Peyton desperate to ditch this losing feeling
Manning beaten up by Chargers, but first loss of year hurts more
![]() Brent Smith / Reuters Colts quarterback Peyton Manning walks off the field. Manning threw two interceptions in the 26-17 loss to the Chargers on Sunday, the Colts' first loss of the season. |
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As souvenirs go, this was one he could do without.
But as a painful reminder of just how tough it is to go through an NFL season unbeaten, well, it was just about perfect.
The abrasion was a parting gift from the San Diego Chargers, who not only stole the Colts’ perfect season Sunday, but reminded them how slippery the footing can be at the top of the pro football globe. The Colts played a few bad games against good teams and got away with it. They understand now that won’t work every Sunday.
“It’s something we need to respond to,” Manning said quietly in the aftermath of a 26-17 loss at home. “It leaves a really bad taste in your mouth. We’ve got to get it out.”
If the Colts still plan on wearing the Super Bowl crown they’ve been modeling most of this season, Monday can’t come soon enough. They were inept on offense early in the game, uncharacteristically sloppy in the late going and listless for long stretches in between. The only consolation, if there’s any to be had, is that this was as close to a total team failure as failures get.
Coach Tony Dungy took the blame for the decision to pass on a field goal and go for a score on fourth-and-1 with 8:38 left in the first half. When Manning wound up losing six yards on a bootleg, that cost Indianapolis an almost-certain three points, plus the three points the Chargers tacked on with a Nate Keading field goal seconds before halftime.
“That wasn’t very smart on my part,” Dungy said. “If we’d got those, it’s a different game.”
“The No. 1 thing there,” Manning explained, “is to try and not take a sack.”
So naturally, the Chargers sacked Manning on the next play, the last of San Diego’s four on the day. That 3-yard loss, added to the 12 yards assessed on the previous play for grounding, made a field-goal try academic.
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“When you have guys out of place or you miss a tackle here, you’re going to get some long runs,” said safety Bob Sanders, whose punishing hits helped transform Indianapolis’ defense from pushovers to punishers. “It’s frustrating any time you give one up. Big plays kind of take the wind out of you.”
Manning wasn’t even born the only time a team went through an NFL season unbeaten. That was 1972, when the Miami Dolphins melded talent, desire and plenty of luck to run the table. They’re often thought of as one-season wonders, but the opposite is true. That Dolphins team played in three straight Super Bowls and won two of them.
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