cobra
Salty *******
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After watching Indy lose, I'm not sure you can say it is entirely Peyton's fault. Or call him a choker. Or say that he can't win the big game.
The reason they lost is over-coaching.
What I mean by this is that the team was rusty because of not playing a meaningful game in 5 weeks. When Indy locked up the first round bye, Dungy decided to bench everyone. On the premise that one of this players might get hurt, he chose to kill any momentum they might have in the name of safety.
It would seem wiser for a team to keep its players rolling as they approach the playoffs especially when that team has a first round bye. So when they get to their game, they are not rusty and are used to playing well.
This team sleep-walked into the playoffs because of locking it up so early and wound up spotting Pitt 14 points in the first quarter.
Now surely some of this is Peyton's fault. I think he played fairly well, but he certainly wasn't playing like he was when this team won its first 13 games. He looked rusty, especially in the first quarter. But so did the rest of the team. The o-line looked atrocious in the first half, despite being good all year. There were numerous muffed kicks by Indy. Edge looked weak in the first quarter. The defense was porous in the first half. And Peyton is subject to the same rust as everyone else.
I don't know how much of that you can attribute to him being rusty or to him being a big-game choke artist. My thoughts, watching the game, is that it mostly due to rust. His performance in the fourth quarter was vastly different than his performance in the first quarter.
In the end, if Vanderjagt makes that field goal and Indy wins in overtime, does that make Peyton a big-game winner? I don't think so.
But from start to finish, I think the best explanation for the play across the board was rust.
The reason they lost is over-coaching.
What I mean by this is that the team was rusty because of not playing a meaningful game in 5 weeks. When Indy locked up the first round bye, Dungy decided to bench everyone. On the premise that one of this players might get hurt, he chose to kill any momentum they might have in the name of safety.
It would seem wiser for a team to keep its players rolling as they approach the playoffs especially when that team has a first round bye. So when they get to their game, they are not rusty and are used to playing well.
This team sleep-walked into the playoffs because of locking it up so early and wound up spotting Pitt 14 points in the first quarter.
Now surely some of this is Peyton's fault. I think he played fairly well, but he certainly wasn't playing like he was when this team won its first 13 games. He looked rusty, especially in the first quarter. But so did the rest of the team. The o-line looked atrocious in the first half, despite being good all year. There were numerous muffed kicks by Indy. Edge looked weak in the first quarter. The defense was porous in the first half. And Peyton is subject to the same rust as everyone else.
I don't know how much of that you can attribute to him being rusty or to him being a big-game choke artist. My thoughts, watching the game, is that it mostly due to rust. His performance in the fourth quarter was vastly different than his performance in the first quarter.
In the end, if Vanderjagt makes that field goal and Indy wins in overtime, does that make Peyton a big-game winner? I don't think so.
But from start to finish, I think the best explanation for the play across the board was rust.
