MIAMI — It won’t be easy to be reminded of blowing a 10-point lead in the Super Bowl and failing to live up to expectations following a near-perfect regular season.
Face it, the Colts will hear about Sunday’s 31-17 loss to the Saints for years.
“I felt like we played well this postseason,” Peyton Manning said. “We played well in our first playoff game, played well two weeks ago and, at times, made some plays against the Saints. We just didn’t play well enough to win.”
Late in December, the Colts were 14-0 and had a shot to join the 2007 Patriots as the only teams to go 16-0 in a regular season. But they rested their starters down the stretch and finished 14-2 — and 16-3 overall.
“I lost my last college game, too, and you never want to dwell on it,” said receiver Pierre Garcon, who went to Mount Union. “You take it and use it as motivation to come back again next year.”
The Colts do have one big move to make — re-signing Manning, whose contract expires after next season. But team owner Jim Irsay is prepared to make him the highest-paid quarterback in league history again.
Next season, the Colts expect to be even stronger.
Former first-round pick Anthony Gonzalez was expected to have his breakout season after wide receiver Marvin Harrison was released in February. Gonzalez never got the chance, sustaining a knee injury in the first quarter of the season opener. That opened the door for Garcon, in his second season, and rookie Austin Collie, who both had big seasons.
With all three expected back next season, along with Pro Bowlers Reggie Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark, Manning could have his deepest and most experienced group of receivers since arriving in Indy in 1998.