Almost Paradise: Colts and Packers Get to Go For Glory Again

2009 Regular Season Record: Colts 15-1; Packers 11-5

Colts Packers '08

Two teams so close to holding the Lombardi trophy face each other in a preseason game that may be great fun to watch – even if it doesn’t tell us much. The Indianapolis Colts took to the field of the Super Bowl in Miami ready to add a new ring to the collection. They were favored and walked into the playoffs having only lost one game. The Green Bay Packers anointed the arm of Aaron Rodgers (a good arm I might add) as a divining rod back to Super Bowl glory. Didn’t happen.

The Green Bay Packers were only two losses away from commanding the NFC North. Those two losses were to Brett Favre’s Vikings, which added more drama to the NFL than you’d find on the Real Housewives of Atlanta.  The playoff position may have cost the Packers the shot at playing in the big game. Try as he might last year, Rodgers wasn’t able to complete the team’s separation from Favre. Just like any breakup, the feelings are much stronger until you get the new trophy.

The Indianapolis Colts were one win away from a perfect regular season – but they chose to forgo the shot at history to keep the starters rested and healthy. With the #1 seed wrapped up, Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell put his star QB Peyton Manning on the bench. Perhaps watching Bill Belichick’s Patriots, the most recent almost-undefeated, he decided to let go of the opportunity to knock the ’72 Dolphins off the perch. During the Super Bowl, by the fourth quarter, the audience could see the momentum swing to the underdog Saints. When the clock struck 00:00, the Peyton and the crew sat dejected on the sidelines – wondering how in the heavens this happen.

We should see some great football. Tonight we get to see the two great QBs do their thing with near flawless offenses and tight defenses. It’s that “near” thing that changes the whole story.

(By the way, my opinion is that the Colts lost because they ticked off the football goddesses. You can’t cheat destiny like that. Sorry Caldwell.)