Patriots vs. Colts Post-Game Thread

SVN said:

I know there were some comments in the game thread about how poorly coached game this was by the pats and jmcd in the first half but really , this game was lot about coaching. they changed what they did few weeks back and employed fleming to get gray established and beat the colts very differently than how the steelers or the eagles or the broncos beat them. This was a coaching masterpiece . Yes brady made a couple of bad throws but really, BB outcoached pagano on this one.

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The game plan was a masterpiece once again.

It really is amazing to watch what problems BB identifies and exposes on a weekly basis against other professional coaches.

And given that so far we have lost less than the usual amount of chess pieces BB even has the perfect, deep mix of players to be unpredictable. If the team stays healthy then they can only stop themselves.

Great game very enjoyable evening.

Thanks Pats

Yep, just as I feared, it was a demolition job, and it could have been worse without Brady's uncharacteristic pics. Our D is not nearly as good as they looked early in the season, and even our offense can be slowed down by a team with quality pass defense. This Pats is definitely the best since 2007 and certainly the team to beat in the AFC, probably in the league.

Excellent OL play. Whatever happened to the guy named after the airport?

TomPatriot said:

Excellent OL play. Whatever happened to the guy named after the airport?

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Up until this game, I think you could have made the case that while they didn't miss Mankins in pass protection, you could see his loss in the run game. Well.

Nifty stat from this NFL.com article: Jonas Gray's 4 touchdowns equaled the number of touchdowns scored by all the other running backs in the league Sunday, combined.

Moment of the game in my house, after an impressive Vereen play...

Me: Shane Vereen!!!
My daughter, from the next room, in bafflement: Isn't she the senator from New Hampshire?

AndyJohnson said:

3 game lead colts
But one game lead on chiefs

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Unfortunately they will lose both to Demver, I would love to see a split but that's where Smith's limitations are going to bite them in the ass IMO.

patchick said:

Moment of the game in my house, after an impressive Vereen play...

Me: Shane Vereen!!!
My daughter, from the next room, in bafflement: Isn't she the senator from New Hampshire?

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I don't know, I hate politics so much I never saw that result. However if she is that means Scott Brown will be running for whatever seat he can find in Maine in a couple of years. He just needs a little time to move his stuff and claim he is actually from here.

Joker said:

Nobody is buying into the Pats defense so far. Nobody. That's why the Colts were favored and the spreads were all in the 30's. 34-31, 35-30, 38-35. I read all of them all day. The defense just doesn't appeal to the fan's eye, but the results CANNOT BE ARGUED. No matter how much you fear the lack of a sack or passes completed, you HAVE to look at the game as a function of total team effort and game plan efficiency. You just saw the Pats win a game nobody gave them a chance in for the most part, and they did it by making plays offensively and CONTROLLING the Colts offense defensively.

What good is five sacks on Luck when he's tearing apart your zone? All week, all the nail biters were cowering in fear of what Hilton was going to do to the Pats with the big plays. NOW, no one seems to want to remember those trembling fear filled posts.So, no sacks but TY Hilton 3 catches for 24 yards...you want sacks instead????


WTF is this anyway?

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Make all the excuses you want Joker but both Manning and Luck had more yards than Brady yesterday and Brady passed up 4 opportunities for short TD passes so the final tally is Luck 1, Manning 2, and Brady another big fat zero. Time for the Gropper, Brady has clearly lost it, Peyton would had 6 there.

Question: If, before the season, you had suggested that Ryan Wendell would make a quality starter at right guard, how long would it have taken for you to have been laughed off this board?

Awesome game. Regardless of what the media was saying I had a good feeling about this game from the get go. Same with Detroit, as long as we keep doing what we have been, I see no reason why we can't beat Detroit. Now Green Bay on the other hand poses a greater threat than Indy or Detroit, in my opinion.

hwc said:

Photo of Gronk taunting Sergio Brown as he lay against the camera cart. Now I see why he got one flag for unnecessary roughness (the hit out of bounds) and a second flag for taunting:

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media...ogressive,q_80,w_320/xc2jao8eilvrzsjprqux.jpg

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Yeah. Brown and the guy who got laid out by Edelman were both jawing at Gronk all game long. Brown, if I'm not mistaking, is also the player responsible for the first broken arm that Gronk suffered.

patchick said:

Question: If, before the season, you had suggested that Ryan Wendell would make a quality starter at right guard, how long would it have taken for you to have been laughed off this board?

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Not very . . . but in fairness I can't say I saw this either. He has played extremely well since moving over to G.

KA- said:

They had 1 awful game, it happens. I never said they were elite, but to say they have a bad D is absurd. They have been stingy for pretty much the entire year outside of 1-3 games. Once again, I never said they were elite.

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I think saying that the Colts have a good defense, when they rely on what was until last night the highest scoring offense in the league and have given up big points twice when not playing from ahead, is a bit of a reach. The NFL is a league of adjustments. Teams are going to be looking to pound the ball against the Colts, while the Colts try to fix their run defense. Fortunately for them, the Colts have games against Jacksonville and Washington coming-up, who won't be able to stop Luck and will be forced into a 1-dimensional offense, but when the going gets tough in the playoffs, I would not be surprised to see them embarrassed again against a team with a decent defense that can move the ball on the ground.

There's not much I can add that others haven't said already other than I would be very, very disappointed if James Develin didn't come away with a game ball from the Colts game. Some of his blocks were brutal. He cleaned out lanes and eliminated Colts defenders.

Ah, the FB creating holes for a power back. Color me impressed.

hwc said:

I was wrong. I don't think Brady actually got hit, but he was reacting to pressure. He just heaved the ball up in the air while falling back. Even worse, really.
A good throw was a TD, but given the game situation, a 1 yard running play and a first down would have been sweet.
Here's a link to the video of the play. Gronk is wide open down the sideline, but Brady has pressure right up the middle and just heaves it up.
http://www.nfl.com/now/share?id=b9788736-ea31-49b0-a490-399952be0a0d

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Tom's going to be embarrassed today when Bill shows him that over and over again. He knows it was a mistake, but watching it will be painful. That could be the worst play I've ever seen from Brady - bad audible, bad response to pressure, horrendously bad judgment, and pathetically bad throw. Good thing he has bad short-term memory, too.

What a game. A lot of positives from this game.

I'm sure a lot of what we did right has been mentioned. But I'd like to give a shoutout to Collins and Hightower. They've really stepped up since Mayo's injury.

ausbacker said:

There's not much I can add that others haven't said already other than I would be very, very disappointed if James Develin didn't come away with a game ball from the Colts game. Some of his blocks were brutal. He cleaned out lanes and eliminated Colts defenders.

Ah, the FB creating holes for a power back. Color me impressed.

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Brady called him the best FB in the league during training camp. One of the talking heads, I think Perillo, gave him a little grief about it (not much at all, mostly innocuous). I don't know if he is or not, but the guy does everything he is asked. That's a cliche you hear all the time, but it's so true with him. He's an unsung hero this season on offense, while Chung has been the unsung hero on defense.

Jonas Gray got 199 yards. Amazing. The reason he was so succesful was the most overlooked guy (by fans) on the field and the real game MVP-Cameron Flemming.

Gray carried the ball 38 times. Flemming checked in for 35 snaps as the extra blocker/TE. The Colts KNEW everytime he checked in what was coming and we're absolutely helpless to stop it. I love Zolak and he summed it up perfect, "We took your bike, we took your lunch money and now we're takin' your gold chains. We're the bully on this playground!"

Josh and Bill deserve props for that as well. That front 7 was weak and they just said line up and jam it down their throats. Tom made the 3rd down throws when we needed them. This is a team that can play any style and switch it up when needed. Know we've got that 1 last element we we're missing: A bowling ball hammer of a RB. The only thing that concerns me is the pass rush. If Jones can get healed up for the playoffs (and the key guys stay healthy) this is the most complete team in football.

I don't see Jonas going off like that against the Lions but I think a solid 22-25 Att and 80-90 yds would be perfect against a stout front for Det. I have a feeling Brady bounces back from a subpar effort and torches a so-so secondary with some home cookin'. Here's hoping KC trips along the line somewhere because Den is in disarray (take a look at Broncos Country). There @ Oak. I don't see the Raiders going 0-16. That could be Sundays Den-STL style shocker. Fingers crossed.

That crunching block by Edelman was my favorite block of the whole game- loved the extra mustard he put on it. Adams is clearly demoralized at the end.