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....The following are the major disappointments I had about Sunday night's game.
1. First there is MYSELF. I vastly underestimated the Patriots until just before kickoff. Let me explain. When I was looking at the Pats chances in this game, I just couldn't think of a reasonable series of events that would allow them to win the game. In fact if they had lost by 2 TDs I wouldn't have been shocked. There were SO MANY reasons that played against them. This would be Cassel's first away game in a loud dome. It was Indy. The Pats were lacking their THREE top runners to go against the obvious weakness the Colts had (vs the run). The secondary was all banged up. And while the Colts offense has been less than impressive a lot of there problems have come with uncharacteristic dropped passes and tipped balls that fall right into defenders arms. I knew that against the Pats there WOULD Be no dropped passes and any tipped balls WOULDN'T fall conveniently in our arms. (BTW events would prove me right on this. I didn't like the match up of our OTs vs THERE outside pass rushers.
So, as I sat down to watch the game, I did so hoping that the Pats would keep the game competitive, at least till the second half. Now I am usually very upbeat about the Pats potential before games, even when they are underdogs. But then a thought occurred to me. The LAST time I felt this way about an impending game was back in 2003 or 2004 when a very beat up Pats team was going into St. Louis to play the best offense in the NFL with Troy Brown the starting nickel back. Well as we all remember the Pats WAXED the Rams that day. A day that saw Adam Venetieri rack up a PERFECT QB rating.
So while my brain was hoping that the Pats would at least keep it close, my heart wondered if they could repeat the effort they made several years ago and surprise everyone. OH WHAT A FICKLE FAN AM I!
2."J'accuse" Bill Bellichick - Well I wasn't happy with the lost timeouts he made, as a former coach, I can easily see how he made each decision. No my complaints about Bill's performance won't be the ones you will hear on talk Radio this week. The 2 things I would criticize are the following. A. I couldn't believe that for 4 quarters Bill DIDN'T challenge the Colt's CB's deep and to the outside. NOT ONCE...even in the red zone. B. For the first time, it looked to me that the most aggressive coach in the league was playing NOT to lose as opposed to playing to win. The BB that won 3 superbowls would have gone for it on that 4th down. The BB that has dominated the AFCE for 5 years would have at least have made an attempt to get a first down on the drive that led to the Pats first FG.
So while I thought the overall offensive game plan was well thought out,I thought the Pats left TWO big bullets unused in their gun by NOT testing the Colt's undersized CB's and NOT playing aggressively to win a game that on paper was a long shot to win.
3. "J'accuse" Jabar Gaffney for missing the easiest TD catch he will ever get. This was right up there with the Reche Caldwell drop. That being said, I'm sure he feels a lot worse about it than we do, and I doubt we will see it happen again.
4. "J'accuse" Ben Jarvis Green Ellis - If you want to stretch it a bit, you can blame HIM for the fiasco of that Thomas penalty that took the Pats OUT of FG range. It was cruely ironic that on THAT play for the FIRST TIME ALL YEAR, Green Ellis hesitated at the hole, which not only kept him from getting the first time, it also extended the play which led to the late hit. (BTW- there was no question IMHO that THAT WAS a late hit). Even fit he hadn't made the first down hitting the designated hole, the Pats STILL would have 3rd down to try it.
I know it sounds harsh to criticize him the same game that will probably end up benig his best game as a pro, but I couldn't believe that a guy who has hit EVERY hole HARD, every time, picked THAT play to dance around.
5: "J'ccuse" Dave Thomas, Hey Dave, those are the plays OTHER teams are supposed to make to the Pats, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. STUPID...STUPID...stupid!!!
6. "'accuse" James Sanders - Hey James it was YOUR missed tackle that enabled the Colts to get into FG range and pick up the winning score. That's YOUR job. Damned we got the WRONG Sanders I guess.
All that being said, I have to say that like most of you, even in defeat the game was pretty uplifting. Despite all the disadvantages and bad match ups going into the game, the Pats went into one of the most difficult venues in the NFL and did everything but win the game. In fact while the Colts played pretty well, it was the Pats who ended up GIVING them the game.
BTW- Kudo's to Mat Light and Matt Kazcur who pretty much won the match up battle with the 2 outside rushers of the Colts, and to Matt Cassel, who is now EXCEEDING all expectations. Once agan he showed a lot of poise and keeps gettng better every week. I guess you can say it was a pretty good week all around for every Pat named MATT. (OOOH I make a rhyme )
Also I can't leave without giving kudo's to the front 7 for completely shutting down the Colts running game, and while they didn't get the pressure on Manning that I would have liked, I thought the entire defense played pretty well.
Finally, in order to keep the bar raised, for those who might not know it, the term "J'accuse" refers to a famous newpaper article written by Emil Zola confronting the government about its misuse of power in sending an innocent man to rot in Devil's Island (Dreyfuss) prior to WWI. "J'accuse" (I accuse) was the headline.
Here is the Wikopedia version on what happended
1. First there is MYSELF. I vastly underestimated the Patriots until just before kickoff. Let me explain. When I was looking at the Pats chances in this game, I just couldn't think of a reasonable series of events that would allow them to win the game. In fact if they had lost by 2 TDs I wouldn't have been shocked. There were SO MANY reasons that played against them. This would be Cassel's first away game in a loud dome. It was Indy. The Pats were lacking their THREE top runners to go against the obvious weakness the Colts had (vs the run). The secondary was all banged up. And while the Colts offense has been less than impressive a lot of there problems have come with uncharacteristic dropped passes and tipped balls that fall right into defenders arms. I knew that against the Pats there WOULD Be no dropped passes and any tipped balls WOULDN'T fall conveniently in our arms. (BTW events would prove me right on this. I didn't like the match up of our OTs vs THERE outside pass rushers.
So, as I sat down to watch the game, I did so hoping that the Pats would keep the game competitive, at least till the second half. Now I am usually very upbeat about the Pats potential before games, even when they are underdogs. But then a thought occurred to me. The LAST time I felt this way about an impending game was back in 2003 or 2004 when a very beat up Pats team was going into St. Louis to play the best offense in the NFL with Troy Brown the starting nickel back. Well as we all remember the Pats WAXED the Rams that day. A day that saw Adam Venetieri rack up a PERFECT QB rating.
So while my brain was hoping that the Pats would at least keep it close, my heart wondered if they could repeat the effort they made several years ago and surprise everyone. OH WHAT A FICKLE FAN AM I!
2."J'accuse" Bill Bellichick - Well I wasn't happy with the lost timeouts he made, as a former coach, I can easily see how he made each decision. No my complaints about Bill's performance won't be the ones you will hear on talk Radio this week. The 2 things I would criticize are the following. A. I couldn't believe that for 4 quarters Bill DIDN'T challenge the Colt's CB's deep and to the outside. NOT ONCE...even in the red zone. B. For the first time, it looked to me that the most aggressive coach in the league was playing NOT to lose as opposed to playing to win. The BB that won 3 superbowls would have gone for it on that 4th down. The BB that has dominated the AFCE for 5 years would have at least have made an attempt to get a first down on the drive that led to the Pats first FG.
So while I thought the overall offensive game plan was well thought out,I thought the Pats left TWO big bullets unused in their gun by NOT testing the Colt's undersized CB's and NOT playing aggressively to win a game that on paper was a long shot to win.
3. "J'accuse" Jabar Gaffney for missing the easiest TD catch he will ever get. This was right up there with the Reche Caldwell drop. That being said, I'm sure he feels a lot worse about it than we do, and I doubt we will see it happen again.
4. "J'accuse" Ben Jarvis Green Ellis - If you want to stretch it a bit, you can blame HIM for the fiasco of that Thomas penalty that took the Pats OUT of FG range. It was cruely ironic that on THAT play for the FIRST TIME ALL YEAR, Green Ellis hesitated at the hole, which not only kept him from getting the first time, it also extended the play which led to the late hit. (BTW- there was no question IMHO that THAT WAS a late hit). Even fit he hadn't made the first down hitting the designated hole, the Pats STILL would have 3rd down to try it.
I know it sounds harsh to criticize him the same game that will probably end up benig his best game as a pro, but I couldn't believe that a guy who has hit EVERY hole HARD, every time, picked THAT play to dance around.
5: "J'ccuse" Dave Thomas, Hey Dave, those are the plays OTHER teams are supposed to make to the Pats, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. STUPID...STUPID...stupid!!!
6. "'accuse" James Sanders - Hey James it was YOUR missed tackle that enabled the Colts to get into FG range and pick up the winning score. That's YOUR job. Damned we got the WRONG Sanders I guess.
All that being said, I have to say that like most of you, even in defeat the game was pretty uplifting. Despite all the disadvantages and bad match ups going into the game, the Pats went into one of the most difficult venues in the NFL and did everything but win the game. In fact while the Colts played pretty well, it was the Pats who ended up GIVING them the game.
BTW- Kudo's to Mat Light and Matt Kazcur who pretty much won the match up battle with the 2 outside rushers of the Colts, and to Matt Cassel, who is now EXCEEDING all expectations. Once agan he showed a lot of poise and keeps gettng better every week. I guess you can say it was a pretty good week all around for every Pat named MATT. (OOOH I make a rhyme
)Also I can't leave without giving kudo's to the front 7 for completely shutting down the Colts running game, and while they didn't get the pressure on Manning that I would have liked, I thought the entire defense played pretty well.
Finally, in order to keep the bar raised, for those who might not know it, the term "J'accuse" refers to a famous newpaper article written by Emil Zola confronting the government about its misuse of power in sending an innocent man to rot in Devil's Island (Dreyfuss) prior to WWI. "J'accuse" (I accuse) was the headline.
Here is the Wikopedia version on what happended
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