Believe it or not, there was more to take from Sunday’s game than you may know. At least, we learned a lot more than “New England is the NFL’s best team” — though I should note that tidbit did almost make the list.
8. Penalties can kill a team — The Patriots nearly lost Sunday’s game because of penalties. Several got the attention of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady — Brady really lost his cool after a non-pass-interference call — and New England suffered. It was out of character for the Belichick-coached team to act so undisciplined.
7. Randy Moss can catch anything — His athleticism is simply amazing. Watching him snatch passes out of the air with one hand was alone worth the price of admission to Sunday’s game.
6. The Colts and Patriots will meet again — Watching these two teams, you know they’re the NFL’s two best teams. Both slipped up but they did it against a great opponent. Looking at how the season has played out to this point, no other team in the AFC, save perhaps Pittsburgh, has a shot at the AFC Championship.
5. Peyton Manning can be stopped — Again, he didn’t have a lot of time in the pocket. He’s a great NFL quarterback, but no one can throw the ball lying on the turf. Indianapolis will need to do a better job in the future, providing time for Manning.
4. The Patriots have weaknesses — Outside of the one above, it became clear Sunday Joseph Addai was Indianapolis’s X-Factor. He made a lot of key plays through dump-off passes and a solid running performances. In fact, he changed the entire face of the game when he sprinted away from tacklers on a 5 yard catch-turned-73 yard scamper.
3. Tom Brady is not infallible — Under pressure, Tom Brady makes the same mistakes any other quarterback in the NFL makes. He showed great poise in the pocket, but there were times when he was flushed and others when he had to hurry his throws. Teams with great defensive lines (Green Bay?) or blitzing schemes (Pittsburgh?) could fare well against the Patriots with a solid pass rush.
2. Indianapolis is on the same level as New England — Forget the final score in this game and concentrate on what happened. Indianapolis had the game essentially won, but the team fell apart a bit at the end. But they had the game in reach against the Patriots, something no team could say before this game.
1. It’s a toss-up who will win the rematch – Assuming these two teams meet in the playoffs (it’s not a guarantee, but it’s close), I don’t think it’s clear-cut who will win the game. Both have strength’s and both have weaknesses; each showed up to play despite injuries affecting them. Imagine the Colts with Harrison back on offense — it could make all the difference.
2 comments ↓
What we REALLY learned vis a vis penalties/officiating, is that the refereeing almost gave the Colts this game.
Without those ignominious ‘pass interferece’ calls, the Colts aren’t even close in this matchup.
I second that motion. The Patriots had a record day for penalties-against, but over half of those were on pass-interference calls that shouldn’t have happened. They were gifts to the Colts, who weren’t even able to fully capitalize on them.
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