Things I hope to see and not see against the Colts

[sarge]

1. Start the game with play action!
I truly believe the Colts are going to immediatly sell out against the run as they did the last two games. You have to soften them up. Get those guys out of the box and quick. I'm not saying start throwing downfield immedaitely. But start getting first downs.

2. DO NOT COME OUT EMPTY BACKFIELD IN THE SHOTGUN!
The strength of the Colts D lies in it's edge pass rush. All Brady going in the shotgun does is give Mathis and Freeney a more straight path to get to Brady.

3. If the play action starts pulling them out of the box, start feeding the run.

4. No cute stuff. No quadruple reverses, no ten minute to develop counters, none of that stuff.

5. WATCH SANDERS. If he cheats up to the line, have an audible ready to go after him (throw against him). Pats got to find a way to keep him out of the box. Even if the pass doesn't work every time, it will make him hesitate before coming into the box. The guy is just freaking insane.

6. No going for it all on 3rd and makeable downs. I hate seeing nothing more then Brady throwing it 50 yards down the field on 3rd and three only to see a corner and safety meeting the receiver at the ball, all the while faulk is standing alone a yard past the first down marker. Pats need to shorten this game. We need long sustained drives. don't throw away a high probability first down for a low probability prayer.

7. Keep the Colts in front of you. The Pats pass defense is suspect at best. What are the odds Manning is going to have his third bad game in a row? Make them drive the field and try to keep them to field goals, or possible cause a turnover. That long pass yesterday where the Charger defender stepped out of bounds scared me, because I gaurantee you neither Manning, Wayne, nor Clark would have made that mistake. And either Wayne or Harrison would have gotten much more seperation.

8. NO STUPID PENALTIES. We all saw how the (classy)Chargers cheapshotting Patriot players. And the 15 yard penalties that they caused. Manning doesn't need 15 free yards. He is perfectly capable of getting those yards without the Pats help. Lets make him earn them.

That's really it.

Guys, realize this. We are about to witness one of the great moments in sports.

Patriots vs Colts, Brady verses Manning. Isn't this how it is suppose to be. For all there glory, we never saw Elway verses Marino. This is special.

Brady has the better defense, Manning has the better offensive weapons.

Good luck to the Colts (Even though I don't really mean it). We all know how special winning a SB feels. If you do get it, it is something you will cherish for ever.

But if you do, I atleast have a pretty good DVD collection of Patriot Superbowl victories to chear me up!

 

[Keegs]

things i hope to see.........Adam V having a little "accident" and hurting his leg....

things i hope not to see... Adam V not having the "accident"


but if Galooley decided to come out of retirement and pull another one of his stunts i would feel bad..

I don't want it to be like that. But if he hurt himself playing i would clap

 

[cblesz]

7. Keep the Colts in front of you. The Pats pass defense is suspect at best. What are the odds Manning is going to have his third bad game in a row? Make them drive the field and try to keep them to field goals, or possible cause a turnover. That long pass yesterday where the Charger defender stepped out of bounds scared me, because I gaurantee you neither Manning, Wayne, nor Clark would have made that mistake. And either Wayne or Harrison would have gotten much more seperation.

I am assuming you meant the Gates catch? Well, Gates got wide open because another San Diego receiver basically knocked over one of our corners, which was ILLEGAL and NOT called. The Patriots ought to send the film to the league offices so the refs can watch for it in the Colts game.

 

[BelichickFan]

Offensively, I'd just key on Sanders. If it looks like he's coming, pass. If it looks like he's not, run. Of course he can disguise it but that's the basic thing. I also like 2 TE and 2 WR in this game because they can pass or run easily out of that formation.

Defensively I would probably play a base Nickel. The Colts have morphed into a 2 WR offense and a TE as the #3 receiver. Put Scott or Hawkins on Clark. Use the other and Sanders to double Wayne and Harrison with the CB. Count on the Front Six to stop the run, Addai isn't a breakaway threat. Make them go little by little and frustrate Manning.

 

[sarge]

I am assuming you meant the Gates catch? Well, Gates got wide open because another San Diego receiver basically knocked over one of our corners, which was ILLEGAL and NOT called. The Patriots ought to send the film to the league offices so the refs can watch for it in the Colts game.

I was talking about the bomb into the endzone where the Charger receiver didn't even attempt to drag his trail foot.

 

[JGaffney]

4. No cute stuff. No quadruple reverses, no ten minute to develop counters, none of that stuff.

QFT

6. No going for it all on 3rd and makeable downs. I hate seeing nothing more then Brady throwing it 50 yards down the field on 3rd and three only to see a corner and safety meeting the receiver at the ball, all the while faulk is standing alone a yard past the first down marker. Pats need to shorten this game. We need long sustained drives. don't throw away a high probability first down for a low probability prayer.

I agree with Bellicheck's thinking on this - this, due in part to Polian, has become a decent percentage play. You have 5 outcomes:

1) Make the catch. Life is good.
2) Zebras make the catch for you on a PI or holding call.
3) Catch is intercepted far downfield. Approximately the same benefit as a punt. Luckily, we already have one defensive player on the field, wearing #80
4) Fail and punt. It happens. Our D can handle it, it's non catastrophic.
5) Fail and go on 4th. Our team is #1 at this in the league.

I'm not saying we should do this every time - but doing it a few-three times a game opens up the field for dink n' dunk and the run even when we get options 3-5 because of having to respect the threat. Two downsides during the playoffs: the refs are allowing more aggression and fewer PI calls in the playoffs, reducing the benefits of option #2, and our percentage on #1 is less than it should be - but both those arguments aside, Reche's long distance snag last night was a backbreaker, and I don't argue against the (missed) attempts to CJ against the Jets.

7. Keep the Colts in front of you. The Pats pass defense is suspect at best. What are the odds Manning is going to have his third bad game in a row? Make them drive the field and try to keep them to field goals, or possible cause a turnover. That long pass yesterday where the Charger defender stepped out of bounds scared me, because I gaurantee you neither Manning, Wayne, nor Clark would have made that mistake. And either Wayne or Harrison would have gotten much more seperation.

Well, to give the D their due that was based on a blatant pick. However, I'm not quite hypocritical enough to argue that the refs should have flagged it vehemently, as I'm a fan of the "let em play football" mentality.

(Edit: Ah, talking about the "dotless I" catch - I actually agree; at least 3 different Colts receivers would have made that catch. I'm still in shock from some of the stuff I saw in our first matchup this year - good lord, it must be nice having the same receivers for years. The communication between Payton, Harrison and Wayne blow me away - even though I remain a strong arguer against the value of high WR $ due to my preference for Superbowl shots year after year over stats)

I agree overall, good post!