Peyton Manning led the Indianapolis Colts to the playoffs 14 times, twice securing the American Football Conference top seed for the postseason and won one Super Bowl. That one Super Bowl win was accomplished in the 2006 season … not the Colts best year or best team … but the best result.
Why?
Because they had something to overcome. Super Bowl winners are commonly not the best team in the league that year, but one of the best teams and the squad that has a motivating boost with something to overcome. In 2006, the Colts had the worst rush defense in the league and knew that if they got over the Wild Card hump, they would have to meet the team with one of the best rushing attacks in the league on their home field, the second seed Baltimore Ravens.
The Colts beat the Chiefs handedly, 23-8, and then headed for what “everyone” thought would be their Waterloo in Baltimore. The Colts suspect defense played the game of their life and limited the Ravens to six points in a 15-6 upset victory. The next day, the fourth seed New England Patriots upset the top seed Chargers in San Diego.
That meant, with the first and second seeds eliminated from the postseason, the Colts hosted the AFC Championship Game against Tom Brady and his Patriots. Brady led the visitors to a 21-3 second quarter lead and New England fans were booking reservations for Miami where Super Bowl XLI would be played.
Then, the challenged Colts, cut the halftime deficit to 15, 21-6, and rolled over the shocked Patriots in the second half with a 32-13 margin enroute to a 38-34 victory and a date with the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl. In that game, kick returner Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff for a Bears touchdown and after that, the challenged Colts dominated the action on their way to Manning’s only Super Bowl win with Indianapolis, 29-17.
History shows that while Super Bowl teams are always among the best squads in the league, the winners are commonly the team that had something to overcome that served as a spike in their motivation. Even Manning’s second Super Bowl win, gained in the last game of his career while a member of the Denver Broncos, was not won during his best season in the Mile High City. No, they lost as a double-digit home favorite to the Ravens the prior year when he played arguably his best season in Denver. He won it all in Denver while his offense, and he, were struggling and the Broncos defense overcame the underdog role against the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50.
So, we’ve got eight of the best teams left to vie for Super Bowl LX. The Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos earned their conference top seeds but out of the 12 teams that were in action last week who has the most to overcome?
Hello Buffalo Bills.
Just like the Colts of 2006, the Bills rush defense has been a sieve this season. Buffalo had their four year reign as champions of the AFC East Division ended by the upstart New England Patriots. Last week, they met a Jacksonville Jaguars team on the road and given the Jags had the number one defense against the rush while Buffalo countered with the best rushing offense, I sided with the defense. History shows that in the playoffs in the past the better defense had won three of four games with this matchup.
I was swayed by the defensive stats and took Trevor Lawrence and his Jaguars at home last week … and while leading late in the game but the ball in Josh Allen’s hands, I knew I was doomed.
The Bills have a lot to overcome.
They have never won a Super Bowl even though they advanced to the Roman Numeral game four straight years beginning in 1990. They give up yards on the ground like you or I would hand out candy to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. And yet, there are the Bills with something to overcome and a quarterback, with Patrick Mahomes out of the picture, clearly the best one left in the postseason.
I missed on the Bills last week; I won’t make that mistake again. When it's all over and the confetti is falling at Levi’s Stadium, it will make perfect sense that it was the Bills year to win it all. The year they didn’t dominate the regular campaign or win their division, but the season they had a call to action to overcome all obstacles.
The next one to conquer is the Broncos on Saturday in Denver.
Qoxhi Picks: Buffalo Bills (pk) over Denver Broncos