Perfect reality check

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Colts' dream of perfection had evaporated into the silent, snowy Indiana night, and deep in the back corner of a (for once) losing locker room, Edgerrin James just smiled his gold-capped teeth at each of the questions.

The topic of discussion was a second-quarter drive that wound up with fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line. The San Diego Chargers already had built a 10-0 lead, but this was the Colts answering the way they always did – ready to start spinning the scoreboard en route to a 14-0 record.

What followed should have been a field goal. Instead, coach Tony Dungy daringly chose to go for gold.

Then it should have been James barreling up the middle. But it wasn't that, either. Quarterback Peyton Manning decided at the last moment to try a bootleg-type play that resulted in him running directly into the arms of Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman for a six-yard loss and a motionless scoreboard.

The weak smile on James' face told you that, while he wasn't going to make any trouble, he also had no idea why the Colts' brain trust (Manning and Dungy) had lost their football minds on that and a half-dozen other critical plays that cost the Colts the game and a chance at history in a 26-17 defeat.

"You got to talk to P," James said of Manning. "You got to talk to P."

"It was a gut play," Manning said, adding that he didn't think Edge would score because the Chargers had adjusted their linebackers. "I've done it before."

Peyton Manning doesn't do end-zone dances. He doesn't talk trash in the media. He doesn't pound his own chest. His coach is even more humble, more reserved and more professional.

But after 13 weeks at the helm of a video game of an offense, after two months of never once even trailing in a game, after a season of calling all the right audibles, making all the right adjustments and performing all the right magic, these were two blindly overconfident people.

And on Sunday, finally, things kept breaking bad for them until eventually a reserve Chargers tailback named Michael Turner broke one for 83 decisive, if unlikely, touchdown yards ("I just didn't want to fumble," said "Burner" Turner), unleashing a wave of champagne cork popping in South Florida.

While no one wanted to admit it yet, the clear, cold dose of reality that 9-5 San Diego delivered was just what the Colts needed if they are going to win the Super Bowl. This was an Indianapolis team that had understandably come to believe they were infallible as the talk of perfection, of history, of greatest of all time grew into a dull, impossible-to-ignore roar.

"We have to go back to the basics," James said. "We've got to do (that) and go from there."

The Colts had all the chances they could have wanted, but time and time again, they tried to pull off the sensational when only the standard was needed. When Dungy and Manning eventually go bleary eyed watching tape of all of their sandlot gambles, they should emerge a smarter, sharper team.

"We made some errors that were uncharacteristic of us," Dungy said.

Go back to that fateful fourth-and-one, which not only was a dumb play call (did Manning think he was Michael Vick?) but also a dumber idea to even attempt it. Spurred on by gumption and a going-nuts crowd, Dungy decided to be unnecessarily aggressive when a simple field goal was the obvious call.

"I gave away three points at the end of the first half," Dungy said. "That wasn't very smart on my part."

Then there was the decision with 3:16 remaining in the game and the Chargers clinging to a 19-17 lead. The Colts had a second-and-nine at the San Diego 23-yard line and were all set to have Mike Vanderjagt kick a likely game-winning field goal.

Rather than run the ball and force the Chargers to waste timeouts, Manning dropped back to pass and, instead of getting rid of the ball quickly, tried to hang in the face of a blistering rush to make a thrilling play only to be forced into a crippling, intentional grounding penalty.

Now the Colts faced an improbable third-and-21 from the 35. This was still in Vanderjagt's range, but only barely. A simple dive or draw play wasn't just the right call, it was the only call. It could pick up at least a few yards to improve the odds and make the Chargers use a timeout.

Instead, Manning inexplicably dropped back to pass and needlessly went for the throat, only to get sacked to push the Colts outside of Vanderjagt's range. Indy was forced to punt. Three plays later, Burner Turner burned an overpursuing defense to cap the upset.

"We had our chances," Dungy said.

The loss meant the end of a fun ride, the end of a chance at doing something only the 1972 Miami Dolphins have done. Other than that, it was a meaningless game, with Indy already having wrapped up home field in the AFC playoffs.

Which is why, in the end, this will be a blessing for the Colts – because humility always is. Indianapolis still is the best team in the NFL, and it still has the talent and teamwork to roll right through to the Super Bowl in Detroit.

But the Colts won't get there without smarts and fundamental football decisions when the game is in doubt. Indy wasn't going to get past New England or Cincinnati with play-calling straight out of Madden 2006.

The Colts weren't going far until they were reminded you don't win Super Bowls with style points. You just win them.

Dan Wetzel is Yahoo! Sports' national columnist. Follow him on Twitter. Send Dan a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.

Updated on Sunday, Dec 18, 2005 8:57 pm, EST

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