A curse on Peyton Manning...

The Steelers weren't supposed to win this past weekend. They just weren't. They were going against the top team in the NFL and they were to lose badly. Fate and the Devil were to ruin their high hopes by having Edgerrin James actually run the ball slicing the Steelers defense and have Peyton Manning grow up and be a team player…none of that happened.

Somehow, the Steelers beat the Colts in Indianapolis. Why? Because Peyton Manning sucks. There, I said it. Yes, he sucks. As a quarterback, he's phenomenal, slicing and dicing defenses like they were tender meat. As a team player…he blows. It's a fact that's been overshadowed by a few things this season. The Colts defense stepped up and proved it could play well, taking some of Peyton's limelight. The whole 'undefeated season' schtick was attributed to Dungy more so than Manning. The suicide of Dungy's son probably took away Peyton's spotlight a bit. But now things are clearer. Peyton Manning is a glory hog. He loves to play the hero. He doesn't play the game for fun or the sheer thrill of the sport…he plays to be perfect at it. And when he's imperfect, someone else has to take the blame. A lot of the focus is on his bashing of the Colts offensive line, saying that they didn't give him enough protection…which, to an extent, is probably true. But how's this? Edgerring James was a nonfactor in this game, save for one TD. Pittsburgh blitzed the hell out of Manning, leading to five sacks. The blitz leaves big holes in the middle, allowing a running back to get some yardage. Manning is as good as picking up blitzes as anyone in the league. Does he change to a running play? No. Does he give a chance to his consistent running back who could have built yardage to setup the pass plays or get those critical first downs on 3rd and short? No. It's a pass-happy offense feeding Manning's ego and the Edge gets screwed because of it.

Most people in Indy will blame Mike Vanderjagt for missing the wide-right, 46-yard field goal which would have tied the game. It's a fair assessment. It's a kick that should have had a shot, but went way off. But the real culprit is Manning. On the 3rd and 2 prior to the botched field goal, Indianapolis was on the Pittsburgh 28 with 25 seconds left plus two timeouts. Manning gunned a pass to Reggie Wayne that fell incomplete. It was a long pass too, at least 15 yards or more. Instead of just trying for the first down, Manning gunned it in hopes of closing the distance for the field goal or, for us more cynical types, wanted to hit the endzone and play hero again.

Smart thing to do? In my opinion, hand the ball off to Edgerrin James to get those two yards. With that you stop the clock, close some distance and get a fresh set of downs to work with. It could have been easily manageable with two timeouts. If not James, then run the two yards yourself. Regardless, it would've given some breathing room and some time to think. Hell, even a short pass would've worked. Fate and the devil played their cards right. They relied on Manning's ego to falter him, and in the end, I think it did.

Denver…you need to stop Pittsburgh. They must not win!

(For the record, I think the Steelers are a good team with many talented players and a good coach. Jerome Bettis is fun to watch when he pounds the crap outta everyone and Hines Ward is one of my favorite receivers. So, all this negativity isn't because they're a bad team…they beat Cincy…and injured our star QB, intentional or not…so, I don't like 'em.)

Would love to see Seattle and Denver in the Super Bowl. My prediction? Mick Jagger and Stevie Wonder steal the show.

Hopefully, back to some politicking soon.