DILBLOG: Dilly's Weblog

That's what will likely be going through Indy-nation's mind for the long offseason which just commenced. So why am I so gleeful? Because I dislike the Colts? partly . Because my pre-game prediction was right? partly. But mostly because all of the professional pundits (Save one: Pete Shepard of WEEI) compounded their earlier mistake of predicting an undefeated season before they'd even faced their toughest opponents (San Diego, Seattle), by writing them in for the superbowl. If anything, they should've had more information than I, but apparently instead of watching the games, they got sucked into the cult of personality.

The coaching missteps made me appreciate me appreciate Belichik all the more. Whether it was Pittsburgh not even trying a play-action pass when Indy repeatedly had 9 men on the line (not to mention not just kneeling after taking over on downs with just over a minute left, resulting in a Bettis fumble), or Dungy not taking a timeout _before_ Manning took his second consecutive sack to turn it over on downs, both did their best to lose the game.

The officiating, even more than the Denver game, showed some serious hometown calls (an exception being a bizarre play stoppage where no flag was called: should've been illegal motion on Pittsburgh, which would've killed a critical late-game drive), including a no-call on a mugging of Randel El in the first half, and of course the impossibly partisan reversal of the Polamalu interception late in the game. So it was karma at play when in the end it was luck that let the Steelers win. For the record, I don't hate the Colts, but do dislike the trash-talking Vanderjagt (who also blew a potential game-winner vs. the Patriots early last season). Still, vindictive as I may be, I don't envy him his offseason.

But some good came out of this as well: namely, the notion of resting one's starters after securing a good playoff position has hopefully once and for all been discredited. As good as Pittsburgh was, Indy looked more than flat for more than the first half of the game. And why not? It had been a month since they played all of their starters together and it showed. Does that mean they'll always be terrible? No - it just means you don't know what you're going to get. Witness college bowl games - even this year's Rose Bowl. I'm not convinced that Texas was the better team over the course of the season. I am convinced it would've been a different game - if not outcome - had it been played closer to the end of the season.

Of course comparing pro and college ball is fraught w/hazards. But either way, I think you'll see going forward that more and more coaches will take the risk that their star players are injured, rather than ensuring they're rusty.

Do I give the Steelers a chance against Denver at home? Not really. But as much as I've rooted against them, they do have some classy veteran players. Even if Bill "the chin" Cowher doesn't deserve a championship, they certainly do.