When next we meet.... (Pats v Colts AFC Championship Game)

by The Pip

Things that WILL be different when the Patriots and Colts play again in the playoffs:

1) Penalties: let's assume the refs were 100% dead on right with every single call. Do you honestly think the Patriots will make that many mistakes against the Colts again? No way. Alter this aspect early in a game and we have a blowout on our hands.

2) Addai: do you think the Patriots will completely forget how to tackle again this season? No way. Again, change this = blow out

3) Harrison: yes this had an impact, but the Pats have won all three super bowls by over coming injuries. Much was made about the changing of roles between the teams. How each had developed the other's style of play. The Colts forgot a key aspect of the Patriot Way: how to handle injuries. Brady, Bruschi, Samuel, and Watson all got their jobs by playing well when someone else got injured. Colvin missed the entire 2003 season. Seymour and Harrison were gone for most of last year, the list goes on and on.

4) Foxborough: yes the style the Colts play will put them in a better position to win in bad weather, but Foxborough is not their home. The crowd noise will be against them and weather is always an issue for a team that plays in a dome. There is a reason the Patriots always volunteer to play that Saturday night game in the post-season.

5) Manning face: he had that look on his face again. That look of defeat, dismay and a total lack of understanding of how this happened AGAIN. The psychological edge for the Patriots has been re-established. The air of invincibility has been restored. Honestly, I saw it on his face on the sidelines during the first quarter of the game. He may have forgotten he's passed this challenge previously. This makes me sad, because I want a championship level rivalry, but instead we have the old beaten-down Manning back.

So the Pats had all these dis-advantages yesterday, even if you call them poor play (tackling and penalties), heck ESPECIALLY if you call them poor play, it goes to show the Colts are not in the same league as the Pats. The only thing they have to hope for is being less injured, and this is the NFL, learn to deal with injuries or learn to lose.

Oh No RomoDraft Pick

759 days ago

Score 2

It's a shame that we always have to talk about the Colts and the Patriots. Why not talk about the Browns, they might be the biggest surprise in the AFC.

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Tyrone BriggsHall of Famer

759 days ago

Score 0

Blame LeBron.

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The PipDiv-I Stud

759 days ago

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Browns or Lions. Both are great stories, except the lions will end tragically, due to kitna being kitna. I've been down this road when he was in Cincy, trust me Lions fans, close your eyes. I got laughed at on another message board a month ago when I called the Browns a playoff team. LAUGHED AT, who's laughing now? They are the story of the year and are building for the future. Winslow is for real, their QB who's name I cannot even remember is good, braylon edwards and a resurgent Jamal Lewis. The Browns have been built for a good 4 year run.

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Steel TownDraft Pick

759 days ago

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I can not even begin to understand how you could have actually seen yesterday's game and come to this conclusion. The conclusion I came to was that the Colts are in the same league as the Pats and that both teams are beatable.

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False ProphetAll-Star

759 days ago

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how about the fact that the Colts have to go to NE to play them next time, and In the past two games between them, Peyton has had a look of vulnerability on his face. In the AFC Championship game, he couldn't bare to watch the final drive b/c he thought, like almost everyone else, that it was about to be a Brady comeback for a TD. This time, Peyton couldn't believe that he could let a lead slip from his hands so easily.

And of course they look beatable when they are essentially division rivals they play so often, so the gameplan is way more in depth and multi-faceted for each other than most teams. They also have high powered offenses, and defenses that can come up big. The pats lost the Championship game on Defense last year. This time, the Colts lost on defense.

I'll say it here, which ever defense is in the best shape come January will win

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False ProphetAll-Star

759 days ago

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Also, the Colts brought their A game. Manning was near flawless till the end, the Defend had the clamps on the pats till the fourth quarter, and Addai was a beast.

The Pats brought their B or C game. Matt Light got beat by Freeny all day, Brady was not on top of his game, and the entire offense was sloppy.

And yet, the team with their B game won over the team with their A game.

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The PipDiv-I Stud

759 days ago

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Let's see: on the road, comeback victory, played like crap for 50 minutes We must have watched different games. This was the best opportunity for a team to beat the Pats and it did not happen. The stars were aligned but somehow it fell apart. Re-watch those last 2 drives and tell me which team looked more like the defending super bowl champs. This team can score at will, good luck NFL. Maybe an all-pro team can beat them, we should play a CFL style pro-bowl to find out.

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DNLLegend

759 days ago

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Addai will rush for 100+ yards next time they meet. It was a calculated risk, focusing on letting him rush and not letting Peyton beat you.

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The PipDiv-I Stud

759 days ago

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I see your theory and it makes sense. It's in character for Bellichick, but I really don't think he wanted him to get 200 yards total offense. Knowing BIll, he'll have a different game plan next time, because you knowDungy will. It is a chess match between grand masters, just one team is not playing with the weapons the other team is.

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False ProphetAll-Star

759 days ago

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no, I think Dan's right. BB has a history of weapon selecting. The genius of his defense against multi-faceted offenses is that instead of trying to shut them out, he'll pick a weapon that he thinks he can keep control of without shutting it down, and force them to use it. It works b/c it prevents, as Dan said, Peyton from being like Brady this year and throwing on every down, which the Pats will have trouble stopping.

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