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Yesterday's game showed us what it is like when Manning truly does not have a competitive team to go against the Patriots. Of all of the previous games, this was the one that showed the most one-sided advantage for Belichick's Patriots against him.
While our view is obscured by the collapse of the 2011 Colts after having no viable backup plan when PM went down, the truth is that those Colts teams of the 2000s were very strong in many areas, and this rivalry was much more than Brady versus Manning. The Colts, while in stark contrast to the Pats defense, had a great pass rush with bookend DEs in Freeney and Mathis, a not-so-good but not terrible group of LBs led by Brackett, and a secondary that was underrated, led by Bethea, and was better than the Patriots secondary from from 2007 onward. When Bob Sanders was healthy, this was a top ten defense. Even in the 2007 season, we hit a huge speed bump in Indy, as they shut us down for three quarters and nearly handed us our first loss.
Anyone who thinks those Colts teams were led by one player is kidding themselves, although the coin goes both ways. Brady's Patriots were always stocked with great talent as well. So, please do not turn this into a Brady-Manning thread.
But yesterday I saw what pundits had told us we should be seeing for years: a Peyton Manning-led team that was no match for Tom Brady's Patriots, due to the complete mismatches everywhere on the field except QB. I don't recall Manning's old Colts teams ever looking inept on defense, unable to keep the offense within striking distance, and I never saw the critical errors (Thomas' fumble, McGahee's two blunders) that were showcased yesterday. I saw on so many occasions Reggie Wayne or Marvin Harrison making a tremendous catch to keep both feet in bounds, or Dwight Freeney sacking Brady on the most critical play of the game.
It really is too bad that history will remember the Colts as a one man show, as it is so disrespectful to so many great athletes from those teams.
While our view is obscured by the collapse of the 2011 Colts after having no viable backup plan when PM went down, the truth is that those Colts teams of the 2000s were very strong in many areas, and this rivalry was much more than Brady versus Manning. The Colts, while in stark contrast to the Pats defense, had a great pass rush with bookend DEs in Freeney and Mathis, a not-so-good but not terrible group of LBs led by Brackett, and a secondary that was underrated, led by Bethea, and was better than the Patriots secondary from from 2007 onward. When Bob Sanders was healthy, this was a top ten defense. Even in the 2007 season, we hit a huge speed bump in Indy, as they shut us down for three quarters and nearly handed us our first loss.
Anyone who thinks those Colts teams were led by one player is kidding themselves, although the coin goes both ways. Brady's Patriots were always stocked with great talent as well. So, please do not turn this into a Brady-Manning thread.
But yesterday I saw what pundits had told us we should be seeing for years: a Peyton Manning-led team that was no match for Tom Brady's Patriots, due to the complete mismatches everywhere on the field except QB. I don't recall Manning's old Colts teams ever looking inept on defense, unable to keep the offense within striking distance, and I never saw the critical errors (Thomas' fumble, McGahee's two blunders) that were showcased yesterday. I saw on so many occasions Reggie Wayne or Marvin Harrison making a tremendous catch to keep both feet in bounds, or Dwight Freeney sacking Brady on the most critical play of the game.
It really is too bad that history will remember the Colts as a one man show, as it is so disrespectful to so many great athletes from those teams.
