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    INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana -- The Indianapolis Colts charged back from an 18-point second-quarter deficit to beat the New England Patriots 38-34 on Sunday, and set up a Super Bowl showdown against the Chicago Bears. Quarterback Peyton Manning led Indianapolis on a fierce comeback which brought them level at 21-21 in the third quarter before they caught up twice more when the three-times Super Bowl champion Patriots regained the lead. With the Colts trailing 34-31 with just over two minutes remaining, Manning steered them on an 80-yard, game-winning drive that ended with rookie running back Joseph Addai bursting up the middle for a three-yard touchdown dash that gave Indianapolis their first lead with a minute on the clock. The victory put the Colts into their first Super Bowl since the 1970 season, when they called Baltimore their home. The Bears reached their first Super Bowl in 21 years by beating the New Orleans Saints 39-14 in the NFC title game in Chicago earlier on Sunday. Colts coach Tony Dungy and Chicago's Lovie Smith will become the first African-Americans to lead teams to the Super Bowl at the title showdown in Miami on February 4. In executing the biggest comeback in the history of NFL conference championship play, Manning shook a monkey off his back. Despite being the league's most prolific thrower, the perennial Pro-Bowl quarterback and twice NFL MVP has struggled in the playoffs. Manning carried a career 5-6 postseason mark into the contest, and twice his Colts had been eliminated by the Patriots and their star quarterback Tom Brady. Brady, who boasted a playoff record of 12-1 coming into the game, tried to rally New England for a last ditch touchdown but Indianapolis cornerback Marlin Jackson picked off his pass at the Colts' 35 yard line to end the threat. "I was really happy for Peyton," Tony Dungy told reporters. "He was very, very calm. He had to bring us back three, four times and took us on a great drive to win." New England coach Bill Belichick, who was trying to guide his team to their fourth Super Bowl title in six years, felt there was very little between the teams. "The Colts just did a little more than we did," he said. Indianapolis came out of the locker room with a sense of urgency after New England took a 21-6 lead into intermission. Manning directed a hurry-up offense and used intermediate passes to pace the Colts on four successive scoring drives, including one that ended with a two-point conversion pass to tackle Dan Klecko, who was an eligible receiver, that made it 21-21. Both teams attacked frenetically, trading scores as the tension mounted. ControversialThe Pats scored on a controversial call that made it 28-21 when Jabar Gaffney came down with a leaping touchdown catch after tip-toeing along the back line of the endzone. Indianapolis tied it 28-28 early in the fourth quarter when center Jeff Saturday recovered running back Dominic Rhodes's fumble in the endzone for a touchdown. That score matched a first-half Patriots TD by beefy guard Logan Mankins, who fell on a ball in the endzone that had been fumbled by back Laurence Maroney. A Pats field goal by rookie Stephen Gostkowski was followed by a similar effort from former New England hero Adam Vinatieri that made it 31-31 with 5:35 remaining. New England edged in front one last time after a 41-yard kickoff return by Ellis Hobbs set up another Gostkowski field goal from 43 yards for a 34-31 lead with 3:53 to play. Both teams stalled on their next drives before Manning raced the Colts 80 yards in 1:17 for the thrilling victory. "I just told them we had to keep our poise and take it one drive at a time," Dungy said. |
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Influential Manning had often struggled during the playoffs.
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