Baltimore – As they walked off the field at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday, Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy put his arm around the shoulder pads of defensive tackle Anthony McFarland and recalled days gone by.
“It was a throwback game for us,” Dungy said of McFarland, who played for him with Tampa Bay. “We used to win a lot of games this way.”
Having failed to win the Super Bowl with a high-tech, state-of-the-art offense, the Colts appear to be trying a new tact – grinding it out like the old Buccaneers squads of the 1990s.
Those teams didn’t mind winning the occasional 9-6 contest – a score not too far removed from Indianapolis’ 15-6 victory over Baltimore.
The irony is that, before both of the teams’ playoff games, the Colts’ opposition, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Ravens, stressed the need to hold onto the football and run the clock down – the better to keep the Indianapolis offense off the field. Instead, it’s been the Colts who have worn defenses down to the nubs.
“It’s difficult,” Dungy admitted when asked about playing things so close to the vest despite the presence of Colts stars such as Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne. “But we know we’re only going to get a play here and a play there, that we may have to throw some balls away.
“I teased them about playing ‘Bucs ball.’ It’s hard for our offense to do – it’s like trying to hunt and peck on a typewriter – but it’s what we’re going to have to do.”
