Showdown is game of year
INDIANAPOLIS – Call it a pseudo-Super Bowl, the Game of the Century, the Circle City Classic or the Duel in the Dome.
They all work.
Except for those competing in the league’s bitterest rivalry, New England-Indianapolis.
“These are the games you like to play in because if nobody’s talking about your game, you’re probably not playing well,” Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning said. “I’ve never really liked the term playoff atmosphere because it either is or isn’t the playoffs.”
In this case, it’s not; today’s game is simply a precursor to what everyone expects to see again in January: the rematch.
While players contend this is merely another November game, everyone else is building it up, with good reason.
“It’s the latest two unbeaten teams have ever met in the NFL. Indy is 7-0, New England 8-0.
“There’s the classic coaching story line of the white hats vs. the evil empire perception: Squeaky clean Tony Dungy, seemingly everyone’s favorite coach, meets Bill Belichick of spygate infamy.
“There’s the headline attraction between the league’s two marquee quarterbacks, Peyton Manning against Tom Brady.
Add the possibility of a victory eventually earning home-field advantage in the playoffs and the game has more drama than anything this side of the Super Bowl.
Players and coaches aren’t exactly buying it. The two teams have won four of the last six Super Bowls and they know the difference between a postseason game and a regular-season game.
But the hype certainly has a playoff feel to it. The media contingent in Indianapolis nearly doubled this week, and the Colts uncharacteristically closed all but the first few minutes of practice to reporters. Officials also paraded the top players to a podium, a custom usually reserved for the playoffs.
But Brady and Manning declined requests for conference calls, a rarity in Manning’s case.
All of the actions lead to one conclusion.
“Yes, this is a little more than a regular-season game because both teams have good records,” Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney said.