Colts beat Ravens to advance to AFC title showdown
INDIANAPOLIS: Peyton Manning beat the Ravens and buried a myth.
Say goodbye to the bye-week blues.
In his first game since winning an unprecedented fourth NFL MVP award, Manning threw for two touchdowns on Saturday night in the Indianapolis Colts' 20-3 victory over the Baltimore Ravens. The decisive win came after a playoff bye, something that had been a plague, not a respite, for Manning and his teammates.
"I don't think it matters if you've had a bye or you're playing home or away," Manning said when asked about Indy's previous 0-3 record after sitting out the wild-card round. "This myth that you can't win after a bye week, I haven't believed in it."
The Colts (15-2) will host the AFC championship next Sunday against San Diego or the New York Jets.
"Whoever it is, we know it's going to be a challenge and we have to step it up another notch," coach Jim Caldwell said.
Manning and the other Colts starters got lots of rest when the rookie coach sat them for long portions of the final two regular-season games, both losses after they had opened 14-0. Then they had the bye, a reward for owning the league's best record.
But previously a curse for the Colts.
"There's no question how the guys used the off week," Manning said. "We kind of called it preparation week. I thought we had good preparation coming into this game, thought we came out sharp and kind of set the tempo from the get-go."
AP
(China Daily 01/18/2010 page23)
