Indianapolis Colts CB Kelvin Hayden (Darron Cummings/AP Photo)
As Bill Polian sees it, the Indianapolis Colts are in the Super Bowl for many reasons, but there is one reason that stood out on Sunday.
The Colts were clearly healthy, and fresh.
Their opponent, just as clearly, was not.
The Colts, who clinched home-field advantage and a first-round playoff bye with three weeks remaining in the regular season and rested starters during much of the last two weeks of the regular season, beat the New York Jets, 30-17, in the AFC Championship Game Sunday.
“The thing that I took away from the whole experience was that, No. 1, we got to our playoff games healthy and with our team intact,” Polian said on his weekly radio on Hank 97.1 FM in Indianapolis Monday. “I saw Sunday – and every knowledgeable observer I've spoken to saw as well – the toll that a playoff drive takes on a team. The Jets, who make their living running the ball and do it very, very well, were down to one back at the end of the game.”
Shonn Greene, the Jets' rookie running back, sustained a chest injury early in the second half, and Polian said his absence can't be overestimated.
“There's no question that he would have made a big difference,” Polian said. “I don't know that it would have changed the score, but it might have made it closer, certainly. You hate to see a player like that injured, but that means the Jets essentially have gone through three running backs and had to finish with Thomas Jones. We were healthy coming in.”
Polian said the Jets having played four road games in five weeks compared to the Colts having played just one road game since a victory at Jacksonville on December 17 played a role.
“They played five tough games to get there, four of which were on the road, including the trip to California (to play the San Diego Chargers in a Divisional Playoff) and back,” Polian said. “We played two. That tells you that earning the right to have the home-field advantage, earning the right to have the bye, is very, very important. It clearly is something that's worth pursuing and we're glad we got it and glad we worked so hard to get it in the Jacksonville game.
“We were playing on two days rest in that ballgame, but we sold out to get it and it turned out to be exactly what we needed. The contrast between clearly a tired Jets team in the fourth quarter and ourselves was pretty stark.”
Polian on Monday also discussed:
* The Colts' fans: “Congratulations to all of our fans, but especially to those fans that were in the stands for the Baltimore game and Sunday's game. You truly were the 12th man. You gave us the lift we needed, the edge we needed. On the big drive that culminated with a field goal (by the Jets) and not a touchdown, you caused a false start penalty. Those things can be the difference in the ball game. It's a different game if they get a touchdown. We, in turn, went back and scored a touchdown. You made a difference and thank you very much.”
* The home crowd on Sunday: “We've often said, 'Little things are the reason that games turn.' We go back one year ago, when we were all very upset as opposed to how we feel today: Inability to run in the four-minute period with four minutes left in the game in San Diego keeps us from advancing in the playoffs and very probably since we had beaten them (the Steelers) already in Pittsburgh going into the game against Pittsburgh as a favorite, perhaps. Those little things add up, and in this case, the home crowd made a difference as it has for about the last eight or nine years. It has been terrific. I had a friend at the game Sunday who was in the building for the first time and who had been in the (RCA) Dome and he said to me, 'It's every bit as loud.'”
* The Colts' high-character players: “First of all, it all starts with the kind of people you bring in. We try very hard to bring in people who we believe have very good football temperament. Football temperament consists of a love for the game, mental and physical toughness, the ability to process information and the ability to work hard and do what you have to do to improve yourself. In addition to that, we like for people to be good citizens and people to believe they have responsibility to conduct themselves in a professional manner. Everybody can live their life differently. That's one of the great things about America, but if you're a professional, you should conduct yourselves as such. If you use that criteria, the likelihood is you're going to come up with fellows who have the kind of professional maturity to conduct themselves in a way that reflects well on the organization and the sport off the field. That's not to say in a group of 60 or so guys between the ages of 22 and 29 who have more money than you and I ever dreamed of having maybe in our lifetime that you're not going to find some fellows who will occasionally take an incorrect step, but by and large, we have guys who are good people who really care about their jobs, care about the people they work with and care about the community in which they live. That reflects itself both on and off the field.”
Reviewing Colts President Bill Polian’s radio show . . .
* Part One: DE Dwight Freeney likely to play in Super Bowl. Here.
* Part Two: “There should not have been a question” about run defense. Here.
* Part Three: “We got to our playoff games healthy and . . . intact.” Here.
* Part Four: WR Pierre Garcon and WR Austin Collie no surprise. Here.
SUPER BOWL XLIV: EARLY THOUGHTS ON THE SAINTS. HERE
SUPER BOWL XLIV: PREPARATIONS BEGIN. HERE.
COFFEE WITH THE COLTS: A NEXT-DAY LOOK AT THE AFC TITLE GAME. HERE.
COLTS 30, JETS 17. HERE
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