AFC Championship: Jets at Colts

It turns out the Indianapolis Colts were staying in our hotel on Saturday night – so much for the poor reviews on tripadvisor.com. Since the AFC Championship Game did not start until 3 pm we had plenty of time to sleep in and then go to brunch. I had picked out Patachou on the Park for brunch. My first pick, City Café, is closed for some reason on Sundays – even this Sunday with a major football game taking place.

Obtaining Tickets
On Saturday morning, I emailed a guy on craigslist.org about his ticket in the upper deck he was offering for $145. I asked for face value and he responded stating that if I did not want to pay $145, the lowest he would accept was $125. I was willing to pay his price but he never emailed me back. Thus, he set my “high price” to pay for the event.

Nicole and I took the hotel shuttle to downtown and it dropped us off within a couple of blocks of Lucas Oil Stadium’s ticket office. Since tickets were available at the box office for the last two Colts game I attended this season (the Patriots at Colts and last Saturday night), I wanted to check the box office to see if tickets were available. I walked to the box office as Nicole walked to the restaurant.

As I waited in line, I noticed a large group (about 10 people) collect their tickets. There were no tickets available when I asked if any singles were available. I immediately asked the group if they had an extra and they acted as though they had one. After about one minute (which feels much longer), they said they did. My first thought was that they were affiliated with the team and would give me a ticket for free. No luck on that. But they were affiliated with the team but had not received a free ticket. Instead, I paid face value ($125) for a ticket on the lower level. Not bad considering this was the AFC Championship game and it would take some work to find a ticket for face value anywhere else.


Pre Game Dining and Shopping
After buying my ticket I could now relax and enjoy a nice brunch with Nicole. Patachou on the Park was a great brunch place. Not only did it serve good food, but it was only a few blocks from Lucas Oil Stadium and the shopping areas in downtown.

After brunch, Nicole and I went sopping at Nordstrom. Since Lucas Oil Stadium is located right downtown you can spend as much time as necessary shopping to make the trip “equal” if necessary.

Tickets Part 2
After spending an hour at Nordstrom I walked to the stadium for the game. As I approached the main scalping corner on W. McCarty St. and S. Capitol Ave. there were quite a few people selling tickets and even more asking for tickets – meaning tickets would probably stay higher than face value. One fan sold his pair ($90 face value per ticket) to a scalper for $150 each. Another guy was asking for $200 for his $110 (face value) ticket. Other scalpers were also asking for much more than face.

The Game
This was the second time I have attend an NFL Championship Game. The first time was three years ago when the Chicago Bears hosted the New Orleans Saints.

The game started out poorly for the Jets as referee Tony Corrente called the Jets the Giants during the coin toss.

However, this did not effect the Jets as they started the game with a bang taking a 17-6 lead with only 2:11 left in the second quarter. At first I thought Rex Ryan may be correct in his prediction that the Jets would win the Super Bowl, but then Peyton Manning took over. After the Jets took their 11-point lead, Manning took less than one minute to score a touchdown at 1:13 left in the first half. This was just the beginning as he also drove for two touchdowns in the second half to score 24 unanswered points and lead the Colts to a 30-17 victory. Peyton Manning broke the NFL postseason record by passing for 300 yards in his seventh postseason game – he was tied with Joe Montana and Kurt Warner.


After the two minute warning in the second half, the ushers finally started checking tickets to enter the section I was sitting in – they did not want fans to attempt to get close to the field during the celebration.

Post Game Dining
After the game, I walked back to the hotel in pouring rain to meet Nicole. The one cab I found would not drive me to such a close destination and the hotel shuttle was not at its stop when I walked by.

After resting for a couple of hours, we took the hotel shuttle back downtown and ate at Harry & Izzy’s which is right next door to St. Elmo Steak House (Peyton Manning is a part owner of the partner restaurants).

AFC Divisional Playoffs: Ravens at Colts

After sprinting to Lucas Oil Stadium, my ticket was scanned and I entered the stadium. I heard over the speakers there was 12:39 left in the first quarter. I left the Pacers game with 2:24 left and I was in Lucas Oil Stadium after 2:21 – pretty much as even as I could have hoped. 30 seconds later I was looking at the scoreboard as I stood in the concourse overlooking the end zone where Matt Stover kicked his first field goal with 10:44 left in the first quarter.

Secondary Ticket Market
I may have made a mistake in buying my ticket before the Pacers game. There were plenty of extra tickets available from scalpers as I ran from Conseco Fieldhouse to Lucas Oil Stadium. Even though it would have taken a minute or two more, I probably could have beaten the $50 I paid for a limited view seat. If nothing else, I would have bought a real seat for the same price.

Limited View and SRO at Lucas Oil Stadium
I realized my seat was obstructed view and I could see my possible seat – behind a pole (here is a picture of my actual seat I took towards the end of the game).

Thus, I headed towards section 632 – where a friend of mine was sitting. On route I tried stopping in a couple standing room only areas. The first was where I watched Stover’s first field goal on the lower level. However, this area was viable as fans sitting in front of the standing room only section would stand up during exciting plays and block my view. The same thing happened in the upper deck standing room only area, so I moved along toward section 632.


Just below section 632 there was an empty area where nobody was standing except for a few fans. This was a great spot for me as I realized most of the other fans seated in my same section (420) also left to find another place to either sit or stand. Under normal circumstances I would have found a place to sit in the upper deck but this was a pretty good spot to watch the game so I stuck around (plus I could chat with my friend at halftime and sit near him when there was a seat available next to him).


The Game
The Colts buried their bye-week demons and defeated the Ravens 20-3 to advance to the AFC Championship Game. The deciding drive occurred when Peyton Manning hit Reggie Wayne for a three yard touchdown pass with three seconds left in the first half. Wayne stretched for the end zone to give the Colts a 17-3 lead heading into halftime.

The play of the game occurred after Ed Reed intercepted Manning in the third quarter. Pierre Garcon stripped Reed of the ball after the 38 yard return and the Colts’ Dallas Clark recovered. In the end, the Colts technically lost 17 yards on the play as the ball was now on the 28 yard line instead of the 45 – but it was still first down.

Reed lost a second interception five plays later as Corey Ivy was called for a pass interference penalty.

Cowboys Stadium: Eagles at Cowboys

I woke up Sunday morning at 9 am. After my long day Saturday, it was a struggle to wake up. However, I wanted to get to Cowboys Stadium around 1 pm in order to tailgate in the parking lot before the game. I pulled away from my hotel shortly before 10 am and arrived at Cowboys Stadium at 1:15 pm.

Tailgating in Blue Lot 10
As I stated on Friday, my cousin, Andrew Holder, gave me tickets for the game. Plus, he gave me a parking pass – Blue Lot 10. Blue Lot 10 is directly next to Cowboys Stadium. It was a great spot – especially considering I needed to leave immediately after the game to get back to Love Field for my 8:00 pm flight. However, there was nobody tailgating in the parking lot. I was convinced that with a $75 parking pass that everyone would be tailgating as they do at Soldier Field but I was wrong.


Instead, my cousin’s friend and I had some drinks in the parking lot with two people from Buffalo who drove 21 hours from Buffalo to attend the game. They were also disappointed with the lack of tailgating at Cowboys Stadium.

The Game
The Cowboys defeated the Eagles convincingly 24-0 in front of the biggest crowd since the home opener (100,621). It was also the largest crowd at any NFL game I have attended.

The Cowboys also set some records during the game. First, they posted consecutive shutouts for the first time in team history. Consecutive shutouts have not occurred in the NFL since the Tennessee Titans did it in 2000 and is only the third time in 50 seasons the Cowboys have posted two shutouts in the same season.

Second, Tony Romo finished the season with a team record 4,483 passing yards – breaking his own record set in 2007.

Third, the Cowboys shut out the Eagles for only the second time ever and this was the first time the Eagles were shutout since week 13 of the 2005 season.

Fourth, the Cowboys had a winning record after Dec. 1 for the first time since 1996, while ending a nine-game losing streak in season finales.

One Eagles player even set a record during the game. Eagles’ linebacker Will Witherspoon became only the fifth player in NFL history to play 17 regular season games in a single season because of a mid-season trade.

Cowboys Stadium
Cowboys Stadium is as unreal experience. As I walked into the stadium, the atmosphere in the building was rocking as go-go dancers danced above the party pass attendees. Speaking of the party passes – they are essentially standing room only but worse. Unless you arrive at the game early, you will have to watch the game on the gigantic video board in the middle of the stadium.


However, that may not be a bad thing as the video board is unbelievable big. I found myself watching the game on the video board rather than the game on the field at times. If I was sitting in the upper deck, I would probably only watch the video board. Although everything was not perfect as the video board blanked out late in the fourth quarter.

Monday Night Football: Vikings at Bears

It’s not every weekend that one gets to attend Monday Night Football after attending an NFL game on Sunday. But that is what happened this weekend. At the beginning of the NFL season, I knew the Chicago Bears were playing on the Monday night after Christmas. I also knew the San Francisco 49ers were home Sunday afternoon where Nicole and I were planning to spend the holiday. Thus, in order to attend both games, I booked a 6:50 am flight from Oakland to Chicago on Southwest Airlines.

Our flight landed in Chicago at 1:00 pm. By the time we collected our bags from baggage claim, caught the shuttle to the parking lot and drove home it was close to 3:00 pm. Even though the parking lots at Soldier Field opened at 3:30 pm, Bears Tailgater Rob was not planning to arrive until 4:15 pm. This delay allowed me to shower and get ready for the game before taking the subway to Soldier Field.

Tailgating
Bears Tailgater Rob was not hosting the tailgate this week as he has in the past. This was his brother-in-law’s game to host – meaning rather than paying Rob as we usually do we had to bring beer and food.

I was attending the game with Blackhawks Jimmy Jr., so I asked him to pick up the goods since I was running late. I now realize why paying Rob is a much better option than brining food and drinks to the tailgate – lugging a case of beer from the Roosevelt train station to the South Lot is a pain. We probably should have gotten off the train at Monroe and walked to the free shuttles at the Millennium Parking Garage. But, by the time I thought of it, it was too late.

This was definitely the coldest Bears game where I have tailgated. Luckily, Blackhawks Jimmy Jr. (his mom gave them to him) brought hand warmers we could use during the tailgate and throughout the game.

Monday Night Football after Sunday Football
This was the sixth time I have attended Monday Night Football after attending an NFL game on Sunday. The other five times were:

Sunday, September 15, 1996: Cardinals at Patriots
Monday, September 16, 1996: Bills at Steelers

Sunday, January 6, 2002: Jaguars at Bears
Monday, January 7, 2002: Vikings at Ravens

Sunday, November 24, 2002: Lions at Bears
Monday, November, 25, 2002: Eagles at 49ers

Sunday, December 22, 2002: Titans at Jaguars
Monday, December 23, 2002: Steelers at Buccaneers

Sunday, September 7, 2008: Cardinals at 49ers
Monday, September 8, 2008: Broncos at Raiders

The Game
Rather than sit in our cold seats in the upper deck, we managed to sneak into the media deck. The media deck has heaters above the concourse near the concession stands, so we decided to stand most of the game while staying warm.

Once again the Vikings and Bears put on a show at Soldier Field. Last year, the Bears defeated the Vikings 48-41 in the highest scoring NFL game I have ever attended.

This year the two teams combined for 66 points as the Bears defeated the Vikings 36-30 in OT. Brett Favre forced overtime as he competed a touchdown pass to Sidney Rice with 16 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.


For a moment in overtime I thought I might see my first NFL tie. Robbie Gould missed a 45 yard field goal and the two teams traded punts. However, On Minnesota’s ensuing drive Adrian Peterson fumbled as Nick Roach recovered for the Bears on the Vikings 39 yard line. On the next play Jay Cutler hit Devin Aromashodu for the game winning 39 yard touchdown – Cutler’s fourth touchdown pass on the day.

NFL: Detroit Lions at San Francisco 49ers

As I wrote for the Emerald Bowl, I needed to buy seven tickets for the 49ers game today versus the Lions. However, Nicole, who usually is excited about tailgating before any football game was not that enthusiastic. After a short conversation it turned out she did not really want to attend the game and was only going for the tailgate. Rather than have her and her great uncle attend the game, we decided to go to brunch before the game instead. My parents, brother and I would still attend.

Obtaining Tickets
Fortunately this decision was made before I bought the 49ers tickets from the scalpers on Saturday outside of the Emerald Bowl. Also, since my friend never got back to me on whether he could attend, I only needed to buy four tickets. If I had known I would only need to buy four tickets, I would have waited to buy tickets outside of Candlestick Park.

However, I did not want to screw over the scalper I had made a verbal agreement with so I still bought four tickets from him. Originally, I had agreed to buy seven tickets for $325 (about $46.50 each). Earlier in the day I had called him to inform him I would only need five tickets. When I showed up outside of AT&T Park, I told him I only needed four. I offered him $180 for the four tickets ($45 each). He accepted reluctantly.

Parking
Since we ate brunch in San Carlos, we arrived at Candlestick Park about 45 minutes before kickoff. The Candlestick parking lot was full so we parked in one of the remote lots. The remote lots cost $30 to park while the official lot is only $25 – I believe it is more because you will have much less traffic if you park in one of the remote lots.

The Game
This is the second time I have seen the Detroit Lions play at Candlestick Park. The first time was on October 20, 1991 when the 49ers won 35-3. Steve Young connected with Jerry Rice and Tom Rathman scored twice.


Today was much different as the 49ers won 20-6 in a boring game. The 49ers punted six times and the Lions five. The score at halftime was 6-3. The 49ers managed to score two touchdowns in the third quarter to take a 20-3 lead which was insurmountable for the Lions.

Doubleheader Day Game #1: Packers at Bears

It was a day I have only participated in two times before – the first time on November 14, 1999 and the second, last year, on November 9, 2008. Yesterday, I attended both the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Blackhawks game in the same day. The timing for the games works perfectly. The Bears start at noon and the Blackhawks start at 6 pm on Sunday – meaning you have around three hours to grab dinner in between the games.

Pre Game Dining
Rather than tailgating before the game, I went out with a friend of mine to the usual pregame restaurants – Grace O’Malley’s and Weather Mark Tavern.

The Game
Although the Bears had the lead heading into the 4th quarter, the Packers intercepted Jay Cutler shortly after the 4th quarter started. The Packers scored the game winning touchdown on the ensuing drive to win 21-14 – officially eliminating the Bears from the playoffs.

This was the Packers sixth consecutive victory I have seen against the Bears. Actually, every time I have seen the Bears and Packers play the Packers win – in the old version of Soldier Field (1997, 2000), Memorial Stadium in Champaign, IL (2002), and the current version of Soldier Field (2003, 2005 and 2009).

NFL: St. Louis Rams at Chicago Bears

It was a bad NFL game to attend (with the Bears at 4-7 and the Rams at 1-10) but since we already had our season tickets we were planning to attend. At first, we were planning to meet Hawkeyes Bryon and Julie at a bar before the game. However, that was before my friend, Mike Holzman, hooked up the parking pass late in the week in the Waldron Deck – the parking lot directly south of Soldier Field. Thus, the Ultimate Sports Wife and I put together our own tailgate for the Bears game yesterday.

Tailgate
We arrived at the parking lot at 9:00 am. On the Ultimate Sports Wife’s menu was taco dip, barbeque meatballs and burgers from Whole Foods.

As I have written before, the best location to buy tickets on the secondary market is at the tailgate. On a rare occurrence for a Bears game, scalpers were walking the parking lot with extra tickets. Since the Bears were playing the Rams tickets were available.

The Game
The Bears defeated the Rams 17-9 for their first win after four consecutive losses. Steven Jackson rushed for 112 yards to give him seven 100-plus yard rushing games for the season.

This was the third time I have seen the Rams play at Soldier Field. The first time was a Bears victory on December 8, 1996 and the second, the Rams won on November 16, 2003.

NFL in Canada: Jets at Bills

The Buffalo Bills are playing one game per season for five years at Rogers Centre. Since they are playing a consistent game I added Rogers Centre as an NFL stadium I wanted to visit. I have already attended a Toronto Blue Jays (1993) and Toronto Raptors (1996-97) game at Rogers Centre when the stadium was called SkyDome.

Booking Flights
The wife and I had just spent Thanksgiving in central Florida and decided to stay a few days after the long weekend. With that I flew directly from Orlando to Buffalo on Southwest Airlines and planned to fly from Buffalo to Chicago on Friday afternoon after the game. I thought about flying directly to Toronto since I would avoid the two drive from Buffalo to Toronto but the flights were more expensive to fly directly to Toronto even though I needed to rent a car.

Pre Game Dining
By the time I checked into my hostel and started looking for a place to eat dinner it was 5 pm. There were dozens of restaurants and bars to choose from a few blocks north of Rogers Centre. I wanted to eat at Wayne Gretzky’s Restaurant but it was incredibly crowded. Instead I ate at Fox and Fiddle (located at 106 John Street) since they had a Thursday night dinner special and it was close to where I was staying.

After dinner I walked around Rogers Centre (about 0.5 miles from the restaurant) to check out the secondary ticket market and see if there were any bars closer to the stadium.

The closest restaurant I found to Rogers Centre was St. Louis Bar and Grill (located at 313 Bremner Blvd.). At the restaurant I met two Jets fans from New York City who drove to Toronto for the game.

Obtaining Tickets
One of the guys I met at St. Louis Bar and Grill had the same ticket strategy as me. He wanted to buy a cheap ticket right before the game started – his goal was to pay $50 each for lower level tickets. Lower level seats had a face value of $275. However, his logic was flawed.

1) We needed to buy four tickets if we were to sit together. If an individual scalper has a dozen or two tickets then getting four together for a low price is not difficult. Although there were a lot of scalpers, most did not have more than six tickets or so – meaning they would be more difficult to negotiate with.
2) There were a lot of other fans who wanted to buy tickets on the secondary market rather than pay $110 or $165 for upper deck seats from the box office – meaning tickets on the secondary market were more expensive and the scalpers would hold out to get the highest price they could.

Remember that every game is different for the secondary ticket market even at the same stadium. Do not expect to pay $20 for an NFL game just because you traditionally have in the past.

Last night most scalpers wanted $200 for their lower level seats (face value $275). That was more than any of us were willing to pay. They all upped their budget to $100 for lower level seats but I was becoming impatient with the strategy. At least my theory still holds true that you can save money by buying tickets on the secondary market rather than at the box office. You just not save as much money as you would like.

Finally, I decided to go alone as I found a guy who had a VIP seat - $495 face value. I was not sure where the VIP section was but the ticket did have a special entrance. I was hoping it was a luxury box. I offered him $100 for the ticket but he declined. The scalper next to me offered him $150 which did not work well for my negotiation. We finally settled on $130 for the ticket (in which I paid him $110 Canadian and $20 US since I did not take much money out of the ATM since I never thought I would pay that much for a ticket).

My Seat
My seat was not in a luxury box but it was a great seat. Row 25 at the 40 yard line in the VIP section. I thought VIP might get me something, but it was just a good seat in a “special area.” Special area defined as we had our own concession stand to buy food and drinks.

However, my ticket drama did not stop there. When I showed up the guys who I sat with asked me how I got the ticket. They had given the ticket to a contact of theirs (“Dave”) who is the same guy I bought it from. Once I told them I bought the ticket they told me the story of why they gave “Dave” the ticket and were angry that he ended up selling it. Note here: If somebody you know gives you a ticket do not sell it. If you cannot use it, tell your contact you cannot use the ticket and give it back. If worse comes to worse, give the ticket away – do not sell it. I doubt “Dave” will be receiving any tickets from these guys in the future.

The Game
The game was not as exciting as buying my ticket experience as the Jets defeated the Bills 19-13. Each team scored one touchdown and punted seven times.

Post Game
After the game I walked back to my hostel and stopped at Adelaide Street Pub since it was one block away from where I was staying.

Sunday Night Football: Eagles at Bears

For the second week in a row I attended Sunday night football. This time the game was in Chicago as the Chicago Bears hosted the Philadelphia Eagles.

Parking
Once again the Ultimate Sports Wife and I were attending the game with Blackhawks Jim and, today, Blackhawks Jimmy Jr. Since Blackhawks Jim was driving from Wilmette, IL he picked us up. However, we did not have the Waldron Deck parking as we did two weeks ago so we parked in the Millennium Parking Lot. The best part of the Millennium Parking Lot is that they run a shuttle from the parking lot to Soldier Field. The drop-off spot is by the South lot which is perfect if you are meeting up for a tailgate. The worst part of the Millennium Parking Lot is that you have to wait in line to board the shuttle after the game. Since our seats are on the North side of the stadium we chose to walk to the parking lot after the game rather than take the shuttle.

Tailgating
As we did for the Arizona Cardinals game, we attended Rob Wipf’s tailgate before the game. However, this time Rob made a major mistake – he only brought one case of beer for seven guys and the Ultimate Sports Wife. This proved not to be enough as we started to run out of beer before we started grilling brats. Even though Rob is a great tailgater he did admit his rookie mistake.

As with any beer crisis at a tailgate we tried to buy beer from another tailgate. I first headed over to my buddy’s brother’s tailgate, Dan Logan, who owns the Halas Hauler. However, he was nervous they would run out of beer as well so he handed me three beers and sent me on my way. At this point it appeared we would run out of beer well about an hour before the game would start. But as we were coming close to the beer shortage the tailgate next to us shut down and had plenty of beer left over. Rob saved the day as he handed the guy $20 and beer was handed to Rob.

The Game
The Bears and Eagles had four lead changes in the second half as the Eagles defeated the Bears 24-20. With 5:31 left in the fourth quarter LeSean McCoy scored the game winning touchdown from 10 yards out.

My Greatest NFL Regular Season Game: Patriots at Colts

After watching Iowa and Ohio St. go to overtime Saturday afternoon, it was hard to believe that the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts could play a more dramatic game, but Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Bill Belichick pulled it off.

Pre Game Dining
We arrived in Indianapolis around 2:00 pm and parked in a downtown parking lot for $20. We wandered around downtown for a bit before settling down at the Ugly Monkey located at 373 S. Illinois St. Surprisingly, the Ugly Monkey was a fun bar between the free shots and waitresses whipping (more like beating) every Patriots fan who walked through the door. I would definitely recommend it before a Colts game.

After the Ugly Monkey, I walked into the Slippery Noodle Inn which is another great bar. It has good music and seems to be built in an old house and trying to pass people in the hallways is not that easy.

Obtaining Tickets
When we first arrived in Indianapolis I went to the Lucas Oil Stadium box office to see if any tickets were available. There were, but the tickets cost $277 in the club level at the 50 yard line. That was too much for me.

About two hours before the game (6:20 pm), I started walking around Lucas Oil Stadium looking for a ticket. However, ticket prices were hovering around $150 to $200 each for upper deck seats. After a couple of loops around the stadium I decided to check with the box office again. I went to one ticket window and the cheapest seat they had available was $236. Since that ticket was cheaper than the ones they had earlier in the afternoon I decided to ask the next ticket window if there were any tickets available. Somehow she pulled up an upper deck seat for $74. I bought it immediately as I figured somebody must have returned a ticket and it would not last long. As it turned out Chris Baker, second string tight end for the Patriots, returned the ticket as I was sitting next to his cousin, aunt and uncle.

My Greatest NFL Regular Season Game
Last night’s game may have been the best regular season NFL game I have ever attended. First, it was between the Patriots (6-2) and the Colts (8-0). Below is a list of other games I have seen where both teams had at least twice as many wins as they had losses at the time they played. Only the Jets at Patriots game had a higher combined winning percentage:

October 24, 2004: Jets (5-0) at Patriots (5-0)
October 14, 1996: 49ers (4-1) at Packers (5-1)
November 15, 1992: Saints (7-2) at 49ers (7-2)
November 20, 2005: Panthers (7-2) at Bears (6-3)
November 27, 2005: Bears (7-2) at Buccaneers (6-3)
November 25, 2002: Eagles (7-3) at 49ers (7-3)

Second, the Colts won they game with 13 seconds left in the 4th quarter in dramatic fashion. The 49ers scored with 46 seconds left to win 21-20 on November 15, 1992 and the 49ers and Packers went to overtime on October 14, 1996.

Note: The worst NFL game I have ever seen was back on November 28, 2004 when the 49ers (1-9) hosted the Dolphins (1-9). While I have seen a lot of Bears games when they were bad, I do not think any of those games could beat that barnburner.

The Game
The Patriots and Colts more or less traded touchdowns during the game except for the second quarter then when the Patriots scored two consecutive touchdowns and a field goal to take a 24-7 lead halfway through the quarter.

All this helped setup the most controversial call of the season. The Colts drove 79 yards on 6 plays in 1:49 to score a touchdown and cut New England’s lead to 34-28 with 2:23 remaining in the 4th quarter. The Patriots had the ball with 2:23 left in the game and could just run out the clock with a decent drive. However, the Patriots drive stalled as they faced a 4th and 2 at their own 28 yard line. This is when Bill Belichick decided to take a chance and go for it.

Brady’s pass came up short to Keith Faulk and the Colts took over on downs. Manning now had a 29 yard field to work with to win the game for the Colts and he took advantage – scoring the final touchdown with 13 seconds left in the game to win 35-34.