I just got back from Indianapolis and have not had time to really review the tape of the game. As for being there, all I can say is AMAZING!

This game was all that the network might have hoped for.

All I know is that for most of the “60” minutes the game lasted, it was NOT what I had hoped for.

As you know the Colts fans were ramped up and wild for this one. And they were loud. I am not going to sit here typing and tell you that there was absolutely no crowd noise piped into the stadium, but that cycling noise on TV was NOT there. And the fans in my section were so loud that it was easy to believe that they were creating the level of noise that I was hearing. It was coming from every man woman and child in my section, with the exception of the 13 year old girl sitting next to me whom seemed to not realize the enormity of the game. She spent the entire game on the phone with her BFF Jill.

But before I get to the real recap of what happened, I will leave you with these two nuggets. One of which you might have felt and one of which I am sure the TV did not do justice to.

Through the second half and first 6 minutes of the 4th quarter things looked pretty bleak. All the calls just seemed to stack up against us. I was wondering why Manning just didn’t go long on every play given the number of PI calls on Hobbs, Samuel and Co. T’would’ve made sense. And so as we faced the challenge of getting the ball back, down 20-10 I was morose and in a very dark place.

I sat there in the middle of 50,000+screaming Colts fans asking myself some pretty nasty questions. “Why is it that all of this stuff always happens when I go to see a game?”
“They never seem to play when I show up. Am I JINXED? Horrors!”
and of course…
“Man, there is no way that they are going to win this game.”

And I was there in my row, sitting while the Indianapolis fans stood around me, the celebratory music was blaring and people were screaming. My was hanging down and I was looking at my feet. It was the end of the world as I knew it. It was the some old situation. I felt like throwing up and having a coronary, both at the same time.

But then something happened. Then a change began.

I cleared my mind and I asked myself a simple question. “What is Tom Brady thinking right now?”

And that lead to another question. “Do you think Brady is thinking there is no chance to win this game?”

And then the thoughts just began to flow in a torrent. “Does he think that there is no hope? Is he worried?

Are you kidding me? He is back there thinking, ”Those fools. They have left me too much time. I have over 9 minutes and only need 2 scores. If we play like I KNOW we can, this is a piece of cake.”

”Heck, we can score 14 points in 2 minutes! We HAVE scored 14 points in 2 minutes. I did not come this far to pack it in. WE are the Patriots! And this thing aint over until we say it is OVER!!”

And then Captain Cool simply went out and had two of the best drives of his career. I will even go so far as to say that these two drives were more memorable the final one of SB 36 because there he ONLY had to get a FG to win. Here he NEEDED 2 TDs.
This time, he went out there and got them. Or mor correctly, he took them.

Then there was the other thing that I saw that I am fairly sure that was not played up on CBS. Something that I had never been witness to first hand.

The Exodus En Masse.

When Wes Welker caught that pass in the right flat that gave New England a new first down with 2 minutes to go, the game was over. And the Colts faithful knew it and they raced for the doors. The sight was just staggering in its enormity. The aisles were suddenly awash in river upon river of royal blue and white. Not a stitch of read was there for all of us who had sneaked into the RCA Dome were going to savor this.
Every.
Last.
Second.

Previously I had been to only one away game where the Patriots had won. And that was the overtime win in Houston. So everyone was glued to their seat until the game was over.

Seeing your opponents walking out that way? Somehow it made all the anguish and pain of the first 45 minutes worthwhile.
And just like the Visa card.

It was Priceless.

Check back this week for the full review.

Go Pats!

Erdoboy
Please visit the PatriotsArchive.com