[bikepacker67]

All the pressure is on the Colts.

Manning is the poster-child for big game chokers, and Foxboro is his recurring Waterloo.

[agenda_express]

New England 33
Indianapolis 29

[kingattax]

this is peyton's year

[KJacob]

Manning is the poster-child for big game chokers

Tell that to the Broncos and the Chiefs. He dominated them in the playoffs. (In my mind, any playoff win is a big win.)

[kingattax]

remember brett favre's problems in dallas ?...he got over that....peyton will too

[harbinger of doom]

"Is this the game where Peyton finally solves the Patriots? No, because there doesn't need to be a game where Peyton "finally solves the Patriots."

The Colts have lost to the Patriots three times over the past two seasons. Manning only played badly in one of those games, the AFC Championship Game.

In this year's opener, he threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns and had the Colts in position for a game-tying field goal only to see Mike "Money" Vanderjagt honk it.

Last year during Week 13, he threw for 278 yards and four touchdowns and marched the team down to the goal line to win the game only to have Edgerrin James stuffed three times. Manning isn't losing to the Patriots by himself. This is a team effort."

Courtesy of ESPN.

[Hatteras]

"Manning is the poster-child for big game chokers."

Right now, it's still has to be Jim Kelly. But Manning is still relatively young. Remember, to BE the man...

[ilgipper]

Manning is the poster-child for big game chokers

Not true. That was the story last year, but he's been great in the playoff last year and this year...except for his problems in Foxboro

[baseballfanjm]

As a Pats fan, I'd say the Pats have a lot of pressure. True, a lot is made about the Pats beating the Colts, but it's not quite at the point where people just assume that they'll win, like when the Yankees played the Red Sox before the '04 ALCS. But right now, most people are favoring the Colts because of the injuries the Pats have suffered of defense, and because there's a lot of support for Peyton Manning to come through.

[cspackler]

Manning is the poster-child for big game chokers

I'm no big Colts fan, but I have to remember someone else as having that title...

[GLDNGUN]

I don't think it's fair to say Peyton is a "choker" after the way he has played other teams in the playoffs the past 2 years. The Patriots just have his number, but that doesn't make him a choker.

[faithincowboys]

Well, the way that game was officiated last year was a joke. They let the Patriot DBs kill Manning's receivers. It was ridiculous. The Refs would have been justified if they had called defensive interference on every down.

[NCC-1701]

"...Manning is the poster-child for big game chokers, and Foxboro is his recurring Waterloo...."

I don't believe that. However, if there is any validity to that, there was one game when he was at Tennessee that might have indicated that trend. It was one that he stated in a Sports Illustrated article he wishes he had back. It was the one against the University of Memphis. That made him the only starting qb in Tennessee history to have lost to the Tigers. the tigers got to him early and rattled him for the rest of the game. Had UT won that and one or two other games, Peyton probably would have won the Heisman that year. By his statement, one could imply that it was that one game that cost him the award.
Early on with the Colts, he did choke. He could be rattled and showed it with nervous feet. That was then. This is now. He's been a lot more comfortable with the cast he's got around him. He's having a career year and looks sharp. I believe that the Colts/Patriots game will be one of the best of the 2004 season.
Whoever makes it to Jacksonville out of the AFC, if Philadelphia is across the line, I'll be an AFC fan for those 3 or 4 hours. Anybody but Phily.