A day after watching my team lose to their mortal enemies, I’ve had some time to reflect. It was a tough loss. The Colts did not win that game, the Patriots lost it. When a team is up 17 points at any point in the fourth quarter, they better not lose. The Colts did not deserve that win, nor did they earn it. The Patriots handed it to them on a silver platter. After some time to take it all in, see the now famous fourth-and-two play call 10 times over, and read some material, here are the three things I’m taking from the Sunday Night Classic.

1.) Bill Belichick made the right decision.

I’m starting where it makes the most sense to start: the biggest story coming out of the game. Monday morning has shown every media outlet in the country questioning Bill Belichick’s genius. I myself wrote a letter to one of my favorite writers asking if he thinks the 57-year-old Belichick is over the hump. Whether or not it is time for him to hang up the hoodie is one question; whether or not he made the right call on fourth-and-two with just over two minutes left is not. If you put the ball in Peyton Manning’s hands in the fourth quarter and he has a chance to win, he will. That’s a fact. There’s no changing or denying that. There will be no difference to him if it is 20 yards or 80 yards, he will score. Belichick made the smart play to try and keep the ball away from the NFL’s most valuable weapon. If he had the same decision to make, he has to go for it again and again. I like the call, it was gutsy, but it was smart. It worked, too. Unfortunately, the referees don’t know how to spot a football.

2.) The Colts know how to win football games in the regular season.

I’ll be the first to say the Colts are not a championship team. Lots of people in our chat last night noted what it takes to be a team “built for the playoffs.” You have to have a durable, strong running game that wears down defenses. You have to have a defense that won’t get beat on the ground. Your quarterback is important and has to be, at the very least, competent, but is not the vital piece. The Colts are built around a quarterback, have a defense that 33-year-old Kevin Faulk tore apart, and possess no running game to speak of. The last time Joseph Addai broke the century mark in a game -- week 11 of last year. They won’t win the Super Bowl this year, but there’s no denying what they are: a team built to dominate the regular season. The Colts will beat down on opponents all year long, stay hot and get wins. After week 17, when every team in the NFL is getting tired and going back to fundamentals (defense, running, and time of possession), the Colts will slow down. Manning won’t have the ball in his hands long enough to win games. Defenses will stop the pass, and Indianapolis will stall on offense. You’ll see it happen, mark my words. Enjoy the regular season, Colts fans. It’s all over after that.

3.) The NFL and its fans have to hope this is the AFC Championship Game.

I can’t remember seeing a better game than this. As much as the result was not what I’d hoped for, the level of competition these two teams draw out of each other is astounding. Manning and Tom Brady both know their hall-of-fame level of play needs to go up a level to beat the other. Each defense knows it will have to stop a high-powered offense. Each coach knows every decision could be crucial. The story lines are even more interesting: two of history’s greatest players in Manning and Brady going back and forth; two teams, whose rivalry has defined the 21st century in AFC football, battling for the upper hand for that year; every player knowing the outcome of this game changes their odds at a Super Bowl. The stat I loved seeing NBC pull out for us last night was the following: the last three (four, after last night) winners in the Pats-Colts rivalry, came from behind to win the game. Even when we know it’s coming, watching Brady or Manning lead a drive in the final minutes to win a game, to crush a rival’s spirit, to change a season is indescribable. Even though last night’s loss left me speechless, the level of execution the Indianapolis offense showed was impeccable. The NFL, football fans everywhere, and this writer all hope to see this game again come January.

DOUG SAFFIR