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Pro Bowl Player
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2006
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I'm just reposting this because I took a bit of time w/it and then the thread got all weird--not that it's timeless prose or anything, but what the heck.
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So much stuff going on in this game I thought I’d get a few of my thoughts down before doing too much reading—I’m sure there are some points here addressed elsewhere, but let me get some things out unfiltered.
---First, I will admit the game did not go as I expected, although I thought (and said) that the Colts likely have the best defense of any team the Pats will face. Couple that with the fact that these teams know each other so well by now, it’s almost like playing a divisional game. Basically, the Colts were controlling the lines, which is what football’s all about. The enormous amount of time Brady’s been having to throw wasn’t there, and the Colts weren’t blitzing to achieve it. Offensively, the first few plays of the Colts were a little scary, due to the ease they were running. We’ve seen a few teams run a few plays like that before the Pats tightened up, but the Colts continued to run with success.
---I didn’t understand—and maybe I’m wrong that they played it this way—but it didn’t look as though the Pats had Samuel on Wayne throughout the game. It seems to me that would have been the best way to take him out of the game, but there were a couple of big catches that Wayne made where it looked as though Hobbs was on him. If someone could explain that to me, please do.
---I have to admit that I’m a little disappointed in what we’re seeing from Thomas. I don’t really have anything negative to say about him, but I was expecting this guy to just make more plays—to put it in a simple way, I’d like to hear his name more during the game. I hope (and think) that he’ll continue to improve within the Pats’ D, but I thought he would be an immediate and huge difference-maker.
---The officiating was truly horrendous, to the point where I started to have dark thoughts about whether it was just incompetence. The pair of long pass interference calls against the Pats were awful—one was bad, the other was truly horrendous, while the non-call on the 3rd down play to Faulk was so egregious I thought Brady was gonna hit somebody. Just terrible. That’s not to mention the bizarre first down the Colts mysteriously had at the end of the first half when it clearly looked as though they had been stopped.
---Speaking of officials, kudos to Asante Samuel for his immediate reaction to the Colts’ reception the refs mistakenly says was in bounds—he instantly raced to the sideline to get the Pats to throw the red flag. But how sad is it that a player can so quickly get a call right when the ref can’t? I’m pretty sure Samuel has another job on the field, right?
---The receivers. What can you say about Moss, the guy is just sick. His one-handed grab in the middle of the third when the Pats were pinned down by their goal line was a huge play, as the Pats didn’t want to give the ball back to the Colts with good field position. Speaking of field position, Welker had one good punt return after another—he’s just a tremendous player. And was anyone else hit by the symmetry of the Pats needing to convert a 3rd and 4 play to run out the clock, and Welker—who many have compared to Troy Brown in his prime, running a great route for the game-clinching conversion, compared to the AFC championship game, when Brown’s confusion (or so it seemed) on his rout led the incompletion and the rest of it.
---On Brady’s jump ball pick, I was surprised his target was Stallworth. I was sure when he let it go it was going to Moss. I don’t think that’s Stallworth’s strength, so I don’t think we’ll see Brady make that kind of throw again.
---Last, it’s an obvious point but it seems to be forgotten a lot of times. Teams don’t stay the same over time, and when the Pats and Colts play in January (and yes, I think the rest of this season is 1. Can the Pats go undefeated, 2. I hope the Pats stay healthy, and 3. the Pats and the Colts meet for the real Superbowl in Foxboro in January) these teams will not be the same. Yes, Harrison will likely be back for the Colts, but more importantly to me, Belichek and Co. will have had time to analyze this new version of the Colts, Seymour should be fully back, Thomas totally at ease in his role, etc. Considering the fact that the Pats won in Indy, with terrible officiating, with that fluke TD at the end of the half (similar to a kickoff return td, etc.), I think the Patriots have reason to be hugely optimistic. One thing I’ve always noticed in sports is you don’t tend to get the same exact result twice. Many were expecting a blowout here, but it’s tough to blow out a good (great?) team like the Colts twice. Here’s to the blowout happening in January, or at least another win. And if the Pats DO go 19-0, nobody will be able to say that they didn’t have another team in the league to truly test them.
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So much stuff going on in this game I thought I’d get a few of my thoughts down before doing too much reading—I’m sure there are some points here addressed elsewhere, but let me get some things out unfiltered.
---First, I will admit the game did not go as I expected, although I thought (and said) that the Colts likely have the best defense of any team the Pats will face. Couple that with the fact that these teams know each other so well by now, it’s almost like playing a divisional game. Basically, the Colts were controlling the lines, which is what football’s all about. The enormous amount of time Brady’s been having to throw wasn’t there, and the Colts weren’t blitzing to achieve it. Offensively, the first few plays of the Colts were a little scary, due to the ease they were running. We’ve seen a few teams run a few plays like that before the Pats tightened up, but the Colts continued to run with success.
---I didn’t understand—and maybe I’m wrong that they played it this way—but it didn’t look as though the Pats had Samuel on Wayne throughout the game. It seems to me that would have been the best way to take him out of the game, but there were a couple of big catches that Wayne made where it looked as though Hobbs was on him. If someone could explain that to me, please do.
---I have to admit that I’m a little disappointed in what we’re seeing from Thomas. I don’t really have anything negative to say about him, but I was expecting this guy to just make more plays—to put it in a simple way, I’d like to hear his name more during the game. I hope (and think) that he’ll continue to improve within the Pats’ D, but I thought he would be an immediate and huge difference-maker.
---The officiating was truly horrendous, to the point where I started to have dark thoughts about whether it was just incompetence. The pair of long pass interference calls against the Pats were awful—one was bad, the other was truly horrendous, while the non-call on the 3rd down play to Faulk was so egregious I thought Brady was gonna hit somebody. Just terrible. That’s not to mention the bizarre first down the Colts mysteriously had at the end of the first half when it clearly looked as though they had been stopped.
---Speaking of officials, kudos to Asante Samuel for his immediate reaction to the Colts’ reception the refs mistakenly says was in bounds—he instantly raced to the sideline to get the Pats to throw the red flag. But how sad is it that a player can so quickly get a call right when the ref can’t? I’m pretty sure Samuel has another job on the field, right?
---The receivers. What can you say about Moss, the guy is just sick. His one-handed grab in the middle of the third when the Pats were pinned down by their goal line was a huge play, as the Pats didn’t want to give the ball back to the Colts with good field position. Speaking of field position, Welker had one good punt return after another—he’s just a tremendous player. And was anyone else hit by the symmetry of the Pats needing to convert a 3rd and 4 play to run out the clock, and Welker—who many have compared to Troy Brown in his prime, running a great route for the game-clinching conversion, compared to the AFC championship game, when Brown’s confusion (or so it seemed) on his rout led the incompletion and the rest of it.
---On Brady’s jump ball pick, I was surprised his target was Stallworth. I was sure when he let it go it was going to Moss. I don’t think that’s Stallworth’s strength, so I don’t think we’ll see Brady make that kind of throw again.
---Last, it’s an obvious point but it seems to be forgotten a lot of times. Teams don’t stay the same over time, and when the Pats and Colts play in January (and yes, I think the rest of this season is 1. Can the Pats go undefeated, 2. I hope the Pats stay healthy, and 3. the Pats and the Colts meet for the real Superbowl in Foxboro in January) these teams will not be the same. Yes, Harrison will likely be back for the Colts, but more importantly to me, Belichek and Co. will have had time to analyze this new version of the Colts, Seymour should be fully back, Thomas totally at ease in his role, etc. Considering the fact that the Pats won in Indy, with terrible officiating, with that fluke TD at the end of the half (similar to a kickoff return td, etc.), I think the Patriots have reason to be hugely optimistic. One thing I’ve always noticed in sports is you don’t tend to get the same exact result twice. Many were expecting a blowout here, but it’s tough to blow out a good (great?) team like the Colts twice. Here’s to the blowout happening in January, or at least another win. And if the Pats DO go 19-0, nobody will be able to say that they didn’t have another team in the league to truly test them.
