Everything on the Line, Manning Finally Delivers

In 15 years or so, when Peyton Manning is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the second half of yesterday's AFC Championship may be the defining moment of his career. After a first half in which nothing went right for Manning or his Indianapolis Colts, he took over the game in the third quarter, throwing bullets, calling audibles, and even scoring a touchdown himself.

The Colts had fallen behind 21–3 in the second quarter against the New England Patriots, and sports writers everywhere had already begun their columns about Manning's latest playoff choke. And then came halftime, and before the Patriots knew what hit them in the second half it was 21–21. And for the rest of the game, although the result was in doubt until the very end, Manning was the best player on the field.

He won a bizarre game. The list of names of players who scored touchdowns yesterday sounds like it must be a joke: offensive lineman Logan Mankins and cornerback Asante Samuel for New England, offensive lineman Jeff Saturday and defensive lineman Dan Klecko for Indianapolis. Mankins and Saturday each recovered a teammate's fumble in the end zone. Samuel and Klecko each were on the receiving end of unlikely passes from Manning — Samuel because he's not on Manning's team, Klecko because he came in for a rare offensive play and Manning found him alone near the goal line.

The AFC Championship sets up a contest between a great Colts offense and a great Bears defense. Manning will be the story of the game in most circles, but this game features several great players, and the press would be wrong to overstate the necessity of getting a Super Bowl ring to Manning's career. Manning will go down in history as one of the all-time great quarterbacks even if the Colts lose to the Bears and even if he never gets to the Super Bowl again. Earning a ring would, however, give him a résumé without any blemishes.

The loss prevents the New England Patriots from winning their fourth title in six years, a run of Super Bowls that only the Pittsburgh Steelers have accomplished. Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and the Patriots of this decade will always have a place among the elite teams in the history of the game, but the Colts yesterday prevented them from doing something truly special.

Much like his quarterback, Colts coach Tony Dungy has been derided in some circles for having success in the regular season but falling short in the playoffs. That was true in Tampa Bay, where the Buccaneers became a good team under Dungy's watch but didn't become a Super Bowl team until Jon Gruden replaced Dungy, and it has been true in Indianapolis. But the Colts' three straight wins these last three weeks should eliminate any doubt about Dungy's ability to prepare his teams when the stakes are high. Dungy and his former assistant, Bears coach Lovie Smith, will get even more attention than Super Bowl coaches usually do because they are the first two African-American head coaches to make it to the Super Bowl.

Colts general manager Bill Polian was the architect of this club, and his contributions shouldn't be overlooked. It was Polian who made the then-controversial decision to draft Manning instead of Ryan Leaf in 1998, and it was Polian who found the right players to build the team around Manning. Polian has a history of assembling talent on teams that get close but can't quite reach the top of the league: He drafted most of the players on the Buffalo Bills team that made (and lost) four consecutive Super Bowls, and he chose all the players on the expansion Carolina Panthers team that made (and lost) the NFC Championship in its second year of existence. Like Dungy, Polian would get a big monkey off his back with a Super Bowl XLI win.

But it's Manning, more than anyone else, who can cement his place in history in the Super Bowl. The front-page headline above a picture of Manning in today's Indianapolis Star read "The Biggest Game of His Life." It was, and he won. Now he has to do it one more time.

Mr. Smith is a writer for FootballOutsiders.com.