Patriots spent half the game looking like the Team of Destiny and the other half reassuring each of their potential rivals in the upcoming Super Bowl that no matter how bleak things look, the Pats’ll give ’em a chance to get back in it.

Gotta give the Colts credit for being good enough to get to the AFC championship and eek out whatever breaks they could scrape up, of course. Peyton Manning can pass up a storm against almost anybody, except the Patriots. And I may as well bring this up again: Manning has had bad days every time I’ve seen him play. It’s like me watching him is a curse. Maybe I’ll call him up and see how much he’ll pay me not to watch any of his games next year. I’ll do it for a reasonable price, say $500,000. (Look, nobody plays for peanuts in this league.)

Summation: Killer pass defense trumps killer quarterback.