Here they are again.
An Adam Vinatieri field goal as time expired Sunday gave the Indianapolis Colts a 23-20 victory against Tennessee at Lucas Oil Stadium, a 10-6 record in 2010, the AFC South title and the No. 3 seed in the AFC playoffs. The Colts, who tied the Dallas Cowboys’ long-standing record by securing their ninth consecutive postseason berth, will play host to the New York Jets at 8 p.m. Saturday in a rematch of last year’s AFC Championship game.
Indianapolis is not unaccustomed to being the No. 3 seed in the AFC; the Colts began the playoffs from that slot in 2003 and 2004 before season-ending losses to New England and won the Super Bowl from the third seed in the 2006 postseason.
What the franchise — or maybe just everyone else — might have been unaccustomed to was the way Indy had to get there. So much of what the Colts did down the stretch to ultimately wind up in their familiar position was quite unconventional when considering the team’s history over the last decade.
Let’s look more closely:
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