I had the worst dream last night...

The Colts were playing a pretty good game. Their soft cover 2, while allowing the Titans to control the ball, was holding up and keeping them in check. Their offense was being somewhat productive, although they could have been better. However, they got their run game going, and aside from when he'd try to hit Marvin deep and then suddenly realize Marvin's not as fast as he used to be, the passing game seemed solid. Even the special teams were stepping up.

Then it turned into a nightmare...

We cause a fumble. A very obvious fumble. We recover. The refs say he's down by contact. Tony Dungy, who loves challenging even the plays which we have no chance of getting turned over, doesn't even consider throwing a challenge flag. It would have been our ball. Next play, tipped ball, intercept...he drops it. Right in his hands. It couldn't have been coming to Clint Session any softer and he dropped it. There was nothing but an open field and an end zone in front of him and he dropped it.

That same scenario, another possible touchdown, and once again, the ball is dropped.

Every deep ball from Manning seems to be inches away from where the receiver is, and it glides through their hands every time.

The cover 2 is getting less and less effective. The Colts keep allowing the Titans to play their short passing game, letting up 5-6 yards per play because their corners are playing the receivers deep.

On 4th and 1, Dungy goes for it. The offensive line barely looks set and the play gets stopped.

4th and 2, Manning to Harrison. Oh yeah, Nick Harper is faster getting to the ball than Harrison. Play broken up.

Marlin Jackson makes a great play on a 3rd down. They call him for illegal contact. But...he didn't...actually touch...anyone. Um...really? 8 points later...this game is tied.

The Titans next drive...we're not going to be idiots and let them eat up time on the clock and play the short game, right?

7 minutes, 66 yards and a touchdown later...this doesn't look good.

That's ok, Peyton will bring us back. He'll just hit his favorite target tonight Dallas Cla...right through his hands and intercepted. Oh.

Next play, touchdown.

We get the ball, time to come back. I really still think we can. Tennessee hasn't been that great all night, we've just been our own worst enemy.

Ok, the drive was a bit longer than expected, but we still get 7 out of it. Time for the onsides kick. No way Vinatieri will botch this and kick it 4 yards or something, right? Oh God.

And that's when it ended. After watching the game last night, I still don't think my prediction for a blowout was all that crazy. I don't think the Titans are that good. They don't have the best defense in the league, and their offense can be shut down easily if you plug the run and play anything but a soft cover 2.

I hate being the typical "the referees blew this", but they did, and they have all season for a lot of teams. At some point the NFL needs to start fining refs for blown calls when they have a drastic effect on the game *cough* Chargers *cough*. I noticed ESPN didn't even show any replays on penalties that looked like they could be questionable, probably so the audience at home wouldn't look at a play and think "Wait, but he didn't actually touch the guy...".

I dunno, it's probably because I'm bitter and will be until next Sunday night, but I really felt ESPN was all over Tennessee's junk all game. The referees were too. I have a special selective mute option in my brain, so I didn't even notice, but I assume Kornheiser was lubing up in the 4th quarter to go congratulate Kerry Collins.

So anyway, without going into further detail with my disgust of the way the game played out, I still firmly believe the Colts can and should be a great team. They're just not showing it.