I know, I know, I ducked having to talk about the Divisional Round. I was too upset. The Ravens win in Denver just floored me. But it got me thinking about past sports memories, haunting sports losses and where this one ranked, and oddly, I could come up with quite a few that were worse. So, I've compiled my 10 most haunting sports losses as a fan. Some of them weren't close. Some of them were way too close. One of them is even a team losing a game in a series they ultimately won. Anyway, let's get to the list.
10.) Super Bowl XXXVII - Raiders 21 vs. Buccaneers 48
This game wasn't close at all (it was 34-3 at one point), but there are two reasons why it makes this list. First, the Raiders made it a game scoring three straight TDs. They went for two and missed each time, making it 34-21 (it could have been 34-27 had they gotten all three). Down 13 with about seven minutes to go with the ball it wasn't inconceivable that they could finish the incredible comeback, but Gannon threw pick's #4 and #5. The other reason is I was young, I didn't understand how good that Buccaneers team was, and I was so ready to celebrate the Raiders winning after they were robbed the previous season (that game is a little higher up the list). The 2002 Raiders were the first team that I followed earnestly all season. I can still list the scores of each of their games. I can still remember the key players, the key moments, and it ended in abject disaster.
* - I promise that I started writing this piece before I heard Tim Brown's accusation that Bill Calahan sabotaged the Super Bowl to stick it to Al Davis and give a good one to his friend Jon Gruden. This doesn't make me change my view on the game at all. That Buccaneers team was better anyway. I don't buy the allegations. Why would Bill Callahan decide to wait until the Super Bowl to sabotage the team. If anything, his run-heavy 1st Half against the Jets in the divisional round was more of a sabotage maneuver.
9.) 2007 Divisional Playoffs - Chargers 28 @ Colts 24
This is a strange game. On one hand, even if the Colts won they would have had no real shot to win in New England the next week. The Colts had no pass rush without Dwight Freeney and with a hobbling Robert Mathis. That said, I really wanted the Colts to get another shot at the Patriots in that year. I wanted to see Manning take on the Patriots one more time. I wanted that playoff rematch. On the other hand, the loss was so unexpected and brutal. The Colts should have beaten the Chargers in the regular season despite missing seven players that would play in the divisional game and Manning throwing six interceptions, and they should have won this game. Manning hit his first 14 throws, and driving near the red zone up 7-0, he hit Marvin Harrison (playing his first game since Week 10) and Marvin fumbled. The Colts let the Chargers complete a 3rd and 14 and a 3rd and 11 in the 1st half. The Colts, down 21-17, drove down inside the 10, and Manning throws a screen pass to Kenton Keith, and Keith just bats it up in the air and it lands perfectly in the hands of Eric Weddle for a fluke interception. Then, Billy Volek completes two third downs to lead a game winning drive. Of course, despite throwing for 400 yards and having both INTs first hit the hands of Colts players, Peyton was blamed. Just a stunning and terrible loss for what was a great team. After the game ended I couldn't even speak. Over time, I've cooled off about the game. All that was foregone was Manning's playoff record being 10-11 instead of 9-11 (as if that would have stopped the Manning haters), because there was no way they were beating the Patriots without a pass rush. Time has healed that wound, but it was a gashing wound right after the game ended.
8.) Super Bowl 41.5 (Week 9 2007 Season) - Patriots 24 @ Colts 20
Oddly, I feel worst about this game than the one above which was the playoff loss that season. This is the only regular season game to make the list (though the Week 10 loss in New England in 2010 came close). Just to recap, the Colts entered the game 7-0, winning their last two games by a combined 60-14 (both on the road), and were the defending champs who had beaten New England in the last three meetings. Despite all of this, they were the underdog (by five points) to the 8-0 Patriots. The Patriots entered that game looking superhuman, but I thought the Colts could make them look human, and they most certainly did. The Colts defense played better than I have ever seen it during the Dungy era, holding that Patriots offense to 7 first half points. Tom Brady entered the game with 2 INTs on the season, and the Colts doubled that total. The Colts were able to score on a 70-yard weaving run after a screen pass to Joe Addai right before the half to take a 13-7 lead into halftime, and opened up a 20-10 lead in the 4th quarter. It was all set for a great Colts win, a hammer to the Patriots undefeated season (and keeping alive the Colts run at perfection). Then Randy Moss finally got open deep, and Brady hit him. Three plays later, Brady hit Welker for a TD. Then, Peyton Manning, on 3rd down, threw a beautiful pass 30 yards downfield to Reggie Wayne, but Wayne dropped it. Had Wayne caught it, the Colts would have gotten at least a field goal, and there was a chance Wayne could have taken that for a TD. The Patriots scored another TD (set up by a deep pass to Stallworth), and the Colts couldn't comeback as Tony Ugoh was awful, letting pressure come to Manning on three straight plays. The Patriots escaped a wounded Colts team (no Harrison in that game), and kept their pefect season going. The Colts at least showed that the Patriots weren't untouchable, but I was so upset that they couldn't protect a 20-10 lead. They blew a chance at never allowing that perfect season to happen. They could have shoved the Patriots brilliance in their face. God dammit, I'm getting more upset now than I was then just by writing about it. What I've learned from going back over the last two games was that I am more thankful than ever that the 2007 Giants existed.
7.) 2012 Divisional Playoffs - Ravens 38 @ Broncos 35
It is hard to rationally explain my thoughts about a game that just happened 9 days ago. I am still not prepared to accept that Peyton Manning's bad luck followed him to Denver. If I re-do this in a couple years it might be lower because I actually like the Ravens (Ed Reed is probably my favorite non-Colts or non-Peyton Manning player), and at least they had the decency to beat New England as well. That said, what a haunting way to lose. All year long, the Broncos d-backs have been great in man coverage. They played tight man coverage without being beat deep. Well, the odds caught up to them in force in that game, as Champ Bailey was beat deep often early. The Broncos had chances to take over that game, but their play and the refs didn't allow it. First was the awful DPI call on 3rd down two plays before the bomb TD to Torrey Smith when the Ravens were flat down 7-0. Then was the non-call DPI on Decker as he tipped the ball up for a pick-6. Then was the Matt Prater missed field goal (Manning has had horrible field goal luck throughout his playoff career), turning a potential 24-14 halftime lead into a tie as the defense shat the bed again. Then was the ultra-conservative call to take it to halftime with 35 seconds and all three timeouts. Then was the conservative nature of just running the ball to waste clock late. Finally, it all came full-circle with the worst defensive play I have ever seen. I will be haunted by the memory of Rahim Moore taking the world's worst angle to that bomb. I will be haunted by realizing that Moore wasn't going to make the play. I was haunted by the stunned silence of that Denver crowd. Add into it a nerve-wracking OT, when after the Ravens were backed up with a 3rd and 11 inside their ten the Broncos not being able to stop a throw to Pitta, or the dropped INT by Chris Harris. And finally the final, admittedly awful, pass by Manning. I felt a pit of dispair in that moment knowing that Manning gave some wood for the haters to use to pump up their fire against him. Sadly, this isn't even close to the worst loss I've had to suffer through.
6.) 2008 Wild Card - Colts 17 @ Chargers 23
The 2008 Colts team wasn't a great team. They were flawed. They had no o-line or running game. They were in a tough conference and probably couldn't have made it to the Super Bowl, but damn did I want it. I still think (as I've detailed previously) that I have never followed a team with the passion I did for the 2008 Colts. They were such a fun team to watch, and they gave us fans a great ride from 3-4 to 12-4. And it all ended in one dramatic and stunning game. Much like the previous year, the Colts lost to the Chargers because of just pure bad luck. This time, the only thing I will remember is Mike Scifres becoming the GREATEST PUNTER EVER for a day, pinning the Colts three times inside the 10. I will remember Gijon Robinson forgetting the snap count on 3rd and 1 late allowing a free rusher to sack Manning before Manning had really any chance to look for a receiver. One yard there would have ended the game. The Chargers had no timeouts. The game was the Colts. It was another gritty win in a season full of them. A trip to Pittsburgh (where the Colts had already won in a memorable - for me at least - 24-20 win) awaited. The dream season would continue. But it was not to be. Peyton Manning never saw the ball in OT, helped by two bullshit calls on the Colts on 3rd down, and Antonio Gates fumbling around three Colts in OT but being able to recover it himself. The final hammer to my head was Darren Sproles, the little bitch that returned two kicks for TDs in the 2007 regular season Chargers win and a 55-yard screen pass TD in the 2007 playoffs loss, running for the game ending TD. I was not ready for the Colts dream to end right there. The hidden part of that loss was I should have seen it coming. It was stunning the Chargers were in the playoffs at all. The Chargers were 5-8 that season, three games behind the Broncos at 8-5. The Broncos crapped their way to an 0-3 end, but more perversely was the Chargers recovering an onside kick in their Week 15 win over the Chiefs to win that game. The Chargers should never have been in the playoffs that year, and the Colts would have killed that Broncos team. Screw the Chargers. Screw Philip Rivers' smug face, and Norv Turner's weird face. Screw Mike Scifres. And mostly, screw Gijon Robinson.
5.) 2005 NLCS Game 5 - Cardinals 5 @ Astros 4
Before I start, I should admit that the Astros ended up winning Game 6 and the series (of course, they lost the World Series in the closest sweep ever), but this game still makes the list. That David Fucking Eckstein. That little midge. Anyway, the memorable moment is Albert Pujols absolutely hammering a Brad Lidge hanging slider, giving the Cardinals a stunning 5-4 win, but the game was so much more. The series itself was great. The Astros took their 3-1 game advantage turning a ridiculous double play to end Game 4 with Cardinals on 1st and 3rd. They started game 5 but quickly fell behind 2-1, but then, in the bottom of the 6th inning, Lance Berkman hit a line-drive three-run home run into the Crawford Boxes. That brings us to the bottom of the 9th, with Brad Lidge on the mound, and David Eckstein batting. Brad Lidge was the Astros wild-card in 2004, when he struck out 157 batters in 4 innings (which is absurd). He was the full-time closer in 2005 and was basically as good, striking out 103 in 70 innings, with a 2.29 ERA. He quickly struck out the first two batters in the Top of the 9th. Everything was there for the Astros, everything was there for me, who had run through about two sets of fingernails by that point. The Minute Maid Park crowd was just in a frenzy (that place used to get really, really loud). The best closer in baseball at the time was up against David Eckstein, but Ecksten won, hitting his patented ground ball right by Adam Everett. It was a most Eckstien-like hit. Then, Brad Lidge walked Jim Edmonds, and now it was Pujols. Believe you me, the second Berkman hit his home run, I counted how many guys needed to reach base for Pujols to get another at bat. It shouldn't have happened, but it did, and the result seemed preordained. The place grew silent, as did I. Lidge kept the drama going by making Pujols look foolish on his first slider, but the next one he hung, and the best player in baseball didn't miss it at all. I don't think I have ever heard a place go from so loud to so quiet that quickly and drastically. I don't think I have ever been in a situation where I thought a game was over until it wasn't (other than the game at #1, or maybe the game coming right up). The aftermath of the game is strange, because the Astros was Game 6 6-2, and because the series was extended another game, my favorite player, Roy Oswalt, got to pitch a gem in Game 6 and win NLCS MVP, but the series had lasting effects. Brad Lidge wasn't the same, and he would be the losing pitcher in Game's 1 & 2 of the World Series (memorably giving up a walk-off home run to Scott Podsednik, a guy who didn't hit a home run all season). The pitching order was ruined, and finally, the Astros didn't get to celebrate at home.
4.) 2009 NHL ECQF Game 7 - Hurricanes 4 @ Devils 3
This basically had all the elements of the previous game, except my team didn't go on to win the series (obviously, since it was Game 7), and it was even more stunning. The 2008-09 Devils were a very good team in a good but not great conference. They were the #2 seed, and I really thought they were good enough to win the Stanley Cup that year, but I would be remiss to note how nervous I was that entire series when the Devils drew the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes are the Patriots to the Devil's Colts, beating them in 2002 and 2006. Both those years, the Hurricanes were the better team, so it wasn't that bad. This time, the Devils were better. The beginning of the series wasn't too bad, but the real drama started in Game 4. Up 2-1 in the series, the Devils were down 0-3 in the game, but fought back to tie the game, but Jussi Jokinen, of the Hurricanes, scored with 0.2 seconds left in regulation. I kid you not. Amazingly, something similar happened that altered the 2006 series, as in Game 2 of that series (Devils down 0-1 in the series) Eric Staal scored with 3 seconds to go to tie the game, and the Hurricanes would win in OT. I should have known after Jussi Jokinen scored that goal that the series would go to shit, but Marty Brodeur was great in Game 5, a 1-0 win. The Devils failed to close out Game 6 in Carolina (losing 4-0), setting up Game 7. Any Game 7 is dramatic, but close ones are even worse. The Devils took leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2, the last coming halfway through the third period behind a rocket shot by Brian Rolston. That lead held until under 2:00. At this point, I was about to die. The Devils were two minutes away from a date with the Capitals. They were about to break their cherry in winning a big game in the Prudential Center. It was all so close, but then lightning struck twice. With 80 seconds left, that bastard Jokinen scored to tie another game. The place went silent, I was gearing up for OT, which against the Hurricanes has never ended well for the Devils, but they spared me that heart attack when Erik Staal scored with 40 seconds left to finish the job. It was a quick execution, and I really wasn't sure what to do. It was unlike these football games that had moments throughout that portended the doom to come. This was going from elation to abject horror in 80 seconds, and there wasn't a Game 6. The season was over, a season that was a really positive one for a Devils fan. Just a killer.
3.) Super Bowl XLIV - Saints 31 vs. Colts 17
Losing a Super Bowl hurts, but oddly this one didn't hurt too much that day. The game itself was closer than the score, but it is hard to really say the Colts deserved to win. The Colts played conservatively (running the ball three times after their goal-line stand late in the 1st half). The Colts decided that letting 50-year old Matt Stover kick a 51 yard field goal was a good idea (it wasn't). They dropped passes, broke badly in routes, turned it over, and couldn't even force the Saints into a 3rd down in the second half. No, what really makes this one hurt so much is its lasting effect. There have been worse Colts losses in terms of how I felt after the game and the following few days (including all the ones on this list, as well as maybe the 2004 Divisional Game because of how embarrassing it was), but other than the one to come, none are so awful to remember looking back. I have mostly come to terms with losing to San Diego, or being Mike Scifred, but I still haven't come to terms with Pierre Garcon dropping a 30-yard gain on 3rd down up 10-3. I still haven't come to terms with Dwight Freeney hobbling through the game because of him falling awkwardly on Mark Sanchez late in the AFC Championship Game. I still haven't come to terms with the fact that Hank Baskett felt it necessary to use his face to recover that onside kick (most awful, insane coincidence: Hank Baskett once recovered his own team's surprise onside kick with the Eagles in their close loss to the then 10-0 Patriots in 2007). I haven't come to terms with the opportunity cost of losing. Had the Colts won that game Peyton Manning would never have to hear shit again. Had the Colts won that game, Peyton Manning would have all the numbers but have his 2nd ring, beating a good QB in a tough game. Had the Colts won that game, I could have written my "The Beatification" column that I planned to write after Manning won his 2nd Super Bowl. It would have all been worth it, the years of losing early, the years of being kicked in the nads by the Pats, the years of the scorn and ridicule, because Manning would have that 2nd Ring. And although this one might be hard to prove, I believe it earnestly, that had the Colts won that game, Peyton Manning would still be a Colt today. I loved the 2009 season, the Colts chase at perfection, that fun Saints team, the Favre renaissance, the Pats getting embarrassed by Baltimore, but it had to end in the toughest way possible. Screw You, Hank Baskett.
2.) 2005 Divisional Playoffs - Steelers 21 @ Colts 18
And despite everything I just wrote about Super Bowl XLIV, this one was worse after the game, and still worse now. The 2005 Colts team was absolutely the best team in the NFL that year. They just picked the worst possible time to have their worst game in a performance absolutely no one anticipated. So many things went wrong with that game. For once, the whole "The Colts resting their starters makes them rusty" logic actually was spot on, and the Colts were asleep for the first 15 minutes, as Ben Roethlisberger came out flinging the Steelers to a 14-0 lead at the end of the 1st Half. The Colts woke up finally near the end of the half but their long 9-minute drive fizzled out near the 5-yard line ending in a field goal. The Colts were even worse in the 3rd quarter as the Steelers added another TD. It was 21-3 entering the 4th Quarter, the RCA Dome was silent, and every Colts fan thought that they were living out their worst nightmare. The Patriots were already eliminated in the 2005 Playoffs. Everything was there for us Colts fans, as all that was between the Colts and the Super Bowl was a team they had beaten 26-7 six weeks earlier, and the Broncos, who the Colts beat 90-34 in the 2003 & 2004 playoffs. But none of that mattered when it was 21-3, but then the team finally woke up when Peyton Manning waved off the punt team late in the 3rd Quarter, completed the first down and started what could have been the greatest 4th Quarter Comeback in playoff history. We all know how it ended, with Peyton Manning down 21-18 getting the ball near his 20, but his great o-line let free rushers in on two straight snaps and they turned it over on downs. It was amazing to see the Steelers defense just befuddle Manning and the lineman. It wasn't like they were blitzing five or six guys. Most of the time ti was just four, but the Colts couldn't decipher it. And that's how the great season ended... I wish. But God had to jerk us all around by having Jerome Bettis fumble, have Nick Harper scoop up the ball, and have him running with just Ben Roethlisberger and some fat linemem between him and the end zone. I still remember where I was when this happened. I was in the basement, and I couldn't believe what I saw. I ran upstairs to where my parents were watching the game, and yelled "Can You Believe What Just Happened!!!" At that moment, there was not one bit of me that thought the Colts weren't going to score at least a FG there, and probably a TD. But Bryant McFadden (an unkown rookie at the time) perfectly defended a near TD to Reggie Wayne, setting up a game-tying 46-yard Field Goal opportunity for the most accurate kicker in NFL History. At that time, I didn't know how unclutch Mike Vanderjagt was, but the second the ball left his foot on a path nowhere near the upright, I knew. I still remember what happened next, with CBS cutting to four different reactions to the missed field goal. It was Peyton Manning, Tony Dungy, Bill Cowher and Jerome Bettis all saying "He Missed It", in highly different ways. Bettis was relieved, Cowher was jubilant, Dungy was understanding, and Manning was fucking angry. Of course, I said the same thing, and I was crushed. That was the best Colts team I have ever seen, and they should have won the Super Bowl that year. They didn't because Nick Harper's wife stabbed him in the knee, because their o-line seemingly didn't know what a zone blitz was, and because Mike Vanderjagt is an idiot kicker.
1.) 2001 Divisional Playoffs - Raiders 13 @ Patriots 16
This will probably never be topped. It is hard to come up with a more perfect heartbreak. Fist, put a person at an age where they truly don't understand the volatile life of a football fan, add to that where that person is following a sport earnestly for the first time and his favorite team happens to be good, but the person is naive and doesn't understand the pain that comes with losing. Then add a beautiful, haunting setting like say a picturesque blizzard in Foxboro. And then, finally, add a referee's call, a call so infamous that it's rule that the call is based off of is arguably the most infamous rule in the NFL. Add it all up and the sum is my worst personal sports loss. The reason I hate the Patriots isn't so much Brady and BB beating the Colts from 2003-2004, or their continued success and the arrogance that came with it, but because those guys won their first ring because the referees robbed my team. My team won that game. My team from California went to New England, played in a blizzard and outplayed the Patriots for 58 minutes. They were up 13-3 entering the 4th quarter, but their pass rush went dry and their running game went away (they had a 2nd and 3 the drive before the Tuck and couldn't get the one first down they needed). But even after Brady's running TD to make it 13-10, he needed luck. Let's get to the play. I still remember Charles Woodson running unimpeded at Brady from the corner and Brady not seeing him. I remember that oblong football rolling around the snow and Greg Biekert jumping on it. I remember the silence in Foxboro and the celebration on the Raiders sideline and in my basement (it is amazing how many of these moments I lived through in my basement). I then I remember Walt Coleman starting to review the call. Despite my limited knowledge of the NFL at the time, I had a bad feeling it was going to get overturned. Maybe it was the building anxiety of the crowd, but it felt like that call was getting overturned. I still don't know why. Even if the Tuck Rule is a rule (and it is), I don't think it was applied correctly, as it seemed to me when Brady was hit and the ball came out, Brady had both hands on the ball which seems to me as the end of any 'tuck' motion. Also, I don't see how any angle showed conclusive video evidence, as the call of the field was a fumble. I don't see how Walt Coleman could have reversed that call. Walt Coleman, a ref who I still hate to this day, and I find it beautiful that he's never been given the honor of reffing the Super Bowl, which I like to think is a silent punishment by the NFL for screwing up the Tuck Rule. Of course, Adam Vinatieri then hit the most ridiculous field goal ever, and the Patriots dynasty was born. That last fact is the worst part. Tom Brady started his career 10-0 in the playoffs, but he should have started his career 0-1, fumbling away a home playoff game. His whole reputation as a QB is built off that first playoff comeback that never should have happened, and it is all Walt Coleman's fault.
10.) Super Bowl XXXVII - Raiders 21 vs. Buccaneers 48
This game wasn't close at all (it was 34-3 at one point), but there are two reasons why it makes this list. First, the Raiders made it a game scoring three straight TDs. They went for two and missed each time, making it 34-21 (it could have been 34-27 had they gotten all three). Down 13 with about seven minutes to go with the ball it wasn't inconceivable that they could finish the incredible comeback, but Gannon threw pick's #4 and #5. The other reason is I was young, I didn't understand how good that Buccaneers team was, and I was so ready to celebrate the Raiders winning after they were robbed the previous season (that game is a little higher up the list). The 2002 Raiders were the first team that I followed earnestly all season. I can still list the scores of each of their games. I can still remember the key players, the key moments, and it ended in abject disaster.
* - I promise that I started writing this piece before I heard Tim Brown's accusation that Bill Calahan sabotaged the Super Bowl to stick it to Al Davis and give a good one to his friend Jon Gruden. This doesn't make me change my view on the game at all. That Buccaneers team was better anyway. I don't buy the allegations. Why would Bill Callahan decide to wait until the Super Bowl to sabotage the team. If anything, his run-heavy 1st Half against the Jets in the divisional round was more of a sabotage maneuver.
9.) 2007 Divisional Playoffs - Chargers 28 @ Colts 24
This is a strange game. On one hand, even if the Colts won they would have had no real shot to win in New England the next week. The Colts had no pass rush without Dwight Freeney and with a hobbling Robert Mathis. That said, I really wanted the Colts to get another shot at the Patriots in that year. I wanted to see Manning take on the Patriots one more time. I wanted that playoff rematch. On the other hand, the loss was so unexpected and brutal. The Colts should have beaten the Chargers in the regular season despite missing seven players that would play in the divisional game and Manning throwing six interceptions, and they should have won this game. Manning hit his first 14 throws, and driving near the red zone up 7-0, he hit Marvin Harrison (playing his first game since Week 10) and Marvin fumbled. The Colts let the Chargers complete a 3rd and 14 and a 3rd and 11 in the 1st half. The Colts, down 21-17, drove down inside the 10, and Manning throws a screen pass to Kenton Keith, and Keith just bats it up in the air and it lands perfectly in the hands of Eric Weddle for a fluke interception. Then, Billy Volek completes two third downs to lead a game winning drive. Of course, despite throwing for 400 yards and having both INTs first hit the hands of Colts players, Peyton was blamed. Just a stunning and terrible loss for what was a great team. After the game ended I couldn't even speak. Over time, I've cooled off about the game. All that was foregone was Manning's playoff record being 10-11 instead of 9-11 (as if that would have stopped the Manning haters), because there was no way they were beating the Patriots without a pass rush. Time has healed that wound, but it was a gashing wound right after the game ended.
8.) Super Bowl 41.5 (Week 9 2007 Season) - Patriots 24 @ Colts 20
Oddly, I feel worst about this game than the one above which was the playoff loss that season. This is the only regular season game to make the list (though the Week 10 loss in New England in 2010 came close). Just to recap, the Colts entered the game 7-0, winning their last two games by a combined 60-14 (both on the road), and were the defending champs who had beaten New England in the last three meetings. Despite all of this, they were the underdog (by five points) to the 8-0 Patriots. The Patriots entered that game looking superhuman, but I thought the Colts could make them look human, and they most certainly did. The Colts defense played better than I have ever seen it during the Dungy era, holding that Patriots offense to 7 first half points. Tom Brady entered the game with 2 INTs on the season, and the Colts doubled that total. The Colts were able to score on a 70-yard weaving run after a screen pass to Joe Addai right before the half to take a 13-7 lead into halftime, and opened up a 20-10 lead in the 4th quarter. It was all set for a great Colts win, a hammer to the Patriots undefeated season (and keeping alive the Colts run at perfection). Then Randy Moss finally got open deep, and Brady hit him. Three plays later, Brady hit Welker for a TD. Then, Peyton Manning, on 3rd down, threw a beautiful pass 30 yards downfield to Reggie Wayne, but Wayne dropped it. Had Wayne caught it, the Colts would have gotten at least a field goal, and there was a chance Wayne could have taken that for a TD. The Patriots scored another TD (set up by a deep pass to Stallworth), and the Colts couldn't comeback as Tony Ugoh was awful, letting pressure come to Manning on three straight plays. The Patriots escaped a wounded Colts team (no Harrison in that game), and kept their pefect season going. The Colts at least showed that the Patriots weren't untouchable, but I was so upset that they couldn't protect a 20-10 lead. They blew a chance at never allowing that perfect season to happen. They could have shoved the Patriots brilliance in their face. God dammit, I'm getting more upset now than I was then just by writing about it. What I've learned from going back over the last two games was that I am more thankful than ever that the 2007 Giants existed.
7.) 2012 Divisional Playoffs - Ravens 38 @ Broncos 35
It is hard to rationally explain my thoughts about a game that just happened 9 days ago. I am still not prepared to accept that Peyton Manning's bad luck followed him to Denver. If I re-do this in a couple years it might be lower because I actually like the Ravens (Ed Reed is probably my favorite non-Colts or non-Peyton Manning player), and at least they had the decency to beat New England as well. That said, what a haunting way to lose. All year long, the Broncos d-backs have been great in man coverage. They played tight man coverage without being beat deep. Well, the odds caught up to them in force in that game, as Champ Bailey was beat deep often early. The Broncos had chances to take over that game, but their play and the refs didn't allow it. First was the awful DPI call on 3rd down two plays before the bomb TD to Torrey Smith when the Ravens were flat down 7-0. Then was the non-call DPI on Decker as he tipped the ball up for a pick-6. Then was the Matt Prater missed field goal (Manning has had horrible field goal luck throughout his playoff career), turning a potential 24-14 halftime lead into a tie as the defense shat the bed again. Then was the ultra-conservative call to take it to halftime with 35 seconds and all three timeouts. Then was the conservative nature of just running the ball to waste clock late. Finally, it all came full-circle with the worst defensive play I have ever seen. I will be haunted by the memory of Rahim Moore taking the world's worst angle to that bomb. I will be haunted by realizing that Moore wasn't going to make the play. I was haunted by the stunned silence of that Denver crowd. Add into it a nerve-wracking OT, when after the Ravens were backed up with a 3rd and 11 inside their ten the Broncos not being able to stop a throw to Pitta, or the dropped INT by Chris Harris. And finally the final, admittedly awful, pass by Manning. I felt a pit of dispair in that moment knowing that Manning gave some wood for the haters to use to pump up their fire against him. Sadly, this isn't even close to the worst loss I've had to suffer through.
6.) 2008 Wild Card - Colts 17 @ Chargers 23
The 2008 Colts team wasn't a great team. They were flawed. They had no o-line or running game. They were in a tough conference and probably couldn't have made it to the Super Bowl, but damn did I want it. I still think (as I've detailed previously) that I have never followed a team with the passion I did for the 2008 Colts. They were such a fun team to watch, and they gave us fans a great ride from 3-4 to 12-4. And it all ended in one dramatic and stunning game. Much like the previous year, the Colts lost to the Chargers because of just pure bad luck. This time, the only thing I will remember is Mike Scifres becoming the GREATEST PUNTER EVER for a day, pinning the Colts three times inside the 10. I will remember Gijon Robinson forgetting the snap count on 3rd and 1 late allowing a free rusher to sack Manning before Manning had really any chance to look for a receiver. One yard there would have ended the game. The Chargers had no timeouts. The game was the Colts. It was another gritty win in a season full of them. A trip to Pittsburgh (where the Colts had already won in a memorable - for me at least - 24-20 win) awaited. The dream season would continue. But it was not to be. Peyton Manning never saw the ball in OT, helped by two bullshit calls on the Colts on 3rd down, and Antonio Gates fumbling around three Colts in OT but being able to recover it himself. The final hammer to my head was Darren Sproles, the little bitch that returned two kicks for TDs in the 2007 regular season Chargers win and a 55-yard screen pass TD in the 2007 playoffs loss, running for the game ending TD. I was not ready for the Colts dream to end right there. The hidden part of that loss was I should have seen it coming. It was stunning the Chargers were in the playoffs at all. The Chargers were 5-8 that season, three games behind the Broncos at 8-5. The Broncos crapped their way to an 0-3 end, but more perversely was the Chargers recovering an onside kick in their Week 15 win over the Chiefs to win that game. The Chargers should never have been in the playoffs that year, and the Colts would have killed that Broncos team. Screw the Chargers. Screw Philip Rivers' smug face, and Norv Turner's weird face. Screw Mike Scifres. And mostly, screw Gijon Robinson.
5.) 2005 NLCS Game 5 - Cardinals 5 @ Astros 4
Before I start, I should admit that the Astros ended up winning Game 6 and the series (of course, they lost the World Series in the closest sweep ever), but this game still makes the list. That David Fucking Eckstein. That little midge. Anyway, the memorable moment is Albert Pujols absolutely hammering a Brad Lidge hanging slider, giving the Cardinals a stunning 5-4 win, but the game was so much more. The series itself was great. The Astros took their 3-1 game advantage turning a ridiculous double play to end Game 4 with Cardinals on 1st and 3rd. They started game 5 but quickly fell behind 2-1, but then, in the bottom of the 6th inning, Lance Berkman hit a line-drive three-run home run into the Crawford Boxes. That brings us to the bottom of the 9th, with Brad Lidge on the mound, and David Eckstein batting. Brad Lidge was the Astros wild-card in 2004, when he struck out 157 batters in 4 innings (which is absurd). He was the full-time closer in 2005 and was basically as good, striking out 103 in 70 innings, with a 2.29 ERA. He quickly struck out the first two batters in the Top of the 9th. Everything was there for the Astros, everything was there for me, who had run through about two sets of fingernails by that point. The Minute Maid Park crowd was just in a frenzy (that place used to get really, really loud). The best closer in baseball at the time was up against David Eckstein, but Ecksten won, hitting his patented ground ball right by Adam Everett. It was a most Eckstien-like hit. Then, Brad Lidge walked Jim Edmonds, and now it was Pujols. Believe you me, the second Berkman hit his home run, I counted how many guys needed to reach base for Pujols to get another at bat. It shouldn't have happened, but it did, and the result seemed preordained. The place grew silent, as did I. Lidge kept the drama going by making Pujols look foolish on his first slider, but the next one he hung, and the best player in baseball didn't miss it at all. I don't think I have ever heard a place go from so loud to so quiet that quickly and drastically. I don't think I have ever been in a situation where I thought a game was over until it wasn't (other than the game at #1, or maybe the game coming right up). The aftermath of the game is strange, because the Astros was Game 6 6-2, and because the series was extended another game, my favorite player, Roy Oswalt, got to pitch a gem in Game 6 and win NLCS MVP, but the series had lasting effects. Brad Lidge wasn't the same, and he would be the losing pitcher in Game's 1 & 2 of the World Series (memorably giving up a walk-off home run to Scott Podsednik, a guy who didn't hit a home run all season). The pitching order was ruined, and finally, the Astros didn't get to celebrate at home.
4.) 2009 NHL ECQF Game 7 - Hurricanes 4 @ Devils 3
This basically had all the elements of the previous game, except my team didn't go on to win the series (obviously, since it was Game 7), and it was even more stunning. The 2008-09 Devils were a very good team in a good but not great conference. They were the #2 seed, and I really thought they were good enough to win the Stanley Cup that year, but I would be remiss to note how nervous I was that entire series when the Devils drew the Hurricanes. The Hurricanes are the Patriots to the Devil's Colts, beating them in 2002 and 2006. Both those years, the Hurricanes were the better team, so it wasn't that bad. This time, the Devils were better. The beginning of the series wasn't too bad, but the real drama started in Game 4. Up 2-1 in the series, the Devils were down 0-3 in the game, but fought back to tie the game, but Jussi Jokinen, of the Hurricanes, scored with 0.2 seconds left in regulation. I kid you not. Amazingly, something similar happened that altered the 2006 series, as in Game 2 of that series (Devils down 0-1 in the series) Eric Staal scored with 3 seconds to go to tie the game, and the Hurricanes would win in OT. I should have known after Jussi Jokinen scored that goal that the series would go to shit, but Marty Brodeur was great in Game 5, a 1-0 win. The Devils failed to close out Game 6 in Carolina (losing 4-0), setting up Game 7. Any Game 7 is dramatic, but close ones are even worse. The Devils took leads of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2, the last coming halfway through the third period behind a rocket shot by Brian Rolston. That lead held until under 2:00. At this point, I was about to die. The Devils were two minutes away from a date with the Capitals. They were about to break their cherry in winning a big game in the Prudential Center. It was all so close, but then lightning struck twice. With 80 seconds left, that bastard Jokinen scored to tie another game. The place went silent, I was gearing up for OT, which against the Hurricanes has never ended well for the Devils, but they spared me that heart attack when Erik Staal scored with 40 seconds left to finish the job. It was a quick execution, and I really wasn't sure what to do. It was unlike these football games that had moments throughout that portended the doom to come. This was going from elation to abject horror in 80 seconds, and there wasn't a Game 6. The season was over, a season that was a really positive one for a Devils fan. Just a killer.
3.) Super Bowl XLIV - Saints 31 vs. Colts 17
Losing a Super Bowl hurts, but oddly this one didn't hurt too much that day. The game itself was closer than the score, but it is hard to really say the Colts deserved to win. The Colts played conservatively (running the ball three times after their goal-line stand late in the 1st half). The Colts decided that letting 50-year old Matt Stover kick a 51 yard field goal was a good idea (it wasn't). They dropped passes, broke badly in routes, turned it over, and couldn't even force the Saints into a 3rd down in the second half. No, what really makes this one hurt so much is its lasting effect. There have been worse Colts losses in terms of how I felt after the game and the following few days (including all the ones on this list, as well as maybe the 2004 Divisional Game because of how embarrassing it was), but other than the one to come, none are so awful to remember looking back. I have mostly come to terms with losing to San Diego, or being Mike Scifred, but I still haven't come to terms with Pierre Garcon dropping a 30-yard gain on 3rd down up 10-3. I still haven't come to terms with Dwight Freeney hobbling through the game because of him falling awkwardly on Mark Sanchez late in the AFC Championship Game. I still haven't come to terms with the fact that Hank Baskett felt it necessary to use his face to recover that onside kick (most awful, insane coincidence: Hank Baskett once recovered his own team's surprise onside kick with the Eagles in their close loss to the then 10-0 Patriots in 2007). I haven't come to terms with the opportunity cost of losing. Had the Colts won that game Peyton Manning would never have to hear shit again. Had the Colts won that game, Peyton Manning would have all the numbers but have his 2nd ring, beating a good QB in a tough game. Had the Colts won that game, I could have written my "The Beatification" column that I planned to write after Manning won his 2nd Super Bowl. It would have all been worth it, the years of losing early, the years of being kicked in the nads by the Pats, the years of the scorn and ridicule, because Manning would have that 2nd Ring. And although this one might be hard to prove, I believe it earnestly, that had the Colts won that game, Peyton Manning would still be a Colt today. I loved the 2009 season, the Colts chase at perfection, that fun Saints team, the Favre renaissance, the Pats getting embarrassed by Baltimore, but it had to end in the toughest way possible. Screw You, Hank Baskett.
2.) 2005 Divisional Playoffs - Steelers 21 @ Colts 18
And despite everything I just wrote about Super Bowl XLIV, this one was worse after the game, and still worse now. The 2005 Colts team was absolutely the best team in the NFL that year. They just picked the worst possible time to have their worst game in a performance absolutely no one anticipated. So many things went wrong with that game. For once, the whole "The Colts resting their starters makes them rusty" logic actually was spot on, and the Colts were asleep for the first 15 minutes, as Ben Roethlisberger came out flinging the Steelers to a 14-0 lead at the end of the 1st Half. The Colts woke up finally near the end of the half but their long 9-minute drive fizzled out near the 5-yard line ending in a field goal. The Colts were even worse in the 3rd quarter as the Steelers added another TD. It was 21-3 entering the 4th Quarter, the RCA Dome was silent, and every Colts fan thought that they were living out their worst nightmare. The Patriots were already eliminated in the 2005 Playoffs. Everything was there for us Colts fans, as all that was between the Colts and the Super Bowl was a team they had beaten 26-7 six weeks earlier, and the Broncos, who the Colts beat 90-34 in the 2003 & 2004 playoffs. But none of that mattered when it was 21-3, but then the team finally woke up when Peyton Manning waved off the punt team late in the 3rd Quarter, completed the first down and started what could have been the greatest 4th Quarter Comeback in playoff history. We all know how it ended, with Peyton Manning down 21-18 getting the ball near his 20, but his great o-line let free rushers in on two straight snaps and they turned it over on downs. It was amazing to see the Steelers defense just befuddle Manning and the lineman. It wasn't like they were blitzing five or six guys. Most of the time ti was just four, but the Colts couldn't decipher it. And that's how the great season ended... I wish. But God had to jerk us all around by having Jerome Bettis fumble, have Nick Harper scoop up the ball, and have him running with just Ben Roethlisberger and some fat linemem between him and the end zone. I still remember where I was when this happened. I was in the basement, and I couldn't believe what I saw. I ran upstairs to where my parents were watching the game, and yelled "Can You Believe What Just Happened!!!" At that moment, there was not one bit of me that thought the Colts weren't going to score at least a FG there, and probably a TD. But Bryant McFadden (an unkown rookie at the time) perfectly defended a near TD to Reggie Wayne, setting up a game-tying 46-yard Field Goal opportunity for the most accurate kicker in NFL History. At that time, I didn't know how unclutch Mike Vanderjagt was, but the second the ball left his foot on a path nowhere near the upright, I knew. I still remember what happened next, with CBS cutting to four different reactions to the missed field goal. It was Peyton Manning, Tony Dungy, Bill Cowher and Jerome Bettis all saying "He Missed It", in highly different ways. Bettis was relieved, Cowher was jubilant, Dungy was understanding, and Manning was fucking angry. Of course, I said the same thing, and I was crushed. That was the best Colts team I have ever seen, and they should have won the Super Bowl that year. They didn't because Nick Harper's wife stabbed him in the knee, because their o-line seemingly didn't know what a zone blitz was, and because Mike Vanderjagt is an idiot kicker.
1.) 2001 Divisional Playoffs - Raiders 13 @ Patriots 16
This will probably never be topped. It is hard to come up with a more perfect heartbreak. Fist, put a person at an age where they truly don't understand the volatile life of a football fan, add to that where that person is following a sport earnestly for the first time and his favorite team happens to be good, but the person is naive and doesn't understand the pain that comes with losing. Then add a beautiful, haunting setting like say a picturesque blizzard in Foxboro. And then, finally, add a referee's call, a call so infamous that it's rule that the call is based off of is arguably the most infamous rule in the NFL. Add it all up and the sum is my worst personal sports loss. The reason I hate the Patriots isn't so much Brady and BB beating the Colts from 2003-2004, or their continued success and the arrogance that came with it, but because those guys won their first ring because the referees robbed my team. My team won that game. My team from California went to New England, played in a blizzard and outplayed the Patriots for 58 minutes. They were up 13-3 entering the 4th quarter, but their pass rush went dry and their running game went away (they had a 2nd and 3 the drive before the Tuck and couldn't get the one first down they needed). But even after Brady's running TD to make it 13-10, he needed luck. Let's get to the play. I still remember Charles Woodson running unimpeded at Brady from the corner and Brady not seeing him. I remember that oblong football rolling around the snow and Greg Biekert jumping on it. I remember the silence in Foxboro and the celebration on the Raiders sideline and in my basement (it is amazing how many of these moments I lived through in my basement). I then I remember Walt Coleman starting to review the call. Despite my limited knowledge of the NFL at the time, I had a bad feeling it was going to get overturned. Maybe it was the building anxiety of the crowd, but it felt like that call was getting overturned. I still don't know why. Even if the Tuck Rule is a rule (and it is), I don't think it was applied correctly, as it seemed to me when Brady was hit and the ball came out, Brady had both hands on the ball which seems to me as the end of any 'tuck' motion. Also, I don't see how any angle showed conclusive video evidence, as the call of the field was a fumble. I don't see how Walt Coleman could have reversed that call. Walt Coleman, a ref who I still hate to this day, and I find it beautiful that he's never been given the honor of reffing the Super Bowl, which I like to think is a silent punishment by the NFL for screwing up the Tuck Rule. Of course, Adam Vinatieri then hit the most ridiculous field goal ever, and the Patriots dynasty was born. That last fact is the worst part. Tom Brady started his career 10-0 in the playoffs, but he should have started his career 0-1, fumbling away a home playoff game. His whole reputation as a QB is built off that first playoff comeback that never should have happened, and it is all Walt Coleman's fault.
