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What we learned from the Patriots-Colts battle (1 Viewer)

BustedKnuckles

Footballguy
The Pro Game

What we learned from the Patriots-Colts battle

By Tom Danyluk (danyluk1@yahoo.com)

Nov. 9, 2007

We learned three things from Colts-Pats ’07. Two about this year, one about next.

First, we learned that Belichick wanted to stay away from a shootout as much as Tony Dungy did. Even with the Indy offense operating at reduced strength, with Marvin Harrison in street clothes and a starting tackle on the sideline, everyone expected an aerial raid. Instead, we got foxholes and tank tracks. The Western Front … Maroney and Faulk and the Patriot line mashing into Indy’s nickel and its pair of backup linebackers.

It was a head-scratcher, New England’s lack of downfield boldness, mainly because the strategy fell right in line with the same slow-paced game that Indianapolis was trying to force. Time-eating marches. Field goals/punts, good; turnovers, bad. Like Parcells vs. Buffalo in Super Bowl XXV, “Just keep it close, fellas. We’ll find a way to win it at the end.” Which is exactly how it played out. Pats 24, Colts 20.

And that brings us to the second thing we learned from the game, and it’s not that those long heaves to Moss and Stallworth sure are pretty, but that the real reason New England survived was because it was able to muster a fourth-quarter pass rush and the Colts couldn’t.

There’s an old Bill Walsh quote that now bores me to tears, but it can still grab you when you see it come to life on the field. “A pass rush, late in the game, is the key to NFL football,” he once said.

And it was the Patriots’ rush, late in the action — Green and Vrabel and Seymour and Colvin, etc. — that pierced the Indy pocket and hauled down Peyton Manning and ripped away two priceless fumbles which eventually helped settle the matter.

Tom Brady, meanwhile, took his lumps early, a pair of lightning-quick sacks by Colts DE Robert Mathis that wrecked a couple of drives. But in the final minutes, when his team was starving for a big play, Brady was able to dodge an exhausted Colts front four and let a couple of deep ones fly. Moss grabbed one, Stallworth the other. Both set up touchdowns, i.e., Brady and his new toys, finding a way to win.

“They force you into playing perfect,” said Dungy, on how good New England has become.

And finally, the third thing we learned on Sunday — that it may be time for the Colts to do some reloading of their own. That it might be time for some new toys. Because when it comes to impact people, the real game-changers, right now the Patriot team has more of them.

The Colts have always moved cautiously when it comes to roster-building. They read the fine print. They balance the checkbook and are willing to let good players walk away instead of overpaying (Cato June, Dominic Rhodes, Nick Harper, etc.). And aside from PK Adam Vinatieri, they typically avoid shopping sprees and decorating the room with high-end free-agent imports.

“Mainly because we’ve made some big mistakes in the past,” said GM Bill Polian, in reference to a pricey defensive tackle named Corey Simon, who grabbed the money then fell apart. “We’re just not very good at it, so we stay away from things we’re not good at.” Build with the draft. That’s the Polian rule.

But Polian may have to become good at it if he wants to keep pace with the Belichick monster. Rookies take years to develop. If ever. Are the Colts sitting on that kind of time? Can they afford the wait?

Next season will be Manning’s 11th. He’s All-Pro today, but how much longer before he can’t make all the throws and the slide begins?

The Colts missed Harrison’s hands on Sunday, but next season will be his 13th and time is winning that battle. There’s an empty closet behind Joseph Addai at running back. And no one is really sure what they have in rookie slotman Anthony Gonzalez (one catch, one drop, injured thumb vs. Pats).

The tight ends are fine, and WR Reggie Wayne (eighth year in ’08) still draws a double-team, but over on the defense you’re talking about Bob Sanders and Dwight Freeney and a bunch of guys who can run a cover-2. That formula held up fine for three quarters on Sunday, while both teams were still in caution mode. Then things got serious. That’s when New England’s impact types took over.

The stakes have been raised in the AFC. They’ve been raised by Moss and Stallworth and Welker and Adalius Thomas, and the defending champs have taken one to the chin. Question is, what are they going to do about it?

We won’t learn that answer in Foxborough, in January. We’ll find out during the Polian offseason.

The Pro Game’s Fab Five

5) Green Bay (7-1) — Finally, some high-level insight on the Packers’ magical start. The question was posed to coach Mike McCarthy, post-K.C. victory. “A lot of people are probably asking how you’re 7-1. Is there an easy answer?” ... “We’ve won seven games,” he explained. ... I ran this past a University of Chicago PhD. He did a few quick calculations. Then he said he’d get back to me.

4) Pittsburgh (6-2) — The Steelers rained fire from the sky against punchless Baltimore, but can someone please explain why they marched Ben Roethlisberger back into action after he suffered that whack on the hip in the second half? A 38-7 lead not enough? What, was Steve McNair going to hit 45 flutterballs in a row and somehow ugly the Ravens back into it?

3) Dallas (7-1) — Tony Romo has thrown 23 interceptions in his short little career. Over 25 percent of them have come against the New York Football Giants. If he turns it over again this Sunday in the Meadowlands, then I’ll have no choice but to announce a formal investigation on the matter.

2) Indianapolis (7-1) — CBS’s Jim Nance, on Addai: “He’s got this wiggle and this hip-hop move that, to me, is like the second coming of Barry Sanders.” I’ve also been told that exaggeration is to paint a snake and add legs.

1) New England (9-0) — More Pats-Colts. Neither team made a big deal about it, but I didn’t like the officiating when the ball was in the air last Sunday. I saw TE Dallas Clark smother Rodney Harrison on an endzone play and no flag. I saw terrific coverage on deep routes by Ellis Hobbs and Asante Samuel, both drawing interference calls. I saw Gary Brackett get away with hooking Faulk and a phantom pushoff by Moss and, if the NFL ever released the information, I’d really like to see how the officiating crew graded out on this one.

:confused:

 

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