Colts players disappointed by loss

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - The Colts gave the Jets a late Christmas present, leading 15-10 late in the 3rd quarter, Manning, Wayne and Clark all leave the game, and the chance for perfection was gone.

"I was on the same page with Coach Caldwell, I was told to be flexible and to go out there and score as many points as we could and that's what we tried to do. I'm disappointed we didn't score some more, and was told at halftime, there was potentially one more series," said Manning, who looked visibly upset when he left the game.

Defensive captain Gary Brackett was also a little miffed at the coaching decision. "You just hate to lose, obviously whatever reason we decided to play it the way we did, and we didn't do enough to get a win.""

"We would have liked to get a win, but it's not our goal to go undefeated this year. Peyton stayed in most of the game and we just made little mistakes that cost us the game," added Raheem Brock, who started for Robert Mathis.

And there’s a sense of history that not only the fans, but the players realize."There's not a season that goes by that people don't mention the '72 Dolphins, so I guess tonight we'll hear the champagne bottle pop, them celebrating, but guys want to win whether there's a streak on the line or not, and I didn't want to come out," said Reggie Wayne.

Not every player was toeing the company line. "Our job is to win every game, so whatever it is, we need to win every game. That's what I come here to do, that's what I come here to play like and we didn't win, so whatever anybody says about goals, my goal every week is to come out and win, and we didn't win," said center Jeff Saturday.

What's missing in the emotion of the team’s first loss after 23 victories? The Colts defense, which had half it's starters sitting on the sidelines and still playing good enough to win. This one will indeed leave a bad taste for the players and the fans in what could have been an historic run at perfection.