Last year the Colts tore through the NFL. It seemed they had finally learned from their past mistakes and were ready to wrench the Lombardi trophy from Patriots grasp. New England ended up losing a tough divisional round game in Denver, which paved the way for Indianapolis to reach the Super Bowl. However, no one told the Pittsburgh Steelers and they dominated the Colts to a victory that wasn't as close as the final score might indicate.

This is when Colts bashing went into high gear. The franchise became a metaphoric piñata as every football fan in the nation got their cheap shot in.  The team was called a finesse squad who could put up magnificent regular season numbers, but would fold under playoff pressure like a cardboard table. Peyton Manning became a perfectionist quarterback who didn't know how to operate if his conditions weren't ideal.

Meanwhile, despite the loss to the Broncos, Tom Brady and the Patriots were still the symbol of success in the NFL. All anyone could talk about in the Denver game was how Patriots tight end Ben Watson ran down the much speedier Champ Bailey of the Broncos and nearly stripped the ball from him. The Denver loss was a bump in the road for the Patriots; the Steelers loss was inexcusable for the Colts.

This season brought more of the same for the Colts. They tore out of the gate, winning their first nine games. No one really noticed though. They all just assumed that the Colts would disintegrate sooner or later. Sure enough, the Colts run defense went somewhere over the rainbow and the team lost four of their last seven games. They lost home field advantage in the playoffs and limped into the wild card round.