Patriots vs. Colts Post-Game Thread

pencilneckgeek said:

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.

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I bowed out of the argument. He's trying to convince me that the Colts' 27th ranked defense coming into the game is a good defense with one bad game. What happened was he and a few others on the board overreacted to one of my posts because you can't say the slightest bad thing about NE, even though what I said wasn't even bad really, and he refuses to admit it. He'll keep beating the "Colts have a good defense" thing into the ground trying to convince me and himself that he's right. Oh well. I normally don't react this way because I appreciate you all, but the whole "you shouldn't say anything negatively about NE" thing gets annoying sometimes. They won and pretty convincingly in the end, but they definitely did not play nearly a perfect game and there were a lot of mental errors and enough bad plays that I'm sure they'll be talked to by BB about it. Heck, the score was 28-20 at one point even after they thoroughly dominated the Colts. The same thing kind of happened in the playoff game when that game still was not decided in the fourth quarter after NE dominated the game mostly. A game is never over until it's over.

Had NE played a better defensive team last night, the game would not have been a runaway like it ended up being last night. NE made enough errors offensively. Heck, BB didn't even want to attack with 55 seconds on the clock and three timeouts with the highest scoring team inside of two minutes before half this season? Why do you think that was exactly (not you specifically)? It's not because the O was lighting things up and playing well. NE played well overall but have a few things to clean up. That was my original statement and I'm sticking to it. LOL

patchick said:

Stat of the game:

Indianapolis RBs, 14 carries for 4 total yards.

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That is a delicious stat and plenty of other good ones to choose from as well.

I like the one they showed at the beginning of the game where the Colts rank 1st in 3rd down defense (8 made in 45 attempts, 18% ranked) and we go 9 of 12 (75%) on 3rd down against them.

Jackson 2 said:

It's now official: the Colts suck, they were never any good this year and NE still hasn't beaten a good team. All tomato cans.

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They are good going in, but BB and Patricia expose some of their weakness that other teams duplicate (hence they may tend to do worse after playing the patriots)

And if that statement makes me delusional, I'm going to live that way for the next few days (at a minimum). Plus, I drove 7 hours to get home (got back at 11pm) after spending Thursday-Sunday effectively working from 8am to 10:30pm, but still had to watch the game in full when I got back

IllegalContact said:

It came down to never actually having possession before it went into the end zone

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so as long as people just slap it into the endzone its not a safety?

Good luck punters trying to pint people inside of the ten, players are just going to start punching/kicking the ball backwards.

I wonder what the NFL record is for rushing yards differential in a game.

Patriots 244 - Colts 19 = 225

patchick said:

I wonder what the NFL record is for rushing yards differential in a game.

Patriots 244 - Colts 19 = 225

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Not even close. I don't know what the record is, but last week Seattle outrushed the giants 350 yards to 54 for a differential of 296.

Ivan said:

Hate to say it but you load Manning up with weapons like Gray and LaFell and he would be unstoppable.

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Like Manning would let his RB get 4 TDs.

PatsSox363804 said:

Like Manning would let his RB get 4 TDs.

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Hillman has 3 on the year (2 of those against the Pats).

Could someone explain how the following isn't a penalty:

Colts player starts out the back of the endzone to get a running start on a kick-off return.. And Yes, he was OOBs after the kicked had gone 10 yards, making it a legal kick..

I(t was my understanding that a player who was OOBs could not be the 1st player to touch the ball.

KDPPatsfan85 said:

This is hilaious... http://forums.colts.com/topic/32893-embarrassing/

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Thanks for the link. The Colts have a great fanbase. From their excellent homegame crowd performances to their rational posting after a huge loss, they are awesome. They should be a significant team for the forseeable future. They'd be a force if they had good ownership.

chasa said:

so as long as people just slap it into the endzone its not a safety?

Good luck punters trying to pint people inside of the ten, players are just going to start punching/kicking the ball backwards.

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I think this only applies to the kickoff.

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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I don't care, I just can't stand the idea of Wendell starting for the Patriots anymore..............

PatsSox363804 said:

Like Manning would let his RB get 4 TDs.

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Great post!!! He'd let the RB get them down inside the five and call three straight shotgun pass plays. LOL

Galeb said:

Thanks for the link. The Colts have a great fanbase. From their excellent homegame crowd performances to their rational posting after a huge loss, they are awesome. They should be a significant team for the forseeable future. They'd be a force if they had good ownership.

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Actually they have great ownership. Irsay is usually so baked that Grigson can just do as he likes and no one ever knows better.

Cantabrigian said:

Drives today:

1st half: TD, Int, Punt, TD, Int, Kneel
2nd half: TD, TD, TD, TD, Kneel

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42 points on 9 possessions, (ignoring kneeldowns) or 4.66 points per possession. They are averaging 2.83 points per drive, behind only GB....
http://www.sportingcharts.com/nfl/stats/team-points-per-drive-statistics/2014/

OhExaulted1 said:

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.

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Yeah, I was legitimately concerned when Fleming hobbled off the field late in the game, but the camera caught him chumming it up afterward, so I have to assume it isn't a season ender.

As for KC, I have to admit to not feeling the concern everyone else seems to. They were seriously outplayed in Buffalo and then had a nail biter at home against a Seattle team that is secretly mediocre. With games against Denver, @Arizona and @Pitt, there is no way they run the table. Even 12-4 would shock me.

PatsBoy12 said:

He's trying to convince me that the Colts' 27th ranked defense coming into the game is a good defense with one bad game.

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27th ranked in what? Even after NE steamrolling them, Indy is 24th in ypg, 16th in defensive PR, 30th in rushing ypc (though only 17th in rushing ypg!) and they were 18th in defensive DVOA heading into the game. An average defense by nearly every measure, certainly not terrible.

Did you predict that NE would run for over 200 yards on them?

PatsBoy12 said:

I just don't see how they don't lock him up. There's discipline and there's plain stupidity.

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Is it possible to do? Is there a number attached to locking Revis up?

Oswlek said:

27th ranked in what? Even after NE steamrolling them, Indy is 24th in ypg, 16th in defensive PR, 30th in rushing ypc (though only 17th in rushing ypg!) and they were 18th in defensive DVOA heading into the game. An average defense by nearly every measure, certainly not terrible.

Did you predict that NE would run for over 200 yards on them?

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Respect. Nobody predicted NE would run that amount. You can pull out whatever individual stat you want, but the Colts' D was not inspiring fear in many people before and certainly not after that game. NE beat them in the same way they beat them in the playoffs. It was pretty much the same exact game plan. LOL Their defense is bad and I don't care what stats you use. It was evident last nigh, as it was in many games prior. In fact, I see many similarities between them now and the teams that NE fielded defensively for many recent seasons - an opportunistic D that can be out-physicaled at times and gives up big plays in the secondary. I think that's more than fair to say about them. Are they among the worst? Maybe not. But they're certainly not that good and I don't count on them to make the critical stop when necessary. Tell me that doesn't sound very familiar to you as a Pats fan when you think about 2009-2011 or so. LOL

And to spare any future drama, I'll just say that we'll agree to disagree and move on. This topic does not mean nearly that much to me anymore. In fact when taken in context, my original argument was that NE has things to work on despite the win. There were definitely enough mistakes made last night, especially considering that they were coming off a bye. I'm happy with the win and I'm on to Detroit.

vyrago said:

Is it possible to do? Is there a number attached to locking Revis up?

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There obviously will be. I'm saying you do what you can to meet that number because he has shown he is worth it. I know you have to build a complete team and am not suggesting you mortgage everything else for him, but I say go for it if whatever the number is ends up being within reach.