concur!

it also made it almost impossible for pittsburgh to play after next week. i'll trade the possibility of facing the jets in the playoffs over the steelers any f*cking day.

No doubt, Painter under center is a disaster wrapped up in a catastrophe. No offense to the kid. He was put in a no win scenario today. I don't blame the guy, but if I ever see him under center in a regular season game again it will be too fricking soon.
I'm ticked off about the no mas today. So much so that I'm skipping the game next week. This will be the first game I haven't watched since I was in the Army and obviously couldn't watch all the games.

Sorry, that argument makes no sense. Peyton can get hurt any time he touches the ball. He could get hurt on the first play of the playoffs. The only way to keep him safe is for him to not play at all. The second half of this game was no different than any other game, and pulling them out does nothing to improve the chances of winning the Super Bowl. In fact, the team is so demoralized at having a chance at history taken from them for no reason that I don't give them much chance.

It wasn't a serious argument.

I just wanted to talk about how horrible Painter is.

Although I don't think the team is demoralized at all. They knew it was coming.

Only the fans are upset.

I'm sorry, but I cant look at Peyton Manning, Jeff Saturday, Dallas Clark, and Gary Bracketts faces the way they looked through those last 17 minutes of that game and not believe there is zero demoralization there. By the way, believe it or not, but NFL players look at ESPN.com, listen to stupid pundits, and have their own fantasy football teams (Jones-Drew was serious that he wanted to score that touchdown against the Jets to score fantasy points.) Though I believe the Colts players are more mature than other players in the league about caring about that sort of frivolous stuff/comments from the likes of Bob K, some will get around to hearing the criticism and being affected by it- human psychology is part of the game, this is not madden football. I just hope our guys use the talking heads as bulletin board material and make a positive out of it.

though i suppose im acting like a talking head. Good grief, why couldn't they have just avoided this?

The team knew ahead of time.

The team came out and played great.

If they were going to be demoralized, it would have already showed. Remember that they entered the game KNOWING what was going to happen.

There is a big difference in how it hits you emotionally when you know it's coming. That's why I don't blast the decision, just the execution.

that is disturbing.

Everyone is saying about how it's a kick in the crotch to play very hard in the first half, but you know what the biggest kick in the crotch, punch in the face combo is? Playing the whole game versus Jax. It was just as meaningless, and it had a 3 day rest.

When they played that game the way they did, when they played with Mathis and Freeney, hurt, in the last drive, they sent a message that couldn't be unsent.

f**k this, I'm sad now =(

I'm sorry if I sounded a little like a troll. It's just that, you know, the only two other teams to get 14-0 both went undefeated in the regular season.

And seeing Peyton Manning and the other vets absolutely frustrated completely broke me. =(

I dont think we can say for sure that the players really did know for sure that this was going to happen especially the way it was poorly executed. Every which way Peyton acted about the decision makes me doubt that they really accepted/knew this was going to happen exactly as it did. Whatever, at the end of the day im glad Im rooting for the colts and not the Jets or any other team in the league. We still have the best chance in the league to win this super bowl, and it is quite a blessing. Though, four days ago I really was wanting the Chargers to come to Indy in the AFC championship. I cant leave this game not feeling uneasy about it now. Duke tomato- take it away.

You know the worst part of it? The season now is at a lose / lose situation. You get knocked out of the playoffs in the div. round or in the championship, and, well, you just got knocked out. And if you win the superbowl, then there will be the feeling that they could've done it. They won but they could've been undefeated.

Sucks =(

A player will obviously want to stay in, but the coach is the guy in charge. We don't have Brett "Jerry Jones' ego ain't got s**t on me" Favre at the QB position or Brad Childress running the show. It is a disappointment, but I still firmly believe all will be ok.

After relaxing a bit on this...it's no big deal. If we win the first playoff game and then lose then it wouldn't have made a difference. We have a better chance of winning with as many starters healthy as possible. I believe we will win the first playoff game and be a scary opponent in the AFC championship game. Freeney and Mathis will be like they were against Arizona and we're going to be facing a good passing opponent. Manning will be sharp. We are better off absolutely insuring these guys are healthy and sharp. I trust our staff. f**k the "this brings more pressure" crowd. The playoffs always carry maximum pressure. I want a healthy Manning, Addai, Wayne, Session, Mathis, Freeney, Bullitt, etc.

Think about it this way: the Jets, assuming they win, would come back to Indianapolis in 3 weeks. You think Peyton wouldn't come out and absolutely destroy them? I mean, they'd be looking forward to the wrong side of payback for the 41-0 shutout and for this game. It might be 72-0.

Does it suck? Yes. But ultimately, Caldwell and Polian weighed the risks and rewards and decided on this course of action. I would rather have Mathis, Freeney, Brackett, Garcon, and everyone else come into the playoffs with a full head of steam and some pent up frustration and just destroy everyone on their way to the Super Bowl.

The goal isn't 16-0. It never was. The goal, as always, is 4-0. Win the division, get the first round bye, get home field advantage, win the Super Bowl. So far, we're 3-0. As I see it, we're one game away from perfection.

I feel the same way. I expected them to mail it in against Jacksonville. I argued for it, what with the short week.

This one really hurts.

On another note, let's save the vitriol for the 11 guys who gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown. And the 11 guys who allowed a PAT to get blocked. Painter can probably hold a 14 pt lead. There was no way he could a five point lead.

Finally another voice of reason out there. I am glad people are finally calming about this a little. I was starting to worry everyone was going to lose their minds.

I know it is painful, and we will all now wonder what could have been, but I for one am a little relieved that my stress will be lower until Mid-January now. I don't have to get up at 3 am next week to watch the game. (I am in Japan, btw)

It wasn't 11 guys that got a PAT blocked, it was 9. One holder and One kicker.

I'm sorry, I'm still in the depression stage, haven't got to acceptance yet.

But did one game and a half more (the last game is against the pathetic bills, btw) would make SUCH a difference? Manning was barely touched.

And yes, I agree, the superbowl is all that matters. But every year one team wins the superbowl. But in the history of the NFL, only one team won the superbowl undefeated. There's a big difference there. And if you never try, you'll never get it. One game and a half more. One game and a half.

For people claiming it's lose/lose now b/c even a super bowl win will be tainted b/c we had a chance at 19-0, a SB commenter said "Our 18-1 > your 18-1".

If we win the super bowl, I will forget this game ever happened.

Even if we win the Super Bowl, I will never forget this game.

Our 18-1 > your 18-1. I had that thought too. Only problem is the Colts are going to lose next week, too.

Peyton will play one drive and then it's.... PAINTER TIME. = gigantic loss to the lowly Bills.

Here is how I look at it. If we DO win the Super Bowl now, this is going to suck even worse. We will have washed 19-0 down the drain when it was right in our hands. A SB victory does not justify this move, it would only make it more painful. 14-0, leading the jets in the 3rd quarter, and playing a horrid Buffalo team the next week. It couldn't be an easier task at that point. After all the comeback wins this year, to throw this one in the garbage with a chance at immortality, just makes me want to puke. This was a stupid, stupid decision by Caldwell/Polian. I do not accept this. I am one of those fans that will never forget. Worst of all, Karma is going to kick our asses in the playoffs. You don't piss away a chance at NFL history on purpose.

Man, it feels like the Indystar.com/colts comments section in here today.

I actually think the Colts deserve to lose their first playoff game after today's circle-jerk. Rest 'em, we've seen how that's worked out in the past...and then the Colts hierarchy can take the brunt for being so stupid. Not that Polian would care, he'd just tell us all how stupid we are and to basically shut up.

What a waste of a great regular season.

You see Sons of Anarchy?

I DO NOT ACCEPT THIS!!

Absolutely ZERO balls. Bupkis.

I nominate Hoss to now run the site. His dedication and loyalty to the team is so overwhelming that I cannot fathom anything less. Lose one game and toss it all in. No matter how it was lost, it was one game.

"If we DO win the Super Bowl now, this is going to suck even worse. We will have washed 19-0 down the drain when it was right in our hands."

Faulty logic. We'll never know if Manning or another key starter would have gone down had they played the whole Jets game, then played well into the Buffalo game. Winning the SB will make everyone forget this real quickly. I'm already over it.

Loved it. Shows how seriously Colts want to win the SB, regardless of what a bunch of sports columnists have to say about it.

Hoo rah for that. I have been trying to put that into words all day.

I love that comment.

"Shows how seriously Colts want to win the SB, regardless of what a bunch of sports columnists have to say about it."

That is exactly how I have been trying to say it and couldn't.

Get out of my head!

I want to argue one side or the other but I can't convince myself. So instead of losing my mind like half of Colt's nation, I'm going to chose to look on the bright side. The Colts can now get over the perfect season stuff and start concentrating on the bigger picture. Honestly, it was embarassing the way the fans reacted at the game and on these kinds of boards. Makes me think of a spoiled child. How would you like to be a Saints fan right now.