They played 4 good teams (Bengals) I ain't sayin the Bengals are of their caliber but they were a good team.
And how was the game given to them by the officials? Early on they had like 5 penalties for 33 yards and the Steelers had none. Also, you cannot sit here and count out the patriots as though it was so obvious. While it does take a nice team like Denver had, there's also what experts don't talk about which is the knowledge of how to win which the Patriots have from 2 straight superbowl titles. Also, saying it's a charade because they beat Jax shouldn't even be said. If you are good enough to get to the playoffs there should be no excuses for your loss or the other team's victory. If Jacksonville/Leftwich felt they weren't prepared then that was their own fault. It's the playoffs, they knew who they were going to play, they knew they had to be better, and they weren't.
The colts lost that game off their offensive line's inability to protect peyton manning from pittsburgh. The team as a whole is a monstrous machine, but when you break it down their offensive line seemed to just be a trapdoor. If your offensive line can't protect your quarterback there won't be a game. Their defense couldn't get off the field for reasons beyond Pittsburgh's offense. The offensive line of Indianapolis simply couldn't keep Manning ON the field. The simple fact that Peyton/Colts were able to make that comeback run ought to be an embarrasment to the Steeler's organization.
Denver played the following 'good' teams:
San Diego
Kansas City
Giants
San Diego/Kansas City were both inconsistent throughout the year and the Giants were a fluke. Denver's good, but if we say New England "never stood a chance" then they have yet to truly stand up to anybody worthwile.
While Manning shouldn't have called out his line, he spoke the truth. His line abandoned him on the field.