The Indianapolis Colts Fall To The Kansas City Chiefs In The Divisional Playoffs
The season for the Boys In Blue has come to an end as the Colts have fallen to the Chiefs 31-13. We haven’t experienced a feeling like this since playing the Patriots in the AFC Championship game since 2014. This season gave me joy to watch as the past 3 seasons were just an over and under on which quarter will we give up a lead and fall apart. This season I was actually standing up from my couch, cheering in joy, scaring the family cat, it was great. It felt like I was watching the Colts from 2012 again. Mark my words, next year is going to be a rebirth of the Peyton Manning era. At least it will feel like it. Colts fan know exactly how that feels.
Although this season is over, I couldn’t be happier for how our season turned out and what next season holds. There were 4 key factors that made this season notable (not in order but could be, who knows).
1. Austin Taylor. This will be the LAST TIME I mention this in a long time, but if it wasn’t for me accidentally calling the Colts the “dolts” 3 times in a blog after losing to the Jets and getting released from my ball boy duties, there wouldn’t have been a fire sparked in the locker room. We started out 1-5 and went on a 10-1 record. TEN AND ONE. We’ve missed the playoffs every year since I started working as a ball boy (2015-October 2018) and as soon as I got released, we all of a sudden became the hottest team in the NFL. To the Indianapolis Colts: I’m once again sorry, and you’re welcome. This was a better trade than getting Trent Richardson for a first round pick. God Grigson sucked.
2. Frank Reich. What a coach. Reich could’ve easily lost the locker room after being 1-5, but his leadership and trust turned what seemed to be a tanking team, into a playoff team. The way he has utilized Luck compared to Pagano and the other offensive coordinators have been remarkable. Reich has gotten Luck to release the ball quicker, run for first downs more often, and just play more aggressive and assertively. His calmness reminds me of Tony Dungy and we all know how good the team was with him as a head coach. Frank had a great first year.
3. Andrew Luck: We haven’t seen a healthy Andrew Luck in a long time, and this season was exactly what we expected. 39tds, 4,593 yards, just looking like his first 3 years with the Colts. No doubt would I vote for him for the Comeback Player of the Year award. Luck is truly a game changer and the most unique human in the NFL.
4. Chris Ballard: For a general manager who was left with Grigson’s food scraps, Ballard did an amazing job finding quick talent. Quenton Nelson and Darius Leonard (2 All Pro rookies) showed their franchise talent almost as soon as the season started. Nyheim Hines was a perfect pick for Reich’s offense as well. Braden Smith stepped up at Right Tackle, and Kemoko Turray has shown some talent. I’m very anxious to see Deon Cain and Daurice Fountain play next season as Deon tore an ACL in training camp and Daurice played like 1 snap or something. Ballard has tons of draft picks this year and should be interesting to see how he uses them. My guess will be a pass rusher, corner, and wide receiver in that order.
Now, tonight was not what I was expecting. I thought it was going to be an old western standoff between Luck and Mahomes, two of the best QB’s and sounding humans I have ever heard in my life. Seeing them play football is cool but I would love to hear a speech debate between them or something. Talk about primetime.
To summarize the game, our offense didn’t really click until the last 2 minutes of the 1st half. I love watching the no huddle offense, it’s deadly. We should utilize that more as the Chiefs were unable to stay on pace with us. I thought the momentum changed when Vinny missed the field goal before halftime. I blame the snow and wind, no doubt. Mahomes torched the defense all night and we couldn’t catch a break. The Chiefs d-line swatted Luck’s passes more than I can remember. We only had the ball for 20:11, while the Chiefs had the ball for 39:49 seconds. Props to Andy the Walrus on that. I hope his fat ass enjoys his fish and steak tonight.
Here were my highlights of the game:
There were a few passes that were great, but the best throw all night was from that Chiefs fan from section 120 or wherever the hell it was from.
Mahomes almost made the world gasp as he was limping with a knee injury. Luckily for the fans of Arrowhead stadium, that fan could have been a raffle winner for quarterback of the night with that arm. He’d be my 1st pick on my snowball fight team.
Now this just pissed me off. Denico Autry got a sack and got flagged for celebrating. You know how hard it is to get a sack in the NFL? It’s 20x harder in real life than Madden 19. I wouldn’t know but I can tell you it should be acceptable to release some joy for 5 seconds. A sack is a sack and you can’t take that away from anyone. Shoutout Lance Armstrong.
This was like McCringleberry’s excessive celebration from Key & Peele. It wasn’t even 3 pumps!
While tonight was a dreadful game to watch, it was also a relief to imagine what next season will be like. This team, with what I would assume the same coaching staff, almost the same players, and over $100 million in cap space is going to be sweet. I still say no to getting Le’Veon Bell. Mack, Hines, and Wilkins are a trio I trust. Antonio Brown? Ehhhhh, who knows. You can say Bell and Brown go together like PB&J, but some people have peanut allergies. I trust Ballard in getting some good draft picks and using our cap space on young talent who have contracts expiring. I’m already excited for the draft even though we’ll be picking between 25th and 32nd. What an exciting year for the Boys in Blue and the best is yet to come. Go Colts baby.
