Nothing about Sunday’s AFC wild-card game in Indianapolis resembled a 16-point domination (except the final score). Rarely does a team sound as relieved about a 26-10 win at home as the Colts did about shaking off the Bengals, a team they had beaten mercilessly, 27-0, on the same field in October.
The difference was much smaller than 16 points; smaller than the Colts' 10-point third quarter; smaller even than the touchdown with eight minutes left in the third that separated the teams for good. It was one play by one player, who otherwise didn’t have a stellar game and wasn't afraid to admit it.
PHOTOS: Must-see images from wild-card weekend | MORE: Playoff schedule, matchups
"We weren't perfect, and obviously that’s what we want to be," Indy quarterback Andrew Luck told reporters after the game. "It certainly felt like we weren't shooting ourselves in the foot too much. But those penalties, we can't survive those forever, and when we get in the red zone we want to score touchdowns."
The Colts had to settle for short Adam Vinatieri field goals twice in the first half after marching inside the 20. They fumbled once. Receivers dropped passes, particularly the healthy and active-but-surprisingly unpredictable T.Y. Hilton. The Bengals started fast with some offensive creativity. The Colts held a slight lead, 13-10, as the third quarter approached the halfway point.
Then came the separation.
Luck did something he can do almost at will. Andy Dalton, Luck's Bengals counterpart, either can't or simply never has. Luck showed how athletic, improvisational and aware he can be at the most critical moment. His 36-yard touchdown pass to Donte Moncrief, on the run, with perfect touch, with a tackler hanging onto him after having eluded a blitzer, was the throw of the playoffs to that point.
It gave the Colts a 20-10 lead that proved insurmountable, mainly because Luck can make a play like that ... and no Bengal can.
Dalton, in fact, was the opposite. He led the offense to all of nine yards on four three-and-out possessions in that quarter. His and his team’s season ended just like the previous three: out of the playoffs in one game, and the offense flatlining (a total of 43 points in the four losses). The franchise's postseason victory drought, dating back to 1991, continues.
Luck wasn’t as good as his numbers (376 yards passing, no interceptions, 18 yards rushing) suggest — not with Vinatieri needing to kick four field goals. He managed to be elite on one pass, though, and that was good enough.
Said coach Chuck Pagano: "Having a guy that’s big and strong like Andrew, and can create — moving forward, looking at next week, he’s gonna have to do the same thing. He's gonna have to create some plays. He's gonna have to move around and get some first downs with his legs, that sort of thing. Obviously, it’s a benefit."
It was on Sunday. And it will be necessary next week when the Colts play the second-seeded Broncos in Denver — Peyton Manning is far less likely to have a game like Dalton's in the playoffs. When they met in the season-opener in Denver, Manning all but buried Indianapolis in the first half, building a 24-0 lead Luck couldn’t overcome.
The Colts against the Bengals got away with being only marginally better. Luck didn’t care about the aesthetics.
"In the playoffs," he said, "what you realize is at the end of the day, if you win, that’s good; if you lose, you're at home. That’s what matters."