Just A Few Thoughts On Pats-Colts
Or Super Bowl 41&1/2 or whatever they were calling yesterday's game. I don't want to re-state the obvious, so I'll just spend my time here making a few not so obvious points.
1- The Colts and Patriots have the two best defenses in the NFL. Period. Brady and Manning, the leagues two best quarterbacks, who've spent most of the year not being touched by opposing defenses, were actually tossed to the ground, hurried, and flustered yesterday. Brady did next to nothing before the explosive 4th quarter comeback as the Colts made it impossible for him to get the ball down the field. And Manning, other than the check down touchdown to Joseph Addai, couldn't complete anything down the field all day.
I know the Steelers play the Ravens tonight, and that's supposed to be the big defensive match up of the weekend, but just keep in mind what the Pats and Colts were both able to do against two incredible offenses. I saw the Steelers give up 31 points to a Denver team that could have been shut out by both Detroit and San Diego this year.
The Pats and Colts are the two bets teams in the league, bar none, and I'm not saying that they're defensive prowess is equally unassailable. It's just something to think about really. Think about yesterday's game and ask yourself what other defense you would want come playoff time.
2- I've heard some talk today about the poor officiating and the possibility the Colts were illegally piping in extra sound into the RCA dome. My response - blah, blah, blah.
3- Maybe I'm stupid for saying this the day after Adrian Peterson broke the single game rushing record, but Joseph Addai may be the best RB in the league. After he killed the Pats in the first half on all of those check down passes, the Pats left a linebacker to shadow him on every pass play the rest of the game. On the one pass Addai caught in the second half, he ran up, faked a block on Junior Seau, faked to the inside, and took off to the outside, leaving Seau in the dust. Addai made Patriots miss all game, but that one just stands out in my mind.
4- See above. The Pats adjusted and shut down Addai in the second half. 14 carries for 80 yards, and 4 catches for 107 yards in the first half, 12 carries for 32 yards, 1 catch for 7 yards in the second. In the first half, with Addai helping to control the clock, the Pats only had 3 real possessions. They had double that, 6, in the second half, giving them enough opportunities to get back in the game.
5- These Colts are better than any Colts team I remember, and it'd be beyond obvious to say the same about the Pats team. Can anyone else think of two teams in a single season that have separated themselves from the rest of the league as much as these two? I'm happy the Pats snapped their three game funk versus the Colts, but I'm under no illusions about how easy it might be when they meet again.
1- The Colts and Patriots have the two best defenses in the NFL. Period. Brady and Manning, the leagues two best quarterbacks, who've spent most of the year not being touched by opposing defenses, were actually tossed to the ground, hurried, and flustered yesterday. Brady did next to nothing before the explosive 4th quarter comeback as the Colts made it impossible for him to get the ball down the field. And Manning, other than the check down touchdown to Joseph Addai, couldn't complete anything down the field all day.
I know the Steelers play the Ravens tonight, and that's supposed to be the big defensive match up of the weekend, but just keep in mind what the Pats and Colts were both able to do against two incredible offenses. I saw the Steelers give up 31 points to a Denver team that could have been shut out by both Detroit and San Diego this year.
The Pats and Colts are the two bets teams in the league, bar none, and I'm not saying that they're defensive prowess is equally unassailable. It's just something to think about really. Think about yesterday's game and ask yourself what other defense you would want come playoff time.
2- I've heard some talk today about the poor officiating and the possibility the Colts were illegally piping in extra sound into the RCA dome. My response - blah, blah, blah.
3- Maybe I'm stupid for saying this the day after Adrian Peterson broke the single game rushing record, but Joseph Addai may be the best RB in the league. After he killed the Pats in the first half on all of those check down passes, the Pats left a linebacker to shadow him on every pass play the rest of the game. On the one pass Addai caught in the second half, he ran up, faked a block on Junior Seau, faked to the inside, and took off to the outside, leaving Seau in the dust. Addai made Patriots miss all game, but that one just stands out in my mind.
4- See above. The Pats adjusted and shut down Addai in the second half. 14 carries for 80 yards, and 4 catches for 107 yards in the first half, 12 carries for 32 yards, 1 catch for 7 yards in the second. In the first half, with Addai helping to control the clock, the Pats only had 3 real possessions. They had double that, 6, in the second half, giving them enough opportunities to get back in the game.
5- These Colts are better than any Colts team I remember, and it'd be beyond obvious to say the same about the Pats team. Can anyone else think of two teams in a single season that have separated themselves from the rest of the league as much as these two? I'm happy the Pats snapped their three game funk versus the Colts, but I'm under no illusions about how easy it might be when they meet again.
posted by lonely libertarian at 3:41 PM
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