Say It Ain't So!

I fell off my sofa last night. No, I really didn't fall, I leaped. Catapulted might even be a better word. Why? Perhaps because of the single most exciting football play I've seen in my life.

Nick Harper picked up Jerome Bettis' improbable fumble at the Colts' two-yard line with 1:20 left that would have finally given the Colts the lead.

Key phrase: would have.

But the bastard cut inside! Why didn't he cut outside and avoid every single Steelers' players ahead of him? Maybe the knife wound Harper's wife gave him the night before had something to do with it. Either way, Harper's failed touchdown run set up yet another failed Peyton Manning drive.

Oh, what a game! What a game, what a game, what a game - as it should have been. The Indianapolis Colts versus the Pittsburg Steelers is always a great game. The Steelers came out with everything, guns blazing and pounding away. And the Colts. Well, the Colts looked like the Detroit Lions, and there is no greater insult. There is no team I love more than the Colts. And there is no quarterback I root for more than Peyton Manning. Yet all the love in the world doesn't account for the lack of physicality in the Colts offense and defense.

For me, the divine evidence over the past few years of their weakness was their inability to pound it through on a goal line offensive stand. Improbably, they seemed to be changing that this year. The Colts got a lot more aggresive on the defense, where it all counts. And yet, their key problem still remains. The Colts are a SMALL team. Their most acclaimed open field defensive man is 5'8", and even that might be stretching it. Peyton Manning stands a towering 6'5" but is the smallest tall man you'll ever see. And their great, great wide receiver, Marvin Harrisson, is even smaller and more lithe than Jerry Rice...by a lot.

The Colts have everything but teeth.

Once the Steelers stole the game from the Bengals, I knew absolutely that the Colts would go down in flames. Simply because the Steelers are smash mouth football, and if you smash the Colts too much, they go lame.

Peyton Manning will never win a Superbowl unless he bulks up and becomes as good a leader as he is a quarterback. This Colts team should be a dynasty, and it's a crying shame that it isn't. Amazing that Tony Dungy, known for his defense, is stuck in a hell where he is defined by his offense. Find the men, Tony, and demand that Peyton become man enough to make a run of 8 superbowl wins. I firmly believe the team is capable of it.

Capable, though. We're all capable of a lot. It's the few among who turn what they are capable of into reality. And that is why the Pittsburg Steelers will be the new World Champions.