The “What If” Colts Plays, Over the Years”

[coltsfeva]

Not to start a new topic, concerning the 4th and 1 play, but it made me think of all of the “what if” plays that might have changed the result of an important game for the Colts.

 

I’ll give you one from the Baltimore years and one from the Indy years:

1969 - (SB against Jets) what if Unitas played the whole game?

2005 - (Divisional playoff against Pittsburgh) what if Nick Harper had headed for the sideline on his fumble recovery?

 

What are your worst “what if” plays/scenerios?

[jemack]

Wow, another feel good topic... 😁

 

Ok, '95 AFCCG, Lamont Warren getting barely tripped up in the backfield on 3rd down with daylight in front of him, forcing the Colts to punt instead of running the clock down further.

We could do a whole topic of what ifs with that game. I chose to pick a more obscure play.

 

Baltimore- Oakland '77 playoffs. 3rd down in over time, Jones misses Chester on a deep route that would have put the Colts in FG range.

 

Ahhh, Good times... 😡

[FanFromtheWasteland]

The infamous on side kick in the SB

[dw49]

23 minutes ago, jemack said:

Wow, another feel good topic... 😁

 

Ok, '95 AFCCG, Lamont Warren getting barely tripped up in the backfield on 3rd down with daylight in front of him, forcing the Colts to punt instead of running the clock down further.

We could do a whole topic of what ifs with that game. I chose to pick a more obscure play.

 

Baltimore- Oakland '77 playoffs. 3rd down in over time, Jones misses Chester on a deep route that would have put the Colts in FG range.

 

Ahhh, Good times... 😡

 

Those are my 2 most painful Colt losses. Another play in the 95 game was Q Coryatt dropping an easy int that would have stopped Pittsburgh's game winning drive. 

[ColtStrong2013]

Not a play but the last chance for the colts in the 2007 divisional round loss to the chargers. 1st and goal down 4, couldn’t complete a single pass. 
 

We only lost by 4 to the undefeated patriots that season, with them obviously losing the Super Bowl. A rematch in the conference championship game could have gone any way, and we could’ve had the Manning Bowl. 
 

all eyes were on New England that year, but we missed out on what could have been a great opportunity to defend our championship. 

[Dunk]

1 hour ago, jemack said:

Wow, another feel good topic... 😁

 

Ok, '95 AFCCG, Lamont Warren getting barely tripped up in the backfield on 3rd down with daylight in front of him, forcing the Colts to punt instead of running the clock down further.

We could do a whole topic of what ifs with that game. I chose to pick a more obscure play.

 

Baltimore- Oakland '77 playoffs. 3rd down in over time, Jones misses Chester on a deep route that would have put the Colts in FG range.

 

Ahhh, Good times... 😡

I watched a documentary on that 95 game a while back. I remember Dick Lebeau saying the guy that made the tackle was not supposed to blitz, but did. His mistake was their gain.

 

How about Garcon dropping a pass late in the second quarter of the 2009 Superbowl? Easily a first down, possibly 6. Hit him in the gut. Forced a punt, and the Saints scored before the half.

 

I was not a Baltimore fan so I have no what ifs for that Colts team.

[jemack]

I'm gonna state the obvious with a psychological twist l haven't read.

Houston missing the point after, the thought "we've got thing" began creeping into my frontal lobe. Then, to see how we were driving, it really felt like we were destined to win. As that last pass was in the air, l sat up in bed with "YES!" on the tip of my tongue.

And then, 🤮

 

[holeymoley99]

2020 playoffs vs Bills- Kemoko Turay off sides at end of the half with Bills not running a play and were settling for the fg, he bit on the cadence somehow and the 4 point difference was the game. Think Rivers may had run a few more games for us in his last hurrah. We outplayed Bills by quite a bit, had 75 more yards from scrimmage, had 9 first downs vs 2, had the ball for 9 more minutes. 

[cdgacoltsfan]

2 hours ago, jemack said:

Wow, another feel good topic... 😁

 

Ok, '95 AFCCG, Lamont Warren getting barely tripped up in the backfield on 3rd down with daylight in front of him, forcing the Colts to punt instead of running the clock down further.

We could do a whole topic of what ifs with that game. I chose to pick a more obscure play.

 

Baltimore- Oakland '77 playoffs. 3rd down in over time, Jones misses Chester on a deep route that would have put the Colts in FG range.

 

Ahhh, Good times... 😡

What if..Aaron Baily hung onto Harbaughs hail Mary.

[JediXMan]

2005 AFC divisional round Colt- Steelers. If Nick Harper cuts to the sideline after the Bettis fumble. Colts win and most likely beats Broncos and Seahawks to win the Super Bowl.

[horseshoecrabs]

Mine, to this day is not so much one play as it is over confidence. Going into Super Bowl 3, we had a great year, lots of talent on the team steam rolled the Browns, in the NFL championship 34 to 0 and was a 17-point favorite to beat the American Football league, Jets. I don't think I ever recovered the embarrassment of facing my friends at school the next day, after bragging the week before. Back then the pro bowl was played after the Super Bowl, and when they introduced the pro bowlers before the game, the crowd would boo the Colts that made the pro bowl. for losing to the Jets.  

[ColtStrong2013]

1 hour ago, JediXMan said:

2005 AFC divisional round Colt- Steelers. If Nick Harper cuts to the sideline after the Bettis fumble. Colts win and most likely beats Broncos and Seahawks to win the Super Bowl.

 

If Nick Harper's homegirl didn't stab him in the leg...

 

There is a great article about Dick Lebeau dialing in on Manning's "fake tempo offense." They got spanked the first game that year, and preparing for the playoff game, he had them wait until under 10 seconds to show anything. He'd figured out the tempo offense that year. Manning would show it was up-tempo, wait until the defense showed their hand, and then adjust. It worked in the first half, and Manning & co. made adjustments and started making their comeback. 

That play was an incredible play, but you could be right on the "what-if?" If Harper hits the sideline and takes the house, it would be one of the all-time greatest defensive plays in the history of the game, given the circumstances. 

[LJpalmbeacher2]

8 hours ago, jemack said:

Wow, another feel good topic... 😁

 

Baltimore- Oakland '77 playoffs. 3rd down in over time, Jones misses Chester on a deep route that would have put the Colts in FG range.

 

Ahhh, Good times... 😡

 

That's the play I would have mentioned. 

Bert Jones, even  years later says frustratingly how he over threw his TE. 

 

 

[LJpalmbeacher2]

4 hours ago, ColtStrong2013 said:

 

If Nick Harper's homegirl didn't stab him in the leg...

 

There is a great article about Dick Lebeau dialing in on Manning's "fake tempo offense." They got spanked the first game that year, and preparing for the playoff game, he had them wait until under 10 seconds to show anything. He'd figured out the tempo offense that year. Manning would show it was up-tempo, wait until the defense showed their hand, and then adjust. It worked in the first half, and Manning & co. made adjustments and started making their comeback. 

That play was an incredible play, but you could be right on the "what-if?" If Harper hits the sideline and takes the house, it would be one of the all-time greatest defensive plays in the history of the game, given the circumstances. 

 

5 hours ago, cdgacoltsfan said:

What if..Aaron Baily hung onto Harbaughs hail Mary.

 

If that happened the refs would have gone into shock and probably called a very delayed bogus penalty against the colts wiping out the play. 

[#12.]

If the '95 fail mary were successful and Harper cuts it to the outside and scores in '05, those two plays would have gone down as the two greatest plays in NFL history, above the Immaculate Reception or whatever.  That’s how small the difference is between being legendary and not.

[craigerb]

Not a "what if" play, but a what-if game: Colts go undefeated into the last game of the 1967 regular season, and are knocked out of the playoffs by LA Rams.

[craigerb]

3 hours ago, #12. said:

If the '95 fail mary were successful and Harper cuts it to the outside and scores in '05, those two plays would have gone down as the two greatest plays in NFL history, above the Immaculate Reception or whatever.  That’s how small the difference is between being legendary and not.

All Harper has to do in juke Roethlisburger (it's easy to juke a QB). Or Vanderjagt makes the subsequent field goal. (2005 season--2006 game)

[Two_pound]

I wish we wouldn't have rested starters for the final 2 games of the 2009 season and had went for 16-0. You have a chance for historical, legendary status, and you pass it up, who does that? A lot of these on here are very memorable and some what depressing. And I have another, the 2000 playoff game in overtime against Miami. Manning throws a great pass down the right sideline where Harrison had put a beautiful move on Madison and was going to be wide open for what could have been a td but Madison grabbed him and held him up just enough and the ball went over his hands. So it's 4th down and the entire Colt bench is screaming at the refs while the play clock is running down. So instead of calling time out to get the fg team on the field Mora just runs them out there and Vanderjadt misses a 42 yarder waaaaaayyyyyy wide right(just like he did virtually every key fieldgoal in his career), the Dolphins got the ball and the Colts put up no resistance(sound familiar?) as the Dolphins went down the field and scored the game winner.

[Dunk]

What if the refs whistled half of the pass interference that the Pats committed in the 2003 AFC championship?

Maybe I should phrase it what if we had any other crew officiating than Walt "tuck rule" Coleman's?

[jemack]

15 hours ago, ColtStrong2013 said:

That play was an incredible play, but you could be right on the "what-if?" If Harper hits the sideline and takes the house, it would be one of the all-time greatest defensive plays in the history of the game, given the circumstances. 

Roth made a great play. He didn't know which way Harper was going and turned just in time to trip him up on his way down. 

I still don't know how he was so upfield after his handoff....

[jemack]

8 minutes ago, Dunk said:

What if the refs whistled half of the pass interference that the Pats committed in the 2003 AFC championship?

Maybe I should phrase it what if we had any other crew officiating than Walt "tuck rule" Coleman's?

Well, at least they changed some rules.🥱

Ever notice, it seems to be after the Colts get violated in a game, they modify or create a new rule in the off season so it doesn't happen again without a penalty?

Now, THAT l'm getting sick of.

[jemack]

And the pick 6 against the Saints shouldn't have been a score. Manning was clearly blocked in the back on the return. It should have been a spot foul.

[John Hammonds]

13 hours ago, #12. said:

If the '95 fail mary were successful and Harper cuts it to the outside and scores in '05, those two plays would have gone down as the two greatest plays in NFL history, above the Immaculate Reception or whatever.  That’s how small the difference is between being legendary and not.

Oh man.  1995 AFC Championship game.

What if -- Aaron Bailey had held on to the Hail Mary pass in the end zone.

What if -- Quentin Coryatt made the interception to seal the deal.

Oh man.

[Dunk]

5 hours ago, jemack said:

Well, at least they changed some rules.🥱

Ever notice, it seems to be after the Colts get violated in a game, they modify or create a new rule in the off season so it doesn't happen again without a penalty?

Now, THAT l'm getting sick of.

The rules were in place.  Refs were allowing Dbs to get away with a lot of contact, but the Pats ratcheted it up to a point that even the ESPN commentators were showing the worst cases and saying they got away with murder in that game.

The result was the officials were instructed to call PI instead of letting them play, a year too late for Indy though.

 

[jemack]

1 hour ago, Dunk said:

The rules were in place.  Refs were allowing Dbs to get away with a lot of contact, but the Pats ratcheted it up to a point that even the ESPN commentators were showing the worst cases and saying they got away with murder in that game.

The result was the officials were instructed to call PI instead of letting them play, a year too late for Indy though.

 

Mmmm, l believe tugging at Jerseys and grabbing were specifically introduced in that off season. 

[Dunk]

1 hour ago, jemack said:

Mmmm, l believe tugging at Jerseys and grabbing were specifically introduced in that off season. 

You could be right, I thought they just made it a point of emphasis to call contact before the receiver touches the ball, plus flagrant holding.

 

[2006Coltsbestever]

Lamont Warren getting tripped by Casper the Ghost. 1995 AFC Title Game.