"Peyton's saviors"

Peyton Manning sat on the sideline, head in his hands, praying. He did not look like a quarterback who had just engineered a perfect 80-yard drive in 1 minute, 17 seconds.

He looked scared. Can't-watch scared. He knew who was standing on the opposite sideline, preparing to take the field.

Tom Brady. Manning's nemesis. The quarterback whom everyone referred to as the best clutch player at his position in the NFL (and arguably, in history). Not Manning. But Brady.

And after the kickoff return, Brady had 54 seconds and two timeouts, with the Patriots trailing 38-34, to lead them down the field. For any other quarterback, this would seem very unlikely. For Brady, I was thinking there was about a 40-60 chance.

If Brady led his team to victory, Manning, despite playing a nearly perfect second half - leading the Colts to 32 points to bring them back from an 18-point deficit - would be devastated. The press would eat the "Manning can't win the big games" apple, despite his performance. The Patriots would go to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in six years. The Colts would stay home, maybe never to make the big game during Manning's career.

Brady looked good to start the drive. After an incompletion, he completed two straight passes to get the Patriots to the Colts 45-yard line with 24 seconds to play and a timeout. He was a big play from getting his team into that range where he could start taking shots into the end zone.

Manning buried his head deeper between his knees, praying for what had eluded him twice: a playoff win over the Patriots.

And then he quickly looked up and smiled. He stood up, took a long sigh of relief and walked toward the field. The offense was going back on the field. He had to take one more snap, and all he would need to do was kneel down.

The Colts had won. The defense had held.

How 'bout that defense?

During the regular season, the Colts defense looked about as special as a piece of cotton candy at a carnival. It couldn't stop the run. Teams scored against it late in close games. It was anything but clutch.

On Sunday, the Colts defense did just as much as Manning and his offense to win the game. On the surface, giving up 34 points seems like anything but an admirable performance. But if you look beneath the number, you will notice these things:

- One of the Patriots touchdowns came on an interception return by Asante Samuel in the second quarter, which made the score 21-3 New England.
- The Patriots' lone touchdown in the second half came after an 80-yard kickoff return. Furthermore, the touchdown, a completion to Jabar Gaffney, was very questionable. It was ruled that Gaffney was pushed out of bounds, but I don't think he would have gotten both feet in had he come straight down.
- Twice, in the fourth quarter, the Colts held the Patriots to field goals.

When Brady and his offense got the ball with 3:22 remaining - and the Colts in possession of just two time outs - I thought it would be over within a matter of plays. Brady and the Patriots would pick up two first downs and run out the clock, leaving Manning & Crew helpless.

But the Colts defense came up big. On 3rd-and-4, a run-pass option down, Brady dropped back to throw, had time, released the ball... and it was nearly intercepted by Bob Sanders. The safety, who had missed the previous two playoff games due to injury, had moved up from his position, read Brady's eyes, and gotten in front of Troy Brown and a potential game-ending completion.

After that, it didn’t take long for Manning to drive the Colts down the field for that game-winning touchdown.

Not much time for Sanders & Crew to rest. But again, with Manning, the rest of the offense, the coaches, an entire stadium full of rabid fans, an entire state watching from their homes, and an entire nation of "Patriots haters" counting on it, the defense stepped up.

Marlin Jackson, who, it should be noted, is a University of Michigan man - just like Brady - stepped in front of Brady’s pass, took a few steps forward, then fell flat on his back on purpose. There was no need to run. It was over. The Colts were headed to the Super Bowl. Manning's defense had come through for him.

Why was this so surprising? After all, that defense has saved Manning and his offense this entire postseason. The defense played inspired football against the Chiefs and Ravens while Manning, basically, stunk up the joint. It shut down Larry Johnson, Jamal Lewis, and, on Sunday, perhaps the best two-man combo in the league of Corey Dillon (powerful, experienced) and Laurence Maroney (more speed, more moves). At the end of the night, the Patriots finished with just 93 yards, well below the 150-plus yards Indianapolis gave up per game during the regular season.

And it slowed down Tom Brady. A controversial touchdown and two field goals in the second half. That's all Brady could muster.

During the next two weeks, Manning will likely get more attention than the Colts defense. He will be favorably compared to mercurial Bears QB Rex Grossman. He will be talked about, finally, as a quarterback who can win the big game. Analysts will mention how if he leads the Colts to victory on Feb. 4, he will already be a Hall-of-Famer, up there with Montana, Elway and company.

And he deserves all of this.

But just remember - if not for his defense answering his prayers, Manning would be at his home the next two weeks, trying to digest another playoff defeat to the Patriots, banging his head against a wall over and over again.

Thanks, guys.