Since I couldn’t think of a better segue, here we are at fan boys. Whether it is due to fantasy sports, personal opinions, etc., this ‘fan’ has chosen to be obsessed with a player. Playing again in front of the home crowd, the Colts faced a big test in their AFC South rivals, the Jacksonville Jaguars. Fans, fan boys, frontrunners and bandwagoners can all be voracious about ‘their team’ or ‘their player’, if even for a short time. The Colts allowed 375 rushing yards in this game, the second-highest total since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970. Also of note, former Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt missed two of his three field goals during the game.

The Bears immediately responded with a field goal of their own, but they would not score any more points in the half. But, within a couple minutes Titans K Rob Bironas made a 25-yard field goal to cut the lead to 11 points. The true fan has been there, done that. The browser you are using is no longer supported on this site.

Q2 – IND – 0:10 – 23-yard TD pass from Peyton Manning to Reggie Wayne (Adam Vinatieri kick) (7–0 IND), Q3 – DAL – 14:09 – Kevin Burnett 39-yard interception return TD (Vanderjagt kick) (7–7), Q3 – IND – 5:09 – 4-yard TD pass from Peyton Manning to Dallas Clark (Vinatieri kick) (14–7 IND), Q4 – DAL – 11:36 – Marion Barber 5-yard TD run (Vanderjagt kick) (14–14), Q4 – DAL – 6:00 – Marion Barber 1-yard TD run (Vanderjagt kick) (21–14 DAL). However, the play did not happen the way they planned it. After the extra point by Robbie Gould, Chicago had an early 7–0 lead. The victory marked the Colts' second straight versus the Patriots after having lost the previous six. That right there, folks, is something that none of the other three types of ‘fans’ can rattle off.

That score put the Colts up 21–7. The Colts lost SS Antoine Bethea to a shoulder injury, and he would not return. Jackson sealed the win for the Colts, and their 18-point comeback was the biggest in Conference title-game history. Q1 – MIA – 7:49 – Olindo Mare 28-yard FG (3–0 MIA), Q2 – IND – 12:40 – 2-yard TD pass from Peyton Manning to Dan Klecko (Vinatieri kick) (7–3 IND), Q2 – MIA – 1:31 – Olindo Mare 38-yard FG (7–6 IND), Q2 – IND – 0:19 – Peyton Manning 11-yard TD run (Vinatieri kick) (14–6 IND), Q2 – IND – 0:00 – Adam Vinatieri 46-yard FG (17–6 IND), Q3 – MIA – 13:17 – Olindo Mare 42-yard FG (17–9 IND), Q3 – IND – 7:37 – Adam Vinatieri 34-yard FG (20–9 IND), Q3 – MIA – 2:11 – Olindo Mare 27-yard FG (20–12 IND), Q4 – MIA – 12:38 – Olindo Mare 34-yard FG (20–15 IND), Q4 – IND – 10:07 – 27-yard TD pass from Peyton Manning to Marvin Harrison (Vinatieri kick) (27–15 IND), Q4 – MIA – 3:11 – 6-yard TD pass from Cleo Lemon to Randy McMichael (Mare kick) (27–22 IND). After Cowboys QB Tony Romo was sacked by DE Dwight Freeney, Colts WR Marvin Harrison fumbled, and after the Cowboys punted, Manning was sacked by Jay Ratliff and Bradie James recovered the fumble. No sir. Then the clouds parted and we were gifted with the ever-talented Andrew Luck who seemed to be the one to deliver us from the depths of mediocrity…but alas, injuries have been difficult the last couple years for Indy. Colts QB Peyton Manning rallied the Colts on their next possession, leading them on a scoring drive that led to a 2-yard touchdown pass to TE Bryan Fletcher. The performance also saw the pair move up in their respective career yardage lists; Manning passed Jim Hart to move into 14th place in all-time passing yards and Harrison passed Irving Fryar to move into eighth on the career receiving yardage chart. The Indianapolis Colts on field with the Baltimore Ravens. The Colts also outgained the Chiefs in total yards 435 to 126 and in first downs 28 to 7. No ma’am. Let’s recap, shall we?

“The Rams are winning the Super Bowl this year” they said in week 6, now these guys are nowhere to be seen after losing to the Bears and Eagles.

In the third quarter, Indianapolis crept closer with K Adam Vinatieri making a 33-yard field goal for the only score of the period. The Giants struck first in the third quarter with another touchdown pass from Eli Manning, this time 15 yards to TE Jeremy Shockey. After two first downs, the Titans had the ball at the Colts' 41 yard line with 31 seconds to go. That brings us to the never lovable category of frontrunner. What makes someone one of the above, but not the other? The best way to tell a bandwagoner from any of the other above types is simple…when ‘their team’ starts to struggle, their fandom wanes. 2006 National Football League season by team, American Football Conference Championship, File:Indy Colts World Champions Banner.jpg, https://americanfootball.fandom.com/wiki/2006_Indianapolis_Colts?oldid=163762. The game was full of turnovers, and neither team could take care of the scoring opportunities. The Jaguars, though, would get to within a touchdown late in the game on Byron Leftwich's 7-yard TD pass to RB Maurice Jones-Drew. Palmer also fumbled the football four times in this game. QB Rex Grossman completed a 4-yard pass in the end zone to WR Muhsin Muhammad to increase Chicago's lead over Indianapolis, 14–6. This was the Colts' third primetime game this year on NBC, and the Eagles' first.

There were 10 scores in this game, 5 each half. The Texans responded with a field goal of their own, but the Colts tacked on another field goal as time expired to end the half. Four plays after Grossman's first interception, he was intercepted again, this time by FS Bob Sanders. The Colts opted not to re-sign kicker Mike Vanderjagt, instead inking ex-New England Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri to a lucrative deal. This genre of fandom is the real McCoy, the goods, the diehards. Feeley in place of Garcia, and Feeley ended up getting the football knocked out of his hand by Robert Mathis (his second forced fumble of the game) and the Colts recovered and ended up running out the clock to conclude the game. The Colts tied the game just before halftime on a 2-yard touchdown run by rookie RB Joseph Addai. After Chicago went three-and-out on that possession, the Colts were ready to even the score. Manning was sacked twice while Pennington was sacked three times. I didn’t have to wait long for a Super Bowl appearance (and win), but I’ve been waiting for over a decade for the next Super Bowl win. Heading into this game, Indianapolis had never lost a game to the Texans, winning their first 9 games against them.