Damn, the Colts are a good team.

[WilliamPitt]

Indy. Pittsburg. New England. San Diego (shhh, cindarella team). The AFC is the league to watch in the playoffs this time around. The NFC is Philly, Atlanta and six days of rain.

Although, if TO is really hurt, the NFC playoffs will be very interesting. The entire city of Philadelphia is making preparations for seppuku as we speak.

But the AFC is the league to watch this time, and damn, but Indy is good.

[Willy Wonka]

1. Nah. San Diego, Pittsburgh, New England (sorry), and San Diego

SUCKS.

Indianapolis's defense is ranked in the bottom 25.

[WilliamPitt]

2. And your team is...?

I fear you are suffering a critical lapse of...well...candlepower by dismissing those teams, but hey, maybe you're from Philly. Or are you a (snort) Jets fan?

:P

[Willy Wonka]

3. I'm neither.

I'm a fan of the AFC West certain team that deserves an assreaming for fucking up games like today. :eyes:

[WilliamPitt]

6. Ah. Denver.

My condolences.

[Champ]

11. They are tied for the final spot

They have to win vs Tennessee and Indianapolis, both winnable especially Indy(Denver has seen alot of Peyton the last 3 years) @ home. Here is how it looks
#5 NY Jets 10-4
#6 Baltimore 8-6
Jacksonville 8-6
Denver 8-6
Buffalo 8-6

A team with Lynch, Al Wilson, Champ, DJ Williams as the defensive leaders should not be letting a team light up 45 on a scoreboard and letting a victory @ home slip away(Blown Save in the NFL), injuries have hurt the D-Line(Pryce) all year and finding a consistent RB while the rookie RB they got for Portis has been nursing an injury most of the year has proven to be somewhat of an offensive rebuilding year, the best TE in pro football history retires, you have a solid but an aging past his prime veteran WR and a rest of young recievers with promising futures from Darius Watts and Ashley Lelie. Denver has an at best 2nd string TE, likely 3rd stringer on alot of teams. Quintin Griffin was too small for a physical ground game and lacked durability, Droughns is a powerfull downhill runner but lacks recieving skills and suffered from a common NFL related disease, "fumbilitis", Tatum Bell showed flashes of what Denver has for the future but has dealt with hamstring, rib, and shoulder injuries, and Garrison Hearst has been hiding. In Bell's first game he was the featured back in Denver's offense he had 123 yards off of 16 carries and 2 TDs taking over for Droughn's after the 1st qtr and before getting injured early in the 3rd qtr. He survived the KC game but Dante Hall(WHY can't they ever stop him from reaching the endzone, this is the 3rd straight year he returned a kick for a TD vs Denver) and the KC offense quickly turned Denver into a pass oriented offense from the get-go. Just an ugly game, if Denver's offense can start clicking with a healthy Bell in the backfield and the defense plays up to their ability they can pull out the final 2 games and maybe steal a couple of Ws in the playoffs.

3 other teams for the final spot is 8-6 so they have a good as chance as those teams, Denver made it last year while being in a similar spot. I'm hoping Denver's D will play inspired, 100% effort til the game clock expires football the final 2 weeks and the offense can start getting into a rhythm again. Until Denver is mathematically eliminated I will accept your condolances, though I'm very optimistic about the future of the Denver organization by the play of rookies Bell, Watts, and DJ Williams. Denver has promising young talent on both sides of the ball, Denver has an overall pretty inexperienced roster that will develop overtime. Denver had a solid '04 draft and will benefit from the choices when the young ones develop(They are already contributing alot to the team as it is) and adjust to flow of week-in-week-out NFL competition. An NFL season is an endurance race, not a sprint, pretty much something any young athlete has to overcome and realize. Bills started 0-5, now they are back in the hunt! :crazy: Denver has been in a slump but there is still time and they certainly have the players and coaching staff to make some much needed adjustments and close out the season with a couple wins and to be a tough contender in the tough AFC playoffs. Offense has to start clicking and defense has to get back to playing the shut down, 3 and out defense they were playing before week 7. Boston was down 0-3, didn't offer my condolences then, there was a 4 games left to be played, there are 2 games left, don't give Bronco fans their condolences til the Broncs' lose and either Baltimore, or Jacksonville wins.(In which case Denver would be mathematically elimated, they may pull a tiebreaker over Baltimore if Denver's 9th victory is vs Indy(due to best w % among common opponents) - Jacksonville holds a tiebreaker over Denver no matter what the scenario)

[GainesT1958]

5. I just feel relieved that the Panthers...

Still have a shot to get in the playoffs after that punch in the gut from Mr. Vick last night. Good grief, why, oh why, did Mike Fox have Jake Delhomme run out the clock in regulation instead of trying at least two more long passes to get in John Kasay's range?:mad:

Not to heap it all on Coach Fox for that, though; he HAS led them back from a 1-6 start to five straight wins--and they've got as good a shot to take their last two games as anyone!:D

The Steelers are the really remarkable team in the bunch in the AFC to me. They've got it all--"Big Ben" Rothlisberger and "The Bus" on one side of the ball, and the best "D" since the Steel Curtain on the other. If--yes, I know, that's a BIG "if"--they keep playing up to their curent level, they should not only get to the Super Bowl; they should have their thumbs measured.

B-)

[dad]

9. r

You know what made no sense? After refusing to try to win the game with a minute and a half left, the Panthers won the toss, and right off tried a long bomb to Muhammed. Why the hell couldn't they have tried that in regulation? Almost worked too!

[Hobarticus]

14. First play was a run play...

I don't get it.

[Hobarticus]

13. Glad to hear someone else thinks Fox is stoned...

I couldn't believe that series.

That, and the first play in OT being a run play. WTF? Delhomme was passing at whim all night long...

Still love my Panthers. just a little puzzled after those calls.

Have to agree, Steelers have got it going on.

[Bluzmann57]

4. It should be spelled In_ianapolis

There is no "D" for the Colts, tonight not withstanding.

[WilliamPitt]

7. Great way to end that game, too

Funny. You see true class so rarely in pro sports lately. That was good stuff.

[Hobarticus]

15. I liked that, too.

In spite of the hype, Peyton's a class act.

[OneBlueSky]

8. and Peyton Manning is a great quarterback . . .

who will no doubt break Marino's single season record for TD passes this year . . . the big question these days is whether lil bro Eli will ever measure up to the family legacy . . . looked pretty good at times this week, but has a long way to go, imo . . .

[AlwaysDemocrat]

10. Thanks from a Colts fan!

I just got home from the game. I was proud that the Colts chose to "take a knee" instead of going for Marino's record. Maybe next week!

[spooky3]

17. lucky you--I'm dying today because they are showing Baltimore

rather than Indy here near DC (understandably, but wish I could watch the Colts try for the win and the record).

[spooky3]

20. thanks, Ravens-Steelers for finishing early and thanks CBS

for switching us to the last 8 mins + OT of the Colts-Bolts! Woohoo, what a game.

[Champ]

12. The Colts defense will keep them from the Super Bowl

Their offense is by far the best and most efficient in the league, probaly of all time. You can't go wrong with an NFL leading rushing, record setting QB, and 3 recievers on pace for over 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns. :wow: But the defense is 25th in the league and will lose to teams that have a top defense and a balanced offense such as Pittsburgh, New England, Denver(IF they come to play on both offense and defense side of the ball), New York, and Jacksonville. They will be eliminated in the playoffs by one of those teams(You can throw SD in the mix, but I'm not sure if their Defense can hold Manning and the SD offense, as explosive as it is, will outshoot Manning in an offensive shootout), ever since Baltimore's defense won it with a mediocre offense, teams with a dominant defense that closes game when they are up late in the 4th and doesn't allow much room for error for opposing offenses have won Super Bowls. I think New England, Pittsburgh(Primarily due to their runing game), NY Jets, and Denver(However they are hurting on the D-Line and the CB depth is thin and inexperienced with the exception of Champ as the starter) are your best bets to beat Indy, those 3 have solid defensive units as well as efficient offenses that will light up the scoreboard on Indy's 25th ranked defense and give Manning all he can handle. Of course it won't be easy to stop Manning and Co, but I don't see the Colts getting pass those teams and they don't have the kind of team to survive in a conference with teams that play great defense. In the NFC, that is a different story but I don't see the Colts beating the Eagles because of argurably the best D-Line in the league led by Kearse, a LB corps lead by Trotter, a secondary unit with the ever so physical Brian Dawkins as their last line of defense, and of course the QB-WR match made in heaven, Donovan McNabb-Terrell Owens. They've been playing well despite a lack of a solid ground game.

[spooky3]

16. Peyton's great but they have other great players too...

Edgerrin, Marvin, Vanderjagt, the pass rushers...

Despite what many people at DU think, there are lots of good people in Indy (even though some are a little misguided politically), they have a good Dem mayor (Bart Peterson), and they have and deserve a classy team.

Go Colties--I hope they get the record today.

[Champ]

21. I understand that

But they still boast the 28th best defense and that my friend won't cut it in the AFC IMO. A team that has a top ranked defense and a balanced offense such as Pitt, Den, NYJ, NE, etc will eliminate Indy. If they were in the NFC, I have no doubt they could make the SB, but there is still Philly. The top defenses in the NFC with the exception of ATL and Philly have offenses that struggle incredibly to move the ball. Tampa, NYG, Carolina, Chicago to name a few.

[spooky3]

23. I agree that the defense needs to improve if the Colts are to have a

chance.

[hijinx87]

18. they've got their hands full with the bolts this afternoon.

and while I admit that the AFC appears to be the class of the NFL, I would hesitate to award them the Vince Lombardi trophy just yet. if it was that easy -- and just in the relatively recent past -- Green Bay would have won two in a row, the patriots wouldn't have won their first against the rams, etc.

any given Sunday, and all that.

[spooky3]

19. they did, but they met the challenge in style...Go Colts!

[Champ]

22. It was a great game - Too bad I missed it

Looks like I'm gonna have to catch the highlights, that game was just a TASTE of what were going to see in the AFC playoffs imo.