Peyton Manning led the Indianapolis Colts to the playoffs 14 times, twice securing the American Football Conference top seed for the postseason and won one Super Bowl. That one Super Bowl win was accomplished in the 2006 season … not the Colts best year or best team … but the best result.
Why?
Because they had something to overcome. Super Bowl winners are commonly not the best team in the league that year, but one of the best teams and the squad that has a motivating boost with something to overcome. In 2006, the Colts had the worst rush defense in the league and knew that if they got over the Wild Card hump, they would have to meet the team with one of the best rushing attacks in the league on their home field, the second seed Baltimore Ravens.
The Colts beat the Chiefs handedly, 23-8, and then headed for what “everyone” thought would be their Waterloo in Baltimore. The Colts suspect defense played the game of their life and limited the Ravens to six points in a 15-6 upset victory. The next day, the fourth seed New England Patriots upset the top seed Chargers in San Diego.
That meant, with the first and second seeds eliminated from the postseason, the Colts hosted the AFC Championship Game against Tom Brady and his Patriots. Brady led the visitors to a 21-3 second quarter lead and New England fans were booking reservations for Miami where Super Bowl XLI would be played.
Then, the challenged Colts, cut the halftime deficit to 15, 21-6, and rolled over the shocked Patriots in the second half with a 32-13 margin enroute to a 38-34 victory and a date with the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl. In that game, kick returner Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff for a Bears touchdown and after that, the challenged Colts dominated the action on their way to Manning’s only Super Bowl win with Indianapolis, 29-17.