A different breed of Colt

By Sam Farmer

Jan. 22, 2007 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

INDIANAPOLIS —

It was their time.

In a meeting the night before, the respected offensive lineman proclaimed it.

In a dire moment Sunday, the unsinkable coach repeated it.

And, with a trip to the Super Bowl at stake, the beleaguered quarterback proved it.

The Indianapolis Colts, with one cleat on their throats, came back from an 18-point deficit to turn the tables on the NFL’s most ruthlessly efficient winning machine. Mounting the biggest comeback in the history of conference championship games, the Colts took their only lead with one minute to play and held on for a stunning 38-34 victory.

Even after the Patriots scored on an interception return in the second quarter for a 21-3 lead -- seemingly sucking all the oxygen out of the air-conditioned RCA Dome -- the Colts didn’t bow their heads. Coach Tony Dungy made his way down the sideline, screaming something that center Jeff Saturday told his teammates the night before.

“I usually talk at the team meeting,” Dungy said, “and Jeff got up and wanted to finish the meeting after I did. He said, ‘This is our time. We’ve got to make it happen.’ ”

It was Dungy’s time, redemption for a coach who had fallen one victory short of the Super Bowl in Tampa and again in Indianapolis. It was the Colts’ time, redemption for a franchise that last won an AFC championship game in January 1971 -- before all but one of the current players were born. And it was Peyton Manning’s time, redemption for a quarterback forever branded as a great player who simply couldn’t win the big one.

“I hope it shuts everybody up,” Saturday said. “He has worked so hard. He works as hard as anybody in the league. ... Win, lose or draw, he’s the greatest quarterback ever.”

That would be debated in many places, of course, not least of which New England, where Tom Brady has three championship rings. But it was Manning who strolled away victorious Sunday, getting the best of a player who had a 62-2 record when leading at halftime.

“It was,” Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi said, “a tale of two halves.”

After watching everything bounce New England’s way in the first two quarters -- including a goal-line fumble by the Patriots that was recovered for a touchdown by a guard -- the Colts came to life to forge ties at 21-21, 28-28 and 31-31 before pulling ahead at last.

Indianapolis went 80 yards in seven plays to win it, scoring on a three-yard, third-and-goal run by Joseph Addai with precisely one minute remaining. That can be too much time to leave the Patriots, however, and it wasn’t until Marlin Jackson intercepted Brady’s final pass that the Colts could breathe easy.

Making things even more impressive was the fact Manning directed the winning drive with a throbbing thumb on his throwing hand. Earlier, he rapped it into someone’s helmet.

“It’s always your biggest fear as a quarterback: thumb on helmet,” Manning said. “I’ve been lucky that way in a lot of practices and a lot of throws. The guy got me pretty good. I was a little worried at first. I went over there and made a couple of warmup throws. I think adrenaline kind of carried me through.”

Despite having the league’s most prolific receiving tandem in Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne, the Colts called on an unlikely cast of offensive players to score. Saturday recovered a fumble in the end zone for one touchdown, and former Patriots defensive tackle Dan Klecko lined up on offense and caught a touchdown pass of his own. Little-used Bryan Fletcher also made a 32-yard catch on the winning drive.

Manning was asked if, after his masterpiece, the football world might have to redefine “The Drive,” the nickname for John Elway’s conference championship-winning drive against Cleveland in January 1987.

“It’s funny,” Manning said. “[That] was on the other day. I don’t know where I was -- I guess at my house -- and I watched that drive. You never get tired of seeing that. ... I’m not comparing what I just did to that, but I guess that sounds pretty good.”

No doubt it would sound good to the people of Indianapolis too, fans who only a few years ago grappled with the notion they might lose their beloved Colts to Los Angeles. Now, the team’s getting a new stadium, it’s headed for Super Bowl XLI against Chicago, and both coach and quarterback are unburdened. Or, unburdened for the moment.

In the postgame delirium, Colts owner Jim Irsay hugged the AFC’s Lamar Hunt Trophy and called it “the ticket to what we really want, and that’s the Lombardi Trophy. That is our goal. We couldn’t be more excited. We knew we had to win this game to have that chance. Believe me, we’re going down to [Miami] to win that game. That’s our goal.”

Regardless, Manning proved something Sunday to a lot of people.

To his coach, that wasn’t necessary.

“It probably won’t shut anybody up until we win one,” Dungy said. “Until we win one, it will still be, ‘Well, can you win the Super Bowl?’ Peyton Manning is a great player. Anybody who doesn’t know that doesn’t know much about football.”

After the game, Manning made a beeline for his father, Archie, the former New Orleans Saints quarterback, who was standing on the field, just outside the Colts’ locker room tunnel. The two embraced and whispered a few words to each other. His dad said Peyton didn’t cry.

As for Archie?

“I had to fight it a little bit,” he said.

And, after all these years waiting for this moment to arrive, that was one fight his dad didn’t mind losing.

sam.farmer@latimes.com

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Down but not out

The largest comebacks in NFL conference championship games:

AFC: Indianapolis vs. New England, Jan. 21, 2007

Trailed 21-3, won 38-34

NFC: Atlanta at Minnesota, Jan. 17, 1999

Trailed 20-7, won 30-27 (OT)

AFC: Denver vs. New York Jets, Jan. 17, 1999