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Indianapolis Colts MLB Gary Brackett (Nick Wass/AP Photo)
Given the circumstances, the Indianapolis Colts this past week faced a very real possibility of a letdown.
Colts President Bill Polian said that obviously didn't happen.
The Colts, a week after a dramatic, emotional come-from-behind victory over New England, on Sunday rallied from a one-point deficit for a 17-15 over the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md. It was, Polian said, “a courageous performance.”
And he said it was one in which the Colts “played their hearts out on both sides of the ball.”
“This is the National Football League,” Polian said Monday on his weekly radio show on Hank 97.1 FM in Indianapolis. “That's the way it's supposed to be. We played a very, very tough, physical game against a very, very tough, physical team.”
Polian said the Colts once again showed they can win such a game.
“While I pay very little attention to what's written or said about us, one thing I was a little bit gratified about [Monday] morning was I didn't hear anything about us being a finesse team,” Polian said. “They [the Ravens] came out there and decided they were going to slug it out for 60 minutes. We slugged it out for 60 minutes and won. That's a great feeling. It really is.”
The Colts took a 17-15 lead midway through the quarter then forced turnovers on the Ravens' final two possessions to remain one of two unbeaten teams in the NFL.
“We were in a position where we had to fight all the way to the end and we did it,” Polian said. “I'm really proud of our guys. These last two weeks, they've expended a lot of effort. You could expect in many ways a little bit of a letdown coming off that Sunday night ballgame [against New England] but they didn't have a letdown at all.”
Also on Monday Polian discussed:
*Second-year TE Tom Santi, who had 86 yards receiving and a critical second-half fumble at the Ravens 1: “The fumble is a sad thing because otherwise, he had a great game. He had some courageous catches. He had some huge catches. He made some really good blocks and played awfully well, but the fumble, especially down there, there's no way you get around it. That's at least three points and probably seven that are taken off the board. You can't do that. In his defense, this is the first time he has played football since August, so for those who think that you can play only two preseason games and get ready and be in peak condition, let me remind people in the real world that doesn't happen and he'll get through that. But it was not a very smart play. He was trying to get the ball over the goal line and [Ravens middle linebacker] Ray [Lewis] came along and gave him a shot in the head and knocked the ball out.”
*Four consecutive victories by a total of 10 points: “You'll have those games. And then you're going to have the games like New England [a 35-34 victory last week] and you're going to have games like this one. The close games are much more the norm than the opposite. Maybe you catch a break and they [the opponent] aren't playing on all cylinders, so it can get out of hand. Or if you have a team that's terribly beaten up – like the Titans were early in the season when they had no secondary – you might catch them and have a big score, but the vast majority of the time games are exactly like they were Sunday. That's why we preach attention to detail: don't leave the ball out there where someone can knock it out on the one-yard line. Don't have a procedure penalty in four minutes when you want control the ball and end the game. I'm picking on Tom Santi here and I don't mean to, because as I said, this is the first time he has played football in four months, but these games are the norm. They are what they are and every week is a battle in the National Football League. The idea that we could be 10-0 is so far from the norm that you can't even conjure it up in your own mind. If you dreamed up the most compelling and the greatest scenario you could, would you ever dream of being 10-0? Absolutely not. Not under any conditions. . . . We're a good team. We can come back in the fourth quarter. We're used to doing it. We've done it before. This is a team that has sort of, 'Been there, done that.' We're not going to have any difficulty performing, but the idea that you think you can win 10 straight and somehow or other, that's to be expected – not the case.”
*Ravens LB Ray Lewis: “He's still a good player. He plays in fits and starts. He's not there all the time like he was, but he's still capable of big plays and he's an inspirational leader for them. He'll make a big play every now and then and the fumble was an example of one. He's one of those players – in baseball, they talk about players hitting mistakes. If you make a mistake I guarantee you Ray Lewis is going to take advantage of it. That was a mistake of which he took advantage.”
*Colts WR Pierre Garcon's reaction after a big hit from Lewis: “Pierre made a great catch there and Ray had him zeroed in and put a good shot on him. Pierre's a tough guy. He doesn't back down from anybody. He jumped up and was woofing along with Ray, which was good to see. That was a big catch and kept the chains moving.”
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