco said...
Jan 21, 2007, 9:38:00 PM  

Something weird is going on. I think AA has entered some sort of Douchebag Override Code.

I mean, we're not really going to see Jim Sorgi, are we? Seriously? THIS is how it ends?

Scrappled said...
Jan 21, 2007, 9:40:00 PM  

New defensive gameplan for the Colts, don't even cover the Pats receivers....they tend to drop the open ones

Marco said...
Jan 21, 2007, 9:42:00 PM  

Reche Caldwell is terrible. Also, his eyes scare me.

So, uh...built-in excuse for Manning if they come up short?

Scrappled said...
Jan 21, 2007, 9:43:00 PM  

RUTS....what happened to you?

Jan 21, 2007, 9:55:00 PM  

I'm not sure. I updated the blog, but it didn't show up. And then when I tried to fix it, your update kept showing up.

No matter, I'll comment from here on out. Just wondering if Peyton will actually get the ball back.

Scrappled said...
Jan 21, 2007, 10:00:00 PM  

So odd.....okay I'm on the case. He's got it and we've got a finish.

Jan 21, 2007, 10:03:00 PM  

Oh, this is obviously way too much time for Tom Brady and two timeouts.

Scrappled said...
Jan 21, 2007, 10:13:00 PM  

so we're looking at our first black head coaches, jewish quarterback, and peyton manning super bowl
these two weeks are going to be hell from espn

Sam said...
Jan 21, 2007, 10:25:00 PM  

that just happend

WCT said...
Jan 21, 2007, 10:41:00 PM  

Jesus, what a crap time to have to take a nap. I thought I was safe with the score at the half being what it was.

Signal to Noise said...
Jan 21, 2007, 10:46:00 PM  

*sigh* I'm feeling some heartache, and it's not because of the announcing team.
must...remember...to be...gracious losers...unlike...the...chargers...

- b said...
Jan 21, 2007, 11:00:00 PM  

As a Colts fan, that was a thrilling (but harrowing) win for me. Also, I'm glad that I wasn't the only one to find Reche Caldwell's "18 year old at his first strip club" eyes odd.

Anonymous said...
Jan 21, 2007, 11:56:00 PM  

Game over. Go wine about something Red Sox fans.

SAMO said...
Jan 22, 2007, 2:21:00 AM  

All's well that ends well...go Peyton!

TalkGeorge said...
Jan 22, 2007, 7:39:00 AM  

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