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Feb. 12, 2008
Overview: Most teams would consider securing a first-round playoff bye a successful season regardless of postseason performance. The Colts aren’t most teams. The five-time defending AFC South champions are left thinking what could’ve been after a Chargers team playing without its marquee offensive players pulled off a postseason stunner in the RCA Dome. It didn’t help matters that stud DE Dwight Freeney and WR Marvin Harrison were sidelined for the majority of the season.
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Date
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Opponent
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Spread
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Result
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09/06/07
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New Orleans
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-5½
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41-10
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09/16/07
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at Tennessee
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-7
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22-20
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09/23/07
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at Houston
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-6½
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30-24
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09/30/07
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Denver
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-10
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38-20
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10/07/07
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Tampa Bay
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-9
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33-14
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BYE WEEK
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10/22/07
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at Jacksonville
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-3
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29-7
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10/28/07
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at Carolina
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-7
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31-7
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11/04/07
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New England
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+5
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20-24
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11/11/07
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at San Diego
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-3½
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21-23
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11/18/07
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Kansas City
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-14½
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13-10
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11/22/07
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at Atlanta
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-12½
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31-13
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12/02/07
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Jacksonville
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-7
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28-25
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12/09/07
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at Baltimore
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-9
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44-20
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12/16/07
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at Oakland
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-9½
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21-14
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12/23/07
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Houston
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-6½
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38-15
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12/30/07
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Tennessee
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+4
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10-16
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BYE WEEK
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01/13/08
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San Diego
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-11
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24-28
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Team MVP: We couldn’t go wrong inserting S Bob Sanders here — he did, after all, win league Defensive Player of the Year honors — but QB Peyton Manning is the unquestioned centerpiece of the organization. Even without Harrison, Manning was masterful in directing the offense. Much of the credit for TE Dallas Clark’s banner season and the immediate emergence of rookie WR Anthony Gonzalez goes to No. 18.
Biggest surprise: The defense was the best it has been in Tony Dungy’s tenure in Indy. But what makes it all the more impressive is that it excelled with such a young cast of characters, as only DL Raheem Brock was a full-time starter north of 27 years old. Injuries decimated the front seven, but no drop-off in production was seen with the replacement players in the lineup.
Biggest disappointment: Without doubt, it has to be the playoff loss to the Chargers. All anyone, inside and outside Indianapolis, wanted to talk about was a Colts rematch with the Patriots after their Week Nine classic, but it wasn’t to be as San Diego took the defending champs down in the last game ever at the RCA Dome. The Colts unwittingly made a folk hero out of Chargers backup QB Billy Volek — at least for a week — who directed a game-winning TD drive late in the fourth quarter.
Offseason outlook: When head coach Tony Dungy made the somewhat surprising announcement that he’d be back coaching in 2008, the bulk of the Colts’ concerns were alleviated. Manning may be the face of the franchise, but Dungy ultimately pulls the strings on the whole operation. The Colts’ roster is mostly stocked with capable players, but re-signing free agent Clark and fortifying both lines are priorities.
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