letekro

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...bag/index.html

"My one big question from the New England offseason still endures: When push comes to second-half shove, will the Patriots defense be stout enough to stop the Colts? Last year, in the second half of the AFC title game, the Patriots let Indy drive the ball 76, 76, 67, 59 and 80 yards to score. My feeling is the Pats will be better, even though in a personnel sense they're not going to be much different from the team that allowed 32 points in the last 25 minutes of the championship game. How much better, though?"

Baker, Hawkins, Mickens, Alexander, TBC have been replaced with:

Harrison, Wilson, Gay, Seau, and AD

Yeah, pretty much no difference in personnel there. Nice job PK!!

patsox23

I love how this guy delves into every possible angle on cameragate but his "analysis" of what happened in the AFCCG is surface-thin. No mention of the flu, no mention of refs, no mention of how the Pats were within one minute of winning, no mention of the Colts D being unable to stop the Pats offense for a good portion of the game.

None of those is an excuse whatsoever, but they're certainly worth, say, a SINGLE mention.

Pats726

the facts according to him...you mean fairy tales...I think he's an idiot and it is showing..

wdkantro2

I am not a King fan, but he is stating the facts. The defense gave up a 21-3 lead in the second half. That's the only fact we know. We have heard some guys might have been sick, there might have been some bad calls, but the only thing we know for sure is the defense blew that lead.
No excuses man. If I were a coach, I wouldn't care if every player on my team had the flu. If you can't stop them on one of those 5 or 6 drives, you don't deserve to be where you are, regardless of the excuses you might have. There were plenty of healthy guys who didn't rise to the occasion.

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patsox23

Not making excuses, just saying his dogged pursuit of every nook and cranny on the fake story of cameragate sure does make for an interesting comparison to his surface coverage of the AFCCG. I SAID it's not an excuse in my post so I'm not sure what you're referring to.

And BTW, using some facts but not all in a subjective way does not mean you're not being disingenuous.

letekro

The facts are that the defense is the same personnel-wise?? Are you serious???

In addition to the 5 direct upgrades I mentioned, we have Vrabel and Colvin back at their original positions this time around. This means 7 out of 11 positions have been upgraded since the 2nd half of that game. That is what I would call a significant difference in personnel.

dante828

The only problem I have with King's remarks is that it completely ignores whether the Colts D can stay with the Pats offense. I mean, the Pats put 31 on them last year without Moss, Welker, Stallworth, and Maroney. Now, I do believe the Colts defense has improved, but enough to stop this juggernaut...I don't think so.

This means the Pats defense need only be as good as it was last year because it is likely that the Pats can easily put up 40 points or more on the Colts defense....and after 7 games where the Pats have easily down this (or could have easily done this if they chose to), I feel pretty confident in saying that. I think that is why BB went after all these offensive weapons in the first place...he knows he is not always going to be able to stop Manning, not with the weapons he has, so he built an offense that can outscore him.