Monday
Opinion, Top PostsInside Slants: Colts’ defense in tough against Patriots
ADRIAN BRIJBASSI
NFLPosts.com Editor
All the hype about the Colts-Patriots will surround the quarterbacks — for good reason. It’s defense – particularly Indianapolis’s battered one — that will be the biggest factor in the outcome, however.
Starting defensive backs Marlin Jackson, Bob Sanders and Kelvin Hayden are all out for the game (Jackson and Sanders are done for the year). Rookies Jerraud Powers and Jacob Lacey will start at cornerback while third-year pro Melvin Bullitt will fill in for Sanders at safety.
At 8-0, the Colts are still working on a dream season. For how much longer, though, is uncertain. They head into this week’s big game giving a field goal against the point spread, but it’s clear this contest could be a mismatch in New England’s favor because of the injuries in the secondary.
The Patriots (6-2) have won five of six games and, after a slow start, Tom Brady ranks third in passing yards in the NFL. New England has made a point of throwing downfield since its Week 5 loss at Denver. At that point, the Patriots had yet to hit a completion of 40 yards or more. They’ve accomplished that feat in each of their three games since and have won all three. When they go long, some balls are forced and interceptions result, other times Randy Moss makes a scintillating grab and the risk seems worth it.
Against Powers and Lacey, you know Brady and Moss will be looking for the big play. No matter that the Colts’ Cover 2 defense has helped them stay perfect – no one has yet invented a Cover 81 defense. Moss could go off again this week because of his talent and chemistry with Brady as well as the confusion the Patriots are famous for creating.
In Sunday’s 27-17 win over Miami, New England rolled out 14 different personnel groupings during the course of 42 first-half snaps. As Dolphins cornerback Jason Allen said, “You really never know what to expect.”
On the other side of the ball, Peyton Manning will be looking to pick on a cornerback quartet that has been effective despite limitations in talent. Leigh Bodden, Jonathan Wilhite, Darius Butler and Shawn Springs are in a four-man rotation that’s helped the Patriots rank seventh overall and fourth against the pass.
Manning continues to pile up the yards – he had his seventh 300-yard game of the season in Sunday’s 20-17 win over Houston – but the Colts have only totaled 38 points in their last two games, both of which were at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Facing an arch-rival with a sputtering offense and an injury-riddled defense? That’s not how Manning or first-year coach Jim Caldwell wanted to go into face Bill Belichick – unbeaten record or not.
“I think the one thing about that game is you’ve got to play a great game to win,” Brady said. “You can’t go out there and play your B game, because you won’t beat those guys.”
You know the Colts feel the same way about the Patriots. Unfortunately for them, much of the ingredients of their A game will be watching this one from the sidelines.
Colts-Patriots Rivalry History
Since Bill Belichick took over as New England coach in 2000, the Colts and Patriots have have faced each other 13 times and have met every year except 2002. The Patriots own an 8-5 record head-to-head and are 2-1 against Indianapolis in the playoffs. But that one postseason loss occurred in one of the greatest games in NFL history, when Peyton Manning put together an 80-yard game-winning drive in the AFC Championship Game on January 21, 2007. The Colts went on to win the Super Bowl.
Here are the results of those 13 meetings (*denotes playoff game):
October 8, 2000: Patriots, 24-16 at New England
October 22, 2000: Colts, 30-23 at Indianapolis
September 30, 2001: Patriots, 44-13 at New England
October 21, 2001: Patriots, 38-17 at Indianapolis
November 30, 2003: Patriots, 38-34 at Indianapolis
*January 18, 2004: Patriots, 24-14 at New England
September 9, 2004: Patriots, 27-24 at New England
*January 16, 2005: Patriots, 20-3 at New England
November 7, 2005: Colts, 40-21 at New England
November 5, 2006: Colts, 27-20 at New England
*January 21, 2007: Colts, 38-34 at Indianapolis
November 4, 2007: Patriots, 24-20 at Indianapolis
November 2, 2008: Colts, 18-15 at Indianapolis
FOUR AND OUT
Proof of disorder in the universe: The movie “2012”, which predicts the end of the world (one guess in what year), begins on Friday the 13th but the real scary thing is news that you can now buy and sell derivatives based on movie box-office receipts. The Cantor Exchange allows people to “invest” in a film’s performance. So, that’s what all those Wall Street types who lost their jobs have been up to.
You know you’re an evil Republican if…: Your name is Chuck DeVore and you’re running to be a California senator and you can’t come up with an original campaign slogan yourself so you rip off Don Henley, who also happens to support the other side. DeVore wrote new lyrics for “The Boys of Summer” and “All She Wants to Do Is Dance”, posted videos of his versions on YouTube and is being sued by Henley for using the songs without permission.
iPhone app you’ll never be able to live without: RedLaser ($1.99). Need to see if that 42-inch HDTV is cheaper across town? Just select this app, hold it up to the bar code and it will return comparable pricing. Then show it to the nearest sales clerk and tell him to give you the lowest price. Too bad it doesn’t work with the beer you get on a barstool.
Coolest song of the week: Working on a Dream by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (last week: Texas Flood by Stevie Ray Vaughn)
Like this guy’s work? Hate it? Read more.
