It seemed midway through the fourth quarter that all the postgame talk would be all about how the Indianapolis Colts defense shut down Tom Brady and company, and thus ended New England's chance at having an unbeaten season. They were absolutely superb for three and a half quarters, but you can only hold the potent New England Patriots offense down for so long.Brady's 55-yard pass to Randy Moss with about nine minutes left was what changed the whole game. The Colts had not allowed a big play like that the entire game. Brady then found Wes Welker to bring the Pats within a field goal, and then four minutes later he found Kevin Faulk for the go ahead TD. All of a sudden, Brady had his 3 TD passes and another sexy stat line. The Colts had another chance, but Peyton Manning fumbled to give the ball back to the Pats. Wes Welker sealed the deal with a 3rd down reception. Welker has been the unsung hero on this Pats team. Remember last year Troy Brown dropped the same type 3rd down pass that would have sealed the AFC title for New England. Bill Belichick should send Nick Saban a championship ring for giving him tips to get Welker as he departed Miami last year.
This is a demoralizing loss for Indianapolis. They played smash mouth football for 50 minutes, and had the Pats making mistakes left and right. Brady was rattled by throwing two picks, they committed a team record number of penalties, and Joseph Addai was running all over them (ended up with 226 total yards). With a win today, they would have slienced the entire sports media who have been praising the Pats all year and seemingly ignoring the Colts. Most importantly, this loss probably means that the AFC Championship Game will be in Foxboro. For that game to be at the RCA Dome, the Colts would have to go unbeaten the rest of the way, and hope the Patriots lose two of their final seven games. I don't think they will win a playoff game in Foxboro, but they should have Marvin Harrison in a rematch. Could they win? Yes.
The question now is can the Patriots go undefeated? They have their toughest game by far out of the way, and face an upcoming schedule where the toughest games might be at Baltimore and when they host Pittsburgh in back-to-back weeks in early December. Their bye also comes at a great time, because had they had to play next week after a tough game like this they might have suffered a let down. The Pats probably have a better than 50/50 chance to go unbeaten, and I think they will. They played a terrible football game for 50 minutes today against the Super Bowl champions and still won. Unlike the Colts of years past, this Patriots team will embrace going undefeated. Even if they clinch the AFC by mid-December, they host the Jets and Dolphins in Weeks 15 & 16. Stiff competition right there! They travel to the Meadowlands to play the Giants in Week 17, but if they make it into that game at 15-0 you think they will play very hard to get that victory and make history.
By the way, the NFL is going to be in a great situation when the Patriots visit the Giants in Week 17 that will be seen exclusively on the NFL Network!Pat Morgan
1 comment:
This game might cost the Colts home field advantage, but I don't consider it a demoralizing loss. They still will easily make the playoffs. I still think they can beat the Patriots on the road if that ends up being the situation they are in. They've proven the last few years that they can beat the Pats at home as well as on the road. By the way, Bryant Gumbel, who is the worst announcer in the history of sports, will be calling that week 17 game.
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