The first two wishes of Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy came true Sunday. Only one of them will get their third.
Both coaches wanted their teams to meet in the Super Bowl, and it took a nearly flawless and playoff-record second half by Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts to set up the Feb. 4 match against the Bears in Miami.
Dungy and Manning won’t need a plane to get there. The sigh of relief after finally beating the New England Patriots 38-34 will be enough to carry their entire team wherever it wants to go.
The Colts couldn’t have won in more dramatic fashion, overcoming a 21-3 deficit, the biggest in championship-game history. They scored the winning touchdown on Joseph Addai’s 3-yard run with one minute left, then clinched it when Marlin Jackson intercepted Tom Brady with 16 seconds to go.
The Bears can only hope the Colts wore themselves completely out with the effort.
“We have one more mission in Miami,” said Colts owner Jim Irsay, a native of Skokie.
“It’s a shame we have to go to Miami. We should have to go to Ft. Wayne,” Dungy said.
Smith and Dungy are the first African-American coaches to get teams to a Super Bowl.
“I thank the Lord. He did it in such a way nobody would believe,” Dungy said. “I’m proud to represent African-American coaches and I’m so proud of Lovie, but this is about Indianapolis and this Colts team right now.”
It was Manning’s interception and Asante Samuel’s 39-yard touchdown return that put the Colts behind 21-3. Later, Manning injured his right thumb when he banged it on tackle Tarik Glenn’s helmet.
“Adrenaline carried me through,” Manning said.
After the Samuel play, it got so quiet inside the RCA Dome you could have heard hearts drop. But Manning led twin 76-yard drives to start the second half. Manning sneaked 1 yard for the first touchdown and passed 1 yard to ex-Patriots defensive lineman Dan Klecko before finding Marvin Harrison in the end zone on a two-point conversion to tie it.
A 43-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski put the Patriots ahead 34-31 with 3:49 to play and the Colts went three-and-out on the ensuing series.
But the Patriots couldn’t make a first down either and returned the ball to the Colts on a punt with 2:17 to play.
From his own 20-yard line, Manning hit a wide over Bryan Fletcher for 32 yards. The backup tight end got behind linebacker Eric Alexander. Manning hit Reggie Wayne for 14 and Tully Banta-Cain was penalized for roughing the passer, putting the ball on the 11-yard line.
From there, three runs by Addai put the ball in the end zone.
“For Peyton to get to the Super Bowl with a drive like that, it probably won’t shut up everybody, but he’s a great player and anybody who knows anything about football can see that,” Dungy said.
After the Colts had worked so hard to come back for the 21-21 tie, Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs ruined the celebration by returning the ensuing kickoff 80 yards to the Indianapolis 21.
That set up a controversial score when Jabar Gaffney was ruled forced out of the end zone while leaping for a pass from Brady. Dungy challenged that Gaffney’s possession of the ball, but lost and the Patriots went ahead 28-21.
Back came Manning, this time for 67 yards, as Dominic Rhodes hurt the Patriots with short passes and runs. Manning found Dallas Clark for 23 yards to the 9 to set up Rhodes, who fumbled at the goal line and center Jeff Saturday recovered in the end zone.
Gostkowski and ex-Patriot Adam Vinatieri then traded field goals to make it 31-31. Another long return by Hobbs set up Brady at his 46, but the Colts’ defense held after Brady had a first down at the Indy 29, forcing the Patriots to settle for Gostkowski’s field goal.
This only set the stage for a Brady-like finish and Manning provided it.
This was the Colts’ best chance against their arch-nemesis, their first AFC title game at home after losing a semifinal in New England in 2005 and the title game there in 2004.
Manning evened his postseason record to 6-6 in his ninth season, knocking a monkey off his back that had threatened to grow into a gorilla at halftime.
“Coach Dungy kept his calm and said we’d take it one series at a time,” Manning said.
“We had to go through a great champion and do it from 18 points down,” Dungy said.
Dungy finally advanced to the big game in his ninth playoff in 11 seasons in Tampa Bay and Indianapolis. He got to the 2000 NFC title game with Smith on his Buccaneers staff before getting the Colts to the finals twice.
Belichick and Brady were denied their fourth Super Bowl in six seasons.
Manning, seeing single coverage early, kept trying to get the ball to Pro Bowl receivers Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne, only to have cornerbacks Samuel and Ellis Hobbs bat away near-perfect passes.
“I’m so happy Lovie got there. He’s going to do it with class. When he took the job, we talked about how happy we were he was in the NFC and maybe we could meet someday,” Dungy said. “But realistically, it’s hard to dream of that.”
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dpierson@tribune.com
