Colts Never Quite Put It All Together

INDIANAPOLIS, Jan. 13 -- Coach Tony Dungy sat shoulder to shoulder with team president Bill Polian near the end of the Indianapolis Colts' long day, talking quietly in a locker-room nook about what had gone wrong. There wouldn't be another Super Bowl title. There wouldn't even be the expected rematch with the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game.

The Colts' season -- and their attempt to repeat as Super Bowl champions -- ended with Sunday's 28-24 defeat to the San Diego Chargers at the RCA Dome in an AFC semifinal. The Chargers, not the Colts, earned a second shot this season at the undefeated Patriots next weekend. The Colts instead headed into an offseason of uncertainty, with Dungy contemplating retirement.

"It's a hard pill to swallow right now," kicker Adam Vinatieri said in the quiet locker room. "Our expectations were so much different. Watching those other teams go out and play next weekend will be tough."

Said center Jeff Saturday: "There's a lot of disappointment [and] some shock. We felt like we had a good enough team to keep going but we didn't play like it today."

The season was a struggle for the Colts. The Patriots stole the national spotlight and the defending champions battled injuries along their offensive line and to quarterback Peyton Manning's receivers. Wideout Marvin Harrison missed most of the regular season with knee troubles. He returned to the lineup Sunday, only to lose a key fumble and spend the decisive moments on the sideline.

"At that point in the game, we were better off probably without me out there," Harrison said.

Manning threw for 402 yards and three touchdowns. But he was intercepted twice and couldn't complete a fourth-and-goal pass with linebacker Shawne Merriman closing in with just more than two minutes left.

"It's certainly disappointing," Manning said. "I think that means it matters to you. It means you care. It means you worked hard, and certainly we have put a lot into this season going all the way back to March. It's disappointing that it finishes with a loss. There is no question about it."

The Colts were 13-3 during the regular season and the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs. They were getting healthy and looked like a threat to challenge the Patriots after surrendering a fourth-quarter lead to them during a regular season meeting. Instead, the Colts went home.

"It happens like that sometimes," safety Bob Sanders said. "They came in today and they played better. Anytime you lose, it's hard. We'll grow from this. We'll go on."

Dungy said he'll decide about his future after consulting with his family and Colts owner Jim Irsay.

"This game won't really affect it at all," Dungy said. "You are always disappointed when you lose the last game. We will analyze it as this coming week goes on. I will sit down with my wife, and talk with Jim and we will come to a conclusion."

If Dungy retires, his likely successor would be Colts quarterbacks coach Jim Caldwell. But the Colts might not be able to keep Caldwell on hold for too long since he's a candidate for other head coaching vacancies around the league. Both Caldwell and Colts defensive coordinator Ron Meeks could be candidates for the Washington Redskins.

Caldwell declined to comment, saying as he exited the locker room: "I'm not taking any questions right now."

Meeks, a former Redskins assistant who oversaw the league's third-ranked defense this season, declined to comment.

For the Colts, the next move is Dungy's. "Selfishly, I'd love to have him back," Vinatieri said. "He's a great man, a great coach. . . . But he has to do what's right for him and his family. I'm sure he's not thinking about that today. . . . I'm sure he's hurting today like the rest of us."