There was no head-hanging in the dressing room of the Indianapolis Colts, just a sense of accomplishment.
The Colts came up short in their bid for the franchise's first trip to the Super Bowl since 1971, a game that was played before 21 members of the team were born.With 2:31 left to play and the Colts ahead 16-13 in Sunday's AFC championship game against Pittsburgh, linebacker Quentin Coryatt thought he had the biggest interception in his life. But the pass by Neil O'Donnell trickled out of his grasp and gave the Steelers the chance they needed to rally for a 20-16 victory.
Five plays after Coryatt's drop, Bam Morris scored the winning touchdown from a yard out with 1:34 left. On the game's final play, a Jim Harbaugh pass was batted around in the end one, but fell incomplete when Aaron Bailey was unable to hold onto the ball.
"I had control of the ball and the receiver didn't even see me coming. He was expecting the ball to go to him and he bumped into me. I just couldn't hold on to it," said Coryatt, who saw nothing but open field when the ball struck his hands. "It hurts a lot. It was a big play. If I had been able to make the play and hold on to it, it would have been a change to the ball game."
Coryatt, who had an interception last week as the Colts upset Kansas City 10-7, said he believed it was just luck that the pass wasn't intercepted.
"The receiver (Ernie Mills) was running a slant and he just ran into me and hit my arm to knock the ball out of my arms," Coryatt said. "It hurts. All you can do is regroup. It will be a long offseason."
That play, as much as the final one, may haunt the Colts for awhile.