Now that we’re through this past weekend’s slate of games, every pundit with an opinion is concentrating his or her efforts on next Sunday’s clash of the titans: Indianapolis vs. New England.
Also, in case you haven’t checked lately, the poll on the sidebar has changed, asking who you think we’ll win. It’s still early (the poll was just put up a day ago and the results are hardly important at this point), but New England has a slight edge at this point.
But getting back to the game, I think it’s interesting that everyone expects a high-scoring affair. Not that it won’t be; these are the NFL’s two best offenses squaring off, so it’s understandable most are predicting that kind of result.
But what if the game is a defensive battle, a slugfest in the trenches? (Okay, Indianapolis doesn’t have trenches, but you get the idea.) Remember, these are the NFL’s top two defenses going toe-to-toe, too.
Ultimately, something’s gotta give.
All week long we’re going to talk about Manning vs. Brady and (to a lesser degree) Belichick vs. Dungy. But real battle won’t involve those guys; it’s going to come down to who has better protection in the pocket, who can get a running game established, who can make the most of their drives. That’s not Manning vs. Brady. That’s Colts vs. Patriots. That’s o-line vs. d-line.
The Colts are going to bring blitz after blitz to force Brady to react hastily. They’re going to bring the heat and Brady’s going to taste the turf on a pretty frequent basis. The Colts will try to rattle him, force him into making a mistake.
Watch any New England game this season; Brady has more time in the pocket than any other quarterback in the NFL. It’s the biggest reason he’s been so successful this season — his offensive line has been stellar. The Colts will try to use their defensive speed (there’s a lot of it) to rush Brady while keeping his receivers in check. It’s not an easy task, but, hey, if they’re successful it’s a victory.
Not that New England will sit back and watch Manning pick them apart on defense. Belichick’s going to throw Manning a thousand different looks, hoping to confuse him. He’s a brilliant quarterback at the line of scrimmage — arguably the smartest quarterback in the NFL — but he’s been fooled before.
No matter how you look at it, Sunday’s game is going to be the most highly watched game of the regular season. It was the most anticipated game before the season began and that both teams are undefeated at this point is icing on the cake.
Who’ll win? It’s anyone’s guess at this point. But let your voice be heard by sounding off in the comments below and taking the poll in the sidebar if you haven’t already.
1 comment so far ↓
tom the link to the “”expert”" pick em doesnt actually work. it says click here and there’s nothing to click.
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