Turnovers:
Patriots 0, Colts 3
Running Game:
Patriots: 39 carries for 210 yards; 5.4 yards per carry; 1 TD; zero fumbles
Colts: 15 carries for 46 yards; 3.0 yards per carry; 0 TD; 1 fumble lost
Time of Possession:
Patriots: 37:43 (62.9%); plus 15:26
Colts: 22:17 (37.1%)
Here are links and excerpts from a couple of neutral city post-game columnists.
Bruschi Bruises Indy | New York Post
The play looked rather routine. Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi tackled running back Dominic Rhodes, who had just caught a second-quarter Peyton Manning screen pass.
But when Bruschi popped up, he turned toward the Indianapolis bench and presented it with another surprise on a stunning day. He showed it the football.
Save a two-minute drill at the end of the half, Bruschi and the Patriots defense got the Colts every time. New England held its visitors to its lowest point total since Manning arrived seven years ago and rolled Indianapolis 20-3 in yesterday’s AFC playoff game at Gillette Stadium.
As usual, Bruschi led the defense, forcing a fumble and recovering two. He also hopped and yapped after every big play, taunting some Colts he felt disrespected the Pats with well-publicized comments leading up to the game.
Yesterday’s set of big plays started when he wrestled with Rhodes. Reading the screen, Bruschi shed Colts center Jeff Saturday and hit Rhodes for what appeared to be a two-yard loss. But Bruschi wagged the ball toward the Colts sideline, and officials signaled Patriots possession, ending Indy’s best drive to that point.
In the fourth quarter, he helped seal the game in the secondary. Reggie Wayne caught a Manning pass over the middle and ran into Pats safety Rodney Harrison, whose hit jarred the ball loose. It had barely bounced before Bruschi fell on it.
The Patriots Deliver Yet Another Cold Slap to Manning | The New York Times
The Colts entered the game with the most decorated offense in recent league history. The Patriots walked onto the field with a secondary built with patchwork and guts. But after a season in which Manning threw a record 49 touchdown passes, he could not even muster one against New England.
But on Sunday, with three defensive starters out with injuries -- cornerbacks Ty Law and Tyrone Poole and end Richard Seymour -- New England still knocked the Colts' receivers around once they emerged from their 5-yard cushion. The Patriots used linebackers, the young cornerbacks Asante Samuel and Randall Gay, and even the receiver-turned-cornerback Troy Brown to disrupt the Colts' routes.
"What are they going to do next?" Brown said of league officials' decision to reinforce the illegal-contact rule this season.
Then there was the snow, which, as it did in the championship game last season, swarmed into the stadium, falling in damp clumps.
"It played right into our hands," said Patriots safety Rodney Harrison, who intercepted Manning's final pass of the game. "He wasn't the same. It's not 70 degrees inside. It's not a dome."
Horse Whisperers | ESPN Page Two
This was about respect. This was about four letters ("team") meaning more than five letters ("stats"). This was about a great team taking care of business at home, because that's what great teams do.
Patriots Cold-C#ck Colts | Washington Post
The New England Patriots had heard the predictions of their postseason demise from the naysayers who said they couldn't stop Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning and his stable of big-play performers.
But these are the champions, playing at home, and on a snowy, emotional Sunday afternoon, the Patriots kept hope alive for a third Super Bowl title in four years with a methodical 20-3 victory that ended Manning's dream season with yet another nightmare finish.
"I told someone today I felt like there had been more hype over this game than there was for the Super Bowl last year," Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said. "There was a lot of doubt about it, and it ticked us off more and more. It ticked us off that no one gave us respect. I couldn't even sleep last night."
Manning, who passed for an NFL record 49 touchdowns in the regular season, is 0-7 against the Patriots in Foxboro ...
The Patriots prevailed Sunday mostly because their offense became their best defense. Three of their four scoring drives covered 78, 87 and 94 yards and consumed 9:07, 8:16 and 7:24. It must have seemed like an eternity to Manning and his offense, bundled up against the cold on the sideline and unable to get back onto the field as the Patriots marched toward the goal line.
Sounds like a guy that would have been in Shannon Sharpe's chair today lol
