FINDING A WAY

On November 15th I did celebratory dances around my living room (in a fuzzy pink robe) – like Terrible dance moves you see your boss do on the dance floor at the company Christmas party. The win against the Pats meant so much more to me than anyone would recognize. Like most sports fans I have gone crazy watching games but NO other team has brought me pain like the New England Patriots. Yes the rivalry of the decade is fun to watch for football lovers but for COLTS fans it has been maddening. Even the sight of Belichick’s stupid cut off hoodies made the playoff losses even harder to bear. So when he decided to take a gamble with 2:08 left on the clock and go for it on a 4th down on his own 28…I was stunned and NEVER thought he would take such a risk so deep in his territory - one that has been discussed, argued and analyzed since. So while I was lying in bed that same night (in my Manning T-shirt by the way) I thought about how New England played that night, the success they’ve had winning 3 Super Bowls and also how I love to hate them but recognize their brilliance; which is why I’m not scorning Belichick for a play that came up a half-yard short of the marker! P.S. Melvin Bullitt I could kiss you! The fact of the matter remains though that the miss gave Manning one minute 57 secs and all 3 timeouts to get a TD and there is no one else I trust more in the league to accomplish this! Rightfully so, Manning threw to a diving Wayne for a one-yard touchdown pass with 13 secs remaining for the win.

I must admit I was worried and sweating in preparation for this game because of our injuries and our inability to run the ball. But after the Colts took a 7-0 lead when Manning threw a screen pass to Addai I -was feeling good. However, the Pats responded tying the game up with a beautiful 55-yard pass to Dandy Randy (aka Wolverine) and Laurence Maroney's 1-yard run. The Pats scored a field goal, making it 10-7 and then during the next series, Moss beat out Colts safety Antoine Bethea for a long pass from Brady, and ran the final 10 yards for a 63-yard TD to give New England a 17-7 lead. I was at this point seething with anger and it got worse once Brady threw his second TD pass of the game making it 24-7. Thank Goodness Peyton made it Wayne (someone had that sign in the stand LOL LOL) and the duo trimmed the lead to 10 points with a 20-yard TD pass. After trailing 24-14 at halftime, Gary Brackett recovered an important fumble to keep the Boys only down by 10 at the end of the 3rd quarter. In the 4th quarter Brady connected again with “Mr. Long Hair Don’t Care” Moss making it 31-14 but Manning fought through finishing the next drive with his third TD pass of the game to my Frenchy Pierre Garcon making it 31-21. After the Pats booted a 36-yard field goal, Manning gave the ball to Addai for a 4-yard TD run with 2:23 to go making it 34-28. You all know what happened next – instead of the Pats kicking a field goal, this sets up the play to complete the most memorable victory for the Colts in their 18-game regular-season winning streak.

This was a great game and I sure LOVE when we are winning games; especially CLOSE GAMES! But I didn’t feel that way with our win over the Ravens. Despite committing three turnovers and being held to three second-half points, The Colts 17-15 win was ugly in my opinion. And ya’ll know I Love Peyton but his rhythm is OFF and this win goes out to the following: 1) Our Kicker Matt Stover, 2) Our Linebacker Gary Brackett and 3) Our WONDERFUL defense that has helped us remain undefeated. The Ravens, who finished with 354 total yards, drove inside the Colts 30 on seven of nine possessions, but the first six such possessions ended in field goal attempts – ALL in part to our Good D Now I have been saying for years if only our defense could get to be as good as our offense we would be indestructible…hmmm now look what we got here! Well next up is the Texans and I’m looking for another win – I got new dance moves to try out! Go BLUE

G.Dunn