1.) 2006 AFC Championship - Patriots 34 @ Colts 38
There's not much new to say about this game, arguably the most famous and important non-Super Bowl of the last 15 years. The amount of competing storylines, and history, and demons. The NFL couldn't have crafted a better game. The hype was unreal before the game, the game itself exceeded anything that anyone could have imagined. Going into the game, us Colts fans were all hoping for a quick and easy win, the best case scenario would have been a repeat of the Colts 40-21 win in Foxboro in 2005 (or even what the 2013 AFC Championship was). Instead, we got the opposite, and I'm so much more thankful that we did.
The Colts started about as bad as possible. Peyton missed a few deep throws by and inch. The Colts run defense was carved up for 90 yards in the first twenty minutes. The scored TDs on two straight drives, both times converting 4th downs for long gains. The first TD came after a muffed hand-off between Brady and Laurence Maroney, three Colts were around the ball, none of them could grab it and it deflected into the end zone where Dan Koppen picked it up. The Patriots were getting the breaks. They were winning by doing Patriots type things. They drove even further ahead with a pick-6 to go up 21-3, then sacked Manning back-to-back times. Peyton nearly hit Harrison for what would have been a 97-yard TD, but it was just a touch off. The Patriots then were driving, with five minutes left in the 2nd quarter, into Colts territory.
At this specific point in the game, I was a mess. I, of course, was watching the game alone in my basement. I wanted to be anywhere else. If this was happening five years later, I would have just put the game off. At this point in my time as a NFL fan, a Manning fan, I was still a little bit green. I wasn't yet jaded or driven close to insanity by the Brady / Manning rivalry. I also didn't understand the game well enough to realize why exactly the Colts were failing while the Patriots were winning. At this moment, I really did at times think to myself "maybe the Patriots are just better." I really did think to myself "maybe Brady is just a better playoff QB" and "maybe Peyton Manning is a choker." Luckily, I did keep watching, and saw the Greatest Game I've ever seen unfold.
It is telling that 9+ years later, I remember everything about this game. Sure, part of that is me having re-watched the game multiple times. But even beyond just the game play, I remember little moments and specifics. I remember what I was doing, where I was, how I was feeling throughout the game. I remember the feeling on that final 1st half drive to make it 21-6 that maybe, just maybe, they will make this a game. I remember feeling stronger when they tied the game at 21, after, amusingly going for 2 right after Jim Nantz waxed on and on about how bad of an idea it was. I remember the feeling when they went three and out with four minutes to go, seemingly losing their best chance. I remember running upstairs numerous times over the past couple minutes, from Bob Sanders near-interception to force the punt, to Addai's TD, to Marlin Jackson's final interception, puncturing the Patriots playoff perfection, and sending both the RCA Dome, and my house, into a state of frenzy.
I've never feared the Patriots, but I did during various points in that game. When they were beating the Colts four straight times in 2003-04, it was more shock and then acceptance. In this game, when everything was lining up for the Colts, including getting a surprise home game in the AFC Championship. When it started, the Patriots monster showed up and turned it into a nightmare. Then again, nothing is better than overcoming your fears.
The Colts didn't necessarily grow up in that game. They had tons of tests throughout a 2006 season where they beat great teams on the road previously, but they met their biggest fear head on, and not only beat them, but ended up making all the big plays in the key moments. It was the Colts who forced a three-and-out when one first down could have more or less ended the game. It was the Patriots who twice had bug-eyed Reche Caldwell drop two wide open passes. It was the Patriots who, right before that infamous three-and-out, had a 12 men in the huddle penatly, a huge five yards. Finally, it was the Colts who executed three straight well-designed, well-executed runs right into the heart of the Patriots defense to win the game.
There were so many little moments that make this game so eternally memorable. There was the Colts matching the Patriots opening TD by fumble recovery, with Jeff Saturday recovering an Addai fumble in the end zone. There was a ridiculous Patriots TD where Brady drifted wide and threw a pass to Gaffney who was hugging the end line. There was a little sequence in the fourth quarter where Peyton Manning had his hand hit the helmet of Tarik Glenn on his follow-through, jamming his thumb to the point of telling backup Jim Sorgi to 'get ready'. The game had these little plays that turned a great game into an exceptional one.
I often think what would have happened had this game not occurred. The Patriots by all accounts should have probably lost to the Chargers, one of the great escapes in the Belichick era. The Colts probably should have had to make a trip to San Diego. They may have lost that game. But even if they won, would it have felt the same? Would beating the Chargers on the way to winning a Super Bowl have meant as much as beating the Patriots? They needed to go through the Patriots. Much like the Red Sox needed to go through the Yankees to make 2004 as perfect as it could be. In fact, just like how the Red Sox needed to then go down 0-3, be down in the 9th inning of Game 4, the Colts needed to trail 21-3, have the Patriots driving to go up even further, to ultimately squeeze out the most possible satisfaction of that win.
It is that triumph against the hated rival coupled with winning in the best, if most haunting and nerve-racking, way that really makes this game so meaningful. I ranked my 18 favorite games, and none of them were the win against the Bears in the Super Bowl. That was something of a given (though right after Devin Hester ran back the kick, maybe I thought otherwise). This was not. This was never a given. The Patriots were going for history as well, two wins away from matching the 70's Steelers with 4 rings in 6 years. The Colts wanted history for themselves though. They still hold the record for biggest comeback in Championship Game history (18 points), hopefully a record that will never be broken.
It is hard to go back in time to remember just how joyous the end of that game was. I lived through it, and I would love to go through it again. I was at the perfect age. I had gone through the perfect amount of dismay with that team and player. I was still unsure if they would ever win. I was never unsure again.
