Colts fan here: NOT TROLLING. Seeking info on Pats

[hwc]

The Colts are a run-of-the-mill very good team, one that comes along almost every season and usually wins the SB that year.

The Colts are better than that. They've had the dominant offense in the NFL for quite a few years now.

 

[cbear]

I expect Dungy to play Tampa 2, leave Sanders back in coverage, and try to stop Moss. It's really suicide to not do that. At least you force the Pats to make long drives. The problem is they have scored a TD on 78% of the drives starting back behind their own 20 -- 80 yards or more.

I think the Colts will play nickel for much of the game. How they do it will be interesting. Against NO in the first game, we played with an extra safety and basically played him in the LB position (either Sanders or Giordano). In other games when facing multiple WRs, we've kept Sanders deep and had Jackson play the slot with Jennings and Hayden playing the corners.

Personally, I'd like to start Giordano at safety with Bethea and have them play deep. Bring Sanders up into that hybrid (OLB, slot coverage) area. He can pick up the slot man or play the run.

 

[Double G]

One thing your defense will NOT be able to do; play eight in the box with Sanders on top of the LOS not respecting the deep ball like in the AFCCG last year.

Who could blame him; our one and only deep threat last year had hands of stone all game long. Play eight in the box, you will get torched deep; play cover two and the Patriots will run the ball down your throat.

AND, good luck covering Stallworth deep and Moss deep; Welker will kill you underneath.

Your defense will have it's hands full to say the least.

Also, good luck if you get in a shootout with us; Marvin looks like he is finally showing his age with the bad wheel, so the focus will be on Reggie and Dallas and AD will take care of Dallas.

Good luck Sunday ladies...........

 

[hwc]

hwc, zone blocking? I don't recall them doing that before.

Right. They've been primarily a power running team before this year. The zone blocking is a new wrinkle.

They don't use it exclusively. They still run power running plays with blocking designed to attack a specific point on the line. But, they also mix in zone blocking and allow the backs to read the blocking and make one cut upfield.

It has not been discussed much (you know, the media is too busy with BS stories to actually talk football), so I can't give you any kind of percentage breakdown.

The main difference with the Pats this year? Randy Moss. He puts unbearable pressure on a defense because, if you don't double him, it's seven points...almost guaranteed. Think about the impact of Marvin Harrison on your team. You force a defense to always double one WR and other things open up all over the field. You've only got 11 guys. Reggie Wayne may be getting the catches in a given game, but it all starts with the pressure Harrison puts on the defense. Same with Moss, except that he's even more dangerous because he can outleap double or triple coverage. He's a total freak. I've never seen anything like him.

 

[cbear]

-Both. Welker and Stallworth are in my opinion elite YAC guys. Welker never goes down with the first hit and runs with very low pad height. Stallworth is blazing fast, agile, and has very good vision in the open field. He accelerates very well in and out of his cuts with the ball in his hand, and unless bracketed after the catch, he is very dangerous.

If you are trying to anticipate what the patriots will do, do a SWOT of the colts and cross-reference that with what I wrote. It will give you a pretty good idea of what the patriots will do.

This may be the key to the game ie. Pats O vs. Colts D. The Colts lead the league in passes allowed under 7 yards (I think it was around there), but also lead the league in passes over 20. The reason is that they almost never allow YAC. And that's not hyperbole either. They have three of the best tackling secondary players I've seen in a while (Jackson, Hayden, Sanders, and Bethea is pretty good as well).

They'll give up receptions for sure. But if they can limit the YAC, it may slow you down abit. If Welker and Stallworth get the amount they have been, you'll probably be in the 30s again.

Also, what is SWOT?

 

[jays52]

Also, what is SWOT?

Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats

 

[Nordy]

This may be the key to the game ie. Pats O vs. Colts D. The Colts lead the league in passes allowed under 7 yards (I think it was around there), but also lead the league in passes over 20. The reason is that they almost never allow YAC. And that's not hyperbole either. They have three of the best tackling secondary players I've seen in a while (Jackson, Hayden, Sanders, and Bethea is pretty good as well).

They'll give up receptions for sure. But if they can limit the YAC, it may slow you down abit. If Welker and Stallworth get the amount they have been, you'll probably be in the 30s again.

Also, what is SWOT?

SWOT = Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats


edit: beaten to it

 

[cbear]

They can win games 3-0 or 49-28.

How do you think they will react if it is 13-10 with 3:00 left in the game? I ask because the Pats remind me of the Colts a couple years ago. We were winning pretty, winning easily. We went no where in the PO. Last year, we were winning ugly, nothing was easy. Whether that made them battle tested or not, I don't know, but we end up winning all the close games in the PO then the SB.

Do you think the Pats relatively easy wins may have soften them if they start to face some adversity in the 4th q?

 

[Double G]

Nope, they already have faced adversity this year; they trailed the Cowboys in the second half and basically put the wood to them and blew them out of the building the rest of the way.

Nice thought though, but nope.

 

[Nordy]

How do you think they will react if it is 13-10 with 3:00 left in the game? I ask because the Pats remind me of the Colts a couple years ago. We were winning pretty, winning easily. We went no where in the PO. Last year, we were winning ugly, nothing was easy. Whether that made them battle tested or not, I don't know, but we end up winning all the close games in the PO then the SB.

Do you think the Pats relatively easy wins may have soften them if they start to face some adversity in the 4th q?

You realize this is the same team that won Super Bowls with last minute field goals right?

 

[cbear]

One thing your defense will NOT be able to do; play eight in the box with Sanders on top of the LOS not respecting the deep ball like in the AFCCG last year.

Right. I doubt you see him there very often.

Who could blame him; our one and only deep threat last year had hands of stone all game long. Play eight in the box, you will get torched deep; play cover two and the Patriots will run the ball down your throat.

We'll see.

AND, good luck covering Stallworth deep and Moss deep; Welker will kill you underneath.

Your defense will have it's hands full to say the least.

Also, good luck if you get in a shootout with us; Marvin looks like he is finally showing his age with the bad wheel, so the focus will be on Reggie and Dallas and AD will take care of Dallas.

Yes, please tell this to your DC as well. Marvin is old and not a threat.

Good luck Sunday ladies...........

Good luck to you well Doris.

 

[cbear]

You realize this is the same team that won Super Bowls with last minute field goals right?

A lot of the players that are such big contributors haven't been in such situations before. I'm wondering how they will react.

 

[hwc]

How do you think they will react if it is 13-10 with 3:00 left in the game?

This game won't be 13-10.

The Colts can't hold the Pats offense to less than two touchdowns and the Pats can't hold the Colts offense to less than two touchdowns. Ain't gonna happen.

I expect both teams to score at least 30.

Read what I said earlier. On drives starting behind their own 20 yard line this year, the Pats have scored touchdowns on 11 of 14 attempts. They have not only been scoring, they've been moving the ball up and down the field at will. Nobody has even really slowed them down. The only time they punt is when they stop themselves with a dropped pass to a wide open receiver or a holding penalty.

 

[Nordy]

A lot of the players that are such big contributors haven't been in such situations before. I'm wondering how they will react.

I'm sure they'll go hide in the locker room.

 

[cbear]

Nope, they already have faced adversity this year; they trailed the Cowboys in the second half and basically put the wood to them and blew them out of the building the rest of the way.

Nice thought though, but nope.

They trailed early in the third I believe. I'm thinking about what might happen if the game was close coming down the stretch. I realize it's a silly question to ask Pats fans (I'm sure Colts fans would react the same way), but I'm just wondering if not being tested at all up to this point might be a detriment in a close game.

 

[cbear]

This game won't be 13-10.

The Colts can't hold the Pats offense to less than two touchdowns and the Pats can't hold the Colts offense to less than two touchdowns. Ain't gonna happen.

I expect both teams to score at least 30.

Read what I said earlier. On drives starting behind their own 20 yard line this year, the Pats have scored touchdowns on 11 of 14 attempts. They have not only been scoring, they've been moving the ball up and down the field at will. Nobody has even really slowed them down. The only time they punt is when they stop themselves with a dropped pass to a wide open receiver or a holding penalty.

I agree. It was a hypothetical. I should have said 34-31 coming down the stretch. I'd be surprised if either team was under 30.

 

[cbear]

I'm sure they'll go hide in the locker room.

Please don't pull the disrepect card. It was not a put down. It is a legitimate question. We were blowing everyone out a couple years ago and when it came to the big, tight games, we did not respond well. As opposed to last year where we had to fight for every win. Just wondering how Pats fans honestly think their team will react in a close game down the stretch.

 

[PlattsFan]

The Cowboys game is a great one to look at the Pats mindset when challenged. Coming into the second half, which the Cowboys supposedly owned this year, the 'Boys scored a TD to go up and had all the momentum. The Patriots then methodically marched down the field on a looong scoring drive to take back control of the game and basically never let the Cowboys up for air after that. It was at that point where I went from, "I think this Patriots team is historically great" to, "Oh my lord, this team is going to lay waste to this league." They just put a whipping on the Cowboys in front of their home crowd when the game got real. The Cowboys challenged, and the Patriots responded like the 'Boys insulted their mamas.

Again, no offense to the Colts, whom I actually like, but I don't see them sticking with the Pats into the 4th quarter. Could be wrong, maybe the Pats will not play as well as they can, but ... I don't think so.

 

[hwc]

Again, no offense to the Colts, whom I actually like, but I don't see them sticking with the Pats into the 4th quarter. Could be wrong, maybe the Pats will not play as well as they can, but ... I don't think so.

Depends on turnovers. If the game is played straight up without turnovers, kick returns for TDs, etc...it will be close for a while, but the Pats will win by at least 14.

But, ya never know. These are two really fantastic football teams and we know from past games that just about anything could happen.

What makes these games so difficult to predict is that they are "self-correcting". If one team falls significantly behind, the normally patient QBs can put the throttle down and catch up in a hurry. In other words, you can stop Manning or Brady some of the time because they won't try to force the ball into tight places. But, it is much more difficult to stop a "now we have to go for broke" Manning or a "now we have to go for broke" Brady. That's what happened in the AFC Championship game and the Pats defense was just too worn down from injuries and no playoff bye week. They ran out of gas.

 

[Triggerfish]

The BIG difference, though, is the Defensive Line. The Colts, I think, will be able to get some kind of pass rush only bringing 4 (which is what you have to do.) Know this-- bringing an extra guy to blitz Brady will yield very bad results. So in many ways, if you see you're not able to get a solid pass rush with 4 linemen, then you can assume you'll be losing the game. At least that's my take.

I'll leave more detailed observations for others. I'm not as technically knowledgeable a fan as many people.

Actually I think you pretty much nailed it on this part. The biggest reason the Pats have been so successful this year in the passing game is that fact that NO team has yet figured out a way to get pressure on Brady. As you stated, defenses can't afford to blitz extra guys, as that will leave coverage breakdown somewhere downfield that Brady can exploit. The key to disrupting NE's offense is to try to get pressure on Brady blitzing 4. If they bring a 5th or 6th guy, they better be damn fast or the end result will likely be bad. There's few teams in the NFL today that are capable to doing this though. It's gonna take a D with strong/fast/creative blitz schemes to rattle Brady. Otherwise, he'll continue to do what he's doing. Sitting in the pocket and taking his good ol' time to find one of his receivers, who due to their superior skill levels, will eventually get open.