side effect of all the passing in Minn.

[Va_Pats_Fan]

Dillon and LoMo are now very fresh vs the leagues worse run D.


300 yds anyone?

(ok, maybe not that much...)

 

[Willie55]

Plus, right now Dungy is scratching his head asking "are they going to pass or are they going to run?".

I think the Pats are going to run it at least 50 times to control the ball and clock.

 

[ironwasp]

Another side effect might be that Brady's throwing shoulder is a little sore.

I'd expect him to be no better than "probable" on tonight's injury list.

 

[shmessy]

Dillon and LoMo are now very fresh vs the leagues worse run D.


300 yds anyone?

(ok, maybe not that much...)

Excellent point. Now if the "well-rested" Daniel Graham can play that night, look out!

 

[Willie55]

That would be a mistake because against the COlts you cant risk errors and keep the game close.

Passing early,and often, putting points onthe board, forcing them to make mistakes is how to win this game.

They expect us to run...so we need to do the opposite.

Not again.

 

[mosi]

Excellent point. Now if the "well-rested" Daniel Graham can play that night, look out!

Exactly, that is what I thought. Why play Graham, our best run blocking TE when we are not going to run the ball. Get his healthy and angry for Indy

We should spread the Dolts out and run like hell. They won't know hit um!

 

[ironwasp]

That would be a mistake because against the COlts you cant risk errors and keep the game close.

Passing early,and often, putting points onthe board, forcing them to make mistakes is how to win this game.

They expect us to run...so we need to do the opposite.

They expect us to run because they know they can't stop it. They expected Mike Bell to run, and they couldn't stop him. They expected Travis Henry, and Maurice Jones-Drew and Fred Taylor to run and they couldn't stop it.

We should run all over their asses, because they won't be able to stop it. And the more we run the more the clock goes down and the longer that Manning and his crew get to watch us run.

 

[5 Rings for Brady!!]

Dillon has been suffering little stingers and shoulder bruises all year from what I can tell. He has left a few games. I think the extra bi-week will be great for him going into this game.

And Maroney may be fired up that he didn't get to make a name for himself in Minn. last week except on special teams.

 

[mgcolby]

I honestly don't beleive running the ball will actually kill the clock vs the Colts. When they give up 8-30 yards a pop it is hard to control the clock. Look at the Bell run at the end of the game on Sunday. Plus the Broncos threw the ball against them very well. Honestly, I think it will be a balanced attack this week in attempts. At times last week the Colts had 9 guys in the box for consecutive plays, if they do that against Brady they will get killed over the middle. If they don't, they will get killed by the run. It is a catch 22 for them.

I am not sure how many points the Colts will have but I don't think it will be more than 24 and I am leaning towards less than 20. The only way this game is close is if our Defense gets a case of miss tackles again.

One thing I am looking forward to seeing is the inevitable 30+ yard TD run by Maroney.

 

[Pat_Nasty]

That would be a mistake because against the COlts you cant risk errors and keep the game close.

Passing early,and often, putting points onthe board, forcing them to make mistakes is how to win this game.

They expect us to run...so we need to do the opposite.

What happened to all that stuff you were saying about attacking a defense's weaknesses, not its strength?

The Colts' weakness is interior rush defense. They are giving up an average of 167.9 yards per game, much of it right up the middles, especially on draws and delays. To not take advantage of this weakness of theirs would be suicide.

The Colts should start the game selling out vs. the run on every play, like they did against Denver. They're not a good enough unit to have the option of switching up on strategies. Thus, it does make sense to come out of the gates throwing, but out of our base running formation, and making liberal use of play-action. You keep this up until you've stopped the run blitzes, backed the safeties off the line, and slowed the LBs play recognition of the run.

Then, you gouge them on the ground, making them pay with play-action whenever they try to crowd the line again.

This is essentially the strategy that a bad Denver offense used to put up 31 points on the Colts (but with fewer bootlegs) and one that would have gotten them a lot more if Plummer could consistently hit the wide-open deep receivers he was seeing every time they ran the play action bootleg. Yes, it's a strategy that the Colts have seen before, but that's ok: you need surprise only against a good unit. Against a pitiful one like the Colts' D, you just punish their obvious weakness.

If we can use our running offense to score efficiently, it shouldn't necessarily "keep the game close" as you suggest. The more drives you give the Colts' offense, the higher their percentage percentage. If you keep the Colts' O off the field, you keep it from developing a rhythm, and increase the significance of each of our defenses stops.

 

[Willie55]

What's your problem. That was a legitimate response to the original post in this thread.

You have a prpoblem with it, then enlighten us as to what you would do instead of complaining to the Messenger.

Betow your wisom upon all of us.

I already said what I think, pound the ball at them 50 times.

And you post the same thing every week.

 

[BelichickFan]

They expect us to run...so we need to do the opposite.

Not sure about that, we usually come out aggressively against them. Running a lot would actually go against the grain of our normal game plan.

I actually don't care what we think about the first drive or what the Colts expect. I'm just glad that on 1st and 10 or 2nd and 6 in the 3rd quarter the Colts still won't know what we'll be doing.

 

[Pat_Nasty]

I honestly don't beleive running the ball will actually kill the clock vs the Colts. When they give up 8-30 yards a pop it is hard to control the clock. Look at the Bell run at the end of the game on Sunday. Plus the Broncos threw the ball against them very well. Honestly, I think it will be a balanced attack this week in attempts. At times last week the Colts had 9 guys in the box for consecutive plays, if they do that against Brady they will get killed over the middle. If they don't, they will get killed by the run. It is a catch 22 for them.

I am not sure how many points the Colts will have but I don't think it will be more than 24 and I am leaning towards less than 20. The only way this game is close is if our Defense gets a case of miss tackles again.

One thing I am looking forward to seeing is the inevitable 30+ yard TD run by Maroney.

The Colts defense will probably give up some big runs toward the end, sure. And yes, the Bronco's 48 yard run ended up hurting them because they left so much time on the clock. (Remember, though, that after that run, the Bells took turns slipping + falling untouched at the LOS on 1st and 2nd downs, ending the drive, and forcing them to settle for a FG.) But 30+ yard runs aren't going to be the norm.

But before that last drive of theirs, the Broncos had a touchdown drive of 8:54 seconds. If the Pats can sustain this kind of drive on the Colts early a few times, then one or two defensive stops can help build us a comfy lead.

 

[mgcolby]

Not sure about that, we usually come out aggressively against them. Running a lot would actually go against the grain of our normal game plan.

I actually don't care what we think about the first drive or what the Colts expect. I'm just glad that on 1st and 10 or 2nd and 6 in the 3rd quarter the Colts still won't know what we'll be doing.

:rocker: I can't wait for this game! I will be shocked if we actually have to punt and that would probably be a result of dropped passes.

 

[BelichickFan]

I can't wait for this game! I will be shocked if we actually have to punt and that would probably be a result of dropped passes.

I'm fully confident we can move the ball well either way. The reason I lean a little towards more running is that I would like to keep the Colt defense on the field, out physical them and see them simply not want to play by the start of the fourth quarter. I know we've struggled to run against top run defenses but the running game has dominated average or less run defenses and I shudder to imagine being a player on their defense trying to tackle Dillon early in the 4th on our 32nd or so carry of the game.

I don't undertand why NEM equates running with keeping the game close. If we score, we score. Whether it's with 8 passes and 2 runs or vice versa.

 

[rookBoston]

One side effect is that we've "outed" out ability to play over the top.

Until now, all the talking heads were convinced we were a 1D running team, spearheaded by Dillon and Moroney. That how we whupped Cinci, afterall, and how we'll handle the Colts, too, for my money.

Now, we've proven that the old CW 5-wide attack is still a weapon in the arsenal. And, in fact, this year we have more talent across the LOS in terms of great hands. Maybe not the same amount of quickness and raw speed (Bethel, Patten, Branch... all fast and quick), but Watson, Gaffney, Jackson all have good straightline speed.

 

[mgcolby]

The Colts defense will probably give up some big runs toward the end, sure. And yes, the Bronco's 48 yard run ended up hurting them because they left so much time on the clock. (Remember, though, that after that run, the Bells took turns slipping + falling untouched at the LOS on 1st and 2nd downs, ending the drive, and forcing them to settle for a FG.) But 30+ yard runs aren't going to be the norm.

But before that last drive of theirs, the Broncos had a touchdown drive of 8:54 seconds. If the Pats can sustain this kind of drive on the Colts early a few times, then one or two defensive stops can help build us a comfy lead.

Don't take this the wrong way, but how many Colts games have you actually watched from start to finish this season?

They usually give up the majority of their rushing yards in the first half and then in the second half they tighten up a bit. Usually because Manning scores on the first possesion and then the other team panicks and goes to the air. I am willing to bet that the Pats have 10 carries or more of 10+ yards.

My point was this: The Colts defense will actully determine the overall game plan. I truly believe that the Pats will go into this game knowing that they will be able to do what they want against the Colts defense and they will take what is being given to them. If Maroney and Dillon don't get tackled within 5 yards of LOS then it will be very difficult to control the clock. The Pats are going to score a lot of points this week unless the Colts suddenly learn how to tackle. And it they may score faster than would like, if there is such a thing.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

I fully expect that the Pats will be able to pick whichever style offense that they want and succeed wildly. I don't think it's going to matter whether they are passing the ball or running it just as long as they are scoring 7's and not 3's.

 

[BelichickFan]

I fully expect that the Pats will be able to pick whichever style offense that they want and succeed wildly.

To paraphrase Gresh from last night : "The Patriots won't be able to name their score (offensively) but it will be close to that".

 

[Pat_Nasty]

Don't take this the wrong way, but how many Colts games have you actually watched from start to finish this season?

They usually give up the majority of their rushing yards in the first half and then in the second half they tighten up a bit. Usually because Manning scores on the first possesion and then the other team panicks and goes to the air. I am willing to bet that the Pats have 10 carries or more of 10+ yards.

My point was this: The Colts defense will actully determine the overall game plan. I truly believe that the Pats will go into this game knowing that they will be able to do what they want against the Colts defense and they will take what is being given to them. If Maroney and Dillon don't get tackled within 5 yards of LOS then it will be very difficult to control the clock. The Pats are going to score a lot of points this week unless the Colts suddenly learn how to tackle. And it they may score faster than would like, if there is such a thing.

I've actually watched 4 of 7 Colts games all the way through this year. I watched @NYG, @NYJ (I live in NYC, it was the 1pm game before the Pats played the Bengals) , @WAS (Was on TV after Pats @ BUF) and the Denver game (went out to a sports bar to watch this one.)

I saw zero stiffening vs. the Jets, Giants, and obviously, vs. the Broncos. These teams all were picking up good yardage, fairly easily, on the ground in the 2nd half of games. This is not an unusual proposition, as teams usually have more success on the ground in the 2nd half, after wearing down the opposing defense.

If the Colts don't take a big lead and force the other team out of the run, they've been run on very well in the 2nd half of games. The only exception was vs. Jacksonville, where the Colts' D started selling out vs. the run entirely, and Leftwhich was unable to make them pay for it. I think Brady will do just fine if they start putting 9 in the box.

As for the "problem" of long runs making us score too quickly to control the clock: it's possible, but I'm not sure I'd call it probable. Against the Colts, clock control is as important in the first half -- where we're less likely to see 20+ yard runs -- as it is in the 2nd half. Teams have mounted 8+ minute drives on the Colts. Others have gotten impatient, and let the Colts' offense pressure them into feeling the need to score quickly. If we can be calm, and rip off some long scoring drives in the first half, we'll be in great shape for the 2nd.