Colts Lose Close Wild Card Game to New York Jets at Lucas Oil Stadium
INDIANAPOLIS – The end came suddenly and in disappointing fashion.
And although Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell said it was hardly as if the Colts were the only team to experience the suddenness of a post-season loss, that made the reality no easier.
"There's only one happy team at the end of the year in this league," Caldwell said after the Colts' loss to the New York Jets in the first round of the 2010 post-season. "That's it. It's a competitive atmosphere and whoever wins the Super Bowl is going to be the only team, obviously, that feels good about what they got accomplished that year.
"Everybody else feels, 'Hey, we have to do better – we have to do more. Let's get ourselves in position to be a more functional team next year.' That's where everybody ends up at some point in time, except for one team.
"There's no bowl-game feel good in this league."
The Colts' post-season appearance in 2010 was their ninth in nine seasons, tying them with the 1975-83 Dallas Cowboys for the longest such streak in NFL history.
The Colts also in 2010 won a seventh AFC South title in eight seasons, and also made the post-season despite a slew of injuries, particularly late in the season. The Colts placed more than a dozen players on injured reserve, including tight end Dallas Clark, safeties Bob Sanders and Melvin Bullitt, cornerbacks Jerraud Powers and Kelvin Hayden and wide receivers Austin Collie and Anthony Gonzalez.
Linebacker Clint Session, right tackle Ryan Diem and defensive tackle Antonio Johnson missed the post-season, and running backs Joseph Addai, Donald Brown and Mike Hart and wide receiver Pierre Garcon also missed multiple games.
Caldwell said the 2010 Colts were "probably unlike any other group I've ever seen" when it came to persevering through difficult situations.
"They obviously had probably more adversity to deal with over the course of the season than most teams," Caldwell said. "They did it in grand fashion. Obviously, they were able to stare it right in the eye. They didn't weep and complain. They didn't implode. They didn't point fingers.
"What they did was go to work. They did everything they possibly could to get us in a position to win. That took teamwork. It took some cooperation among everybody involved.
"We're not satisfied certainly with where we ended up, but I think the guys did a heck of a job."
A look at the Colts' loss to the New York Jets in the AFC Wild Card game following the 2010 NFL season:
AFC Wild Card Game: NEW YORK JETS 17, INDIANAPOLIS 16
In time, Peyton Manning said the big picture may be appreciated. The immediate aftermath was not that time.
Manning, the Colts' 11-time Pro Bowl quarterback, said in the wake of a 17-16 last-play loss to the New York Jets in an AFC Wild Card playoff game in front of 65,332 at Lucas Oil Stadium all that mattered was the immediate reality.
That reality was that the season was over.
It ended when Jets kicker Nick Folk kicked a 32-yard field goal as time expired.
"It's certainly disappointing tonight," Manning said after the Colts rallied from a four-point second-half deficit to take a 16-14 lead in the final minute before a long kickoff return and clutch passes by Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez set up Folk's game-winning field goal.
"That's really all you think about at this point. I think at some point you sit back and reflect on the entire season, but it's disappointing in the way we lost the game tonight. Anytime you lose on a last-second field goal in a playoff game, it stings."
The Colts took a 7-0 lead on a 57-yard touchdown reception by Pierre Garcon with 5:25 remaining in the half, a lead they maintained at intermission after cornerback Justin Tryon intercepted Sanchez at the goal line.
The Jets tied the game 7-7 on their first possession of the second half, driving 63 yards on 10 plays for a one-yard touchdown run by LaDainian Tomlinson with 9:48 remaining in the third quarter. The Colts then re-took the lead with just under five minutes remaining in the period on a 47-yard field goal by kicker Adam Vinatieri.
The Colts entered the fourth quarter with the three-point lead, but the Jets put together another long drive that used 9:54 at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarter. Tomlinson capped the drive with a second one-yard touchdown run.
The Colts pulled to within one, 14-13, on a 32-yard field goal by Vinatieri, then forced a Jets punt with just more than two and a half minutes remaining.
The ensuing punt bounced into the end zone to set up the Colts' final drive. When Vinatieri converted from 50 yards with 53 seconds remaining, the Colts had what turned out to be their final lead of a season that Caldwell said featured great effort and memorable moments, but in the end ended a bit too soon.
"Our guys fought hard, but our standards are high around here," Caldwell said. "We got into the playoffs, but we've always believed that our goal is to win championships here. We're disappointed with this game tonight. We didn't win it. We didn't move forward, regardless of the circumstances.
"I commend our guys for what they were able to do, overcoming some tough situations along the way, but we had an opportunity here."
Said Colts safety Antoine Bethea, "We wanted to get to the Super Bowl, regardless of what we went through. We wanted to get to the Super Bowl, the big game. We fought. We were division champs. That's something to smile about, but we fell short and we're not happy about that."
Turning point: The Colts rallied in the second half to take a 16-14 lead in the final minute, but Antonio Cromartie returned the ensuing kickoff 47 yards to the Jets 46, and three passes by Sanchez helped set up Folk's field goal as time expired.
Moment to remember: After Tomlinson gave the Jets a 14-10 lead with a pair of one-yard second-half touchdown runs – the Colts rallied again. On the possession after Tomlinson's second touchdown, Manning drove the Colts 67 yards on 13 plays, with Vinatieri's 32-yard field goal pulling the Colts to within one point, 14-13, with 4:37 remaining. After the Colts forced a Jets punt, Manning drove the Colts 48 yards in eight plays, with Vinatieri's 50-yard field goal with :53 remaining giving Indianapolis a 16-14 lead.
Note: The Jets rushed for 169 yards on 38 carries, and controlled the clock early in the second half. New York finished with 23 first downs to 16 for the Colts, and the Jets out-gained the Colts, 353-312. "They ran the ball on us in the second half and really controlled the clock," Caldwell said.
Quote to note: "Our guys fought hard all year long. They overcame a lot of things along this stretch. It was a great effort. We just ran out of time."---Head Coach Jim Caldwell
