Official Colts vs Pats GameDay Thread (plus that other game)

[ISiddiqui]

One of the things I find amusing everytime I see the Pats is seeing Kevin Faulk stand next to that behemoth offensive line.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Originally Posted by Crapshoot

"". Maybe its just me, but every time I watch Matt Light I'm impressed - he comes across as one of the best tackles in football. Dwight Freeney makes mincemeat out of most people, but he seemed to be contained (For the most part) today.

I agree. He does have some stinker games every now and then (cue Jason Taylor). But for the most part he has been a steady, usually healthy, solid guy at LT who shuts down top guys a lot. His dominance of Merriman last week was outstanding. Some say he got a lot of help in that game (including Merriman) but if you watch the game over again (like I did), he did mostly all by himself.

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by Vinatieri for Prez

. . . 0h, and I will be able to keep the vinatieri4prez handle.

I just figured that you had become a Colts fan.

[kcchief19]

Originally Posted by Vinatieri for Prez

You mean like when he said: "It was a very tough football game against a good team. You've got to give the Colts credit. They made more plays than we did and they deserved to win. It was about as competitive a game as you can get. They just made a couple more plays than we did."

Yeah, real classless.

That sounds more like from the press conference thaan the post-game interview with Solomon Wilcotts. The post-game interview was a disaster.

Anybody ask him about blowing off Manning?

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by kcchief19

That sounds more like from the press conference thaan the post-game interview with Solomon Wilcotts. The post-game interview was a disaster.

Anybody ask him about blowing off Manning?

Agreed. It was horrible. And watching him blow off Manning was ridiculous. It would have taken about five seconds for Beli to congratulate Manning and wish him well, instead he just brushes him off like he was nothing.

I'm glad Brady did the handshake with Peyton and then went off. I agree with you Huck, that it's good for a star to shake hands and then get the hell off for the other team. I was just surprised they didn't show the handshake between Manning and Brady. Were I CBS, that's the one I really would have wanted to get. (on a sidenote, it's good that I agree with you since you and IMTG are the only guys who know football on the board)

Some other quick hits on the game:

Tony Romo, if you were watching the game, that's how you act as a leader. Brady didn't cry on the sideline while the game was still in progress. He was his cool, calculated self with one minute left in the game. You can learn a lot from him.

The Pats OLine was great, but I still think the most underrated thing about the Pats is their DLine. You could tell they weren't right yesterday, yet they put a ton of pressure on Manning for a majority of the game.

I'm stunned the Patriots didn't run the ball more. I know the Colts started stepping up in the second half, but I truly expected a 12-15 carry day from both Dillon and Maroney as opposed to 15 total carries.

The one solid area on special teams for the Colts besides Adam V. was the play of Hunter Smith. He made some important kicks in the game and made a solid save to hold the ball on one of the FG attempts.

I agree that if the Pats had Branch, this may have been a different game.

Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne did not have great games. The Harrison drop on that deep ball was about as bad as it gets.

Dallas Clark is one tough mofo.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by RedKingGold

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Signed,
Everyone who picked against the Patriots today

Oops.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by VPI97

Pats aren't going to blow an 18 point lead. Won't happen.

D'oh!

[stevew]

Brady's all about getting sucked off in the center of the field when he wins.



But when he loses, he runs to the lockerroom like a crybaby CU next tuesday. 3 bowls, 9 point differential....luckiest team in history.

[stevew]

It's okay when you throw a walk off interception Tommy Boy.

[SirFozzie]

except you're smoking crack, he congratulated Manning and a couple others then got off the field so the Colts could celebrate.

[stevew]

At least Manning got the blessing from the lord Jesus Christ after the game.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

except you're smoking crack, he congratulated Manning and a couple others then got off the field so the Colts could celebrate.

I guess I missed that as the cameras traced Manning for 5 minutes, while Tommy Boy was never in the frame...or if he was, he must have sprinted past him.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

The curse ... IS ...OVER !!!

And with the biggest comeback in conference championship history no less.

Not if they lose 35-10 in the Super Bowl it's not.

[SirFozzie]

Originally Posted by stevew

I guess I missed that as the cameras traced Manning for 5 minutes, while Tommy Boy was never in the frame...or if he was, he must have sprinted past him.

Then you missed what other people in this thread saw as well. *shrugs*

[Draft Dodger]

that Manning guy seems like he'd be good in commercials. hopefully, he'll get some endorsement deals out of this increased exposure.

[stevew]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Then you missed what other people in this thread saw as well. *shrugs*

I guess I must have. Cause I was looking for him to go give the handshake, and I just didn't see it happen. 33 pictures of Yahoo photos, none of which are like the "Hey Brady, nice Game" Rivers/Jets QB photos. Oh well.

I will admit that I was shocked he threw that pick, since he's stone cold in the clutch. Maybe it's just vs my guys though.

[Butter]

Wondering if the Pats fans were rooting extra hard for the win here to try to exact revenge for the 46-10 Super Bowl loss to da Bears. Not that you need a reason to root to get to the Super Bowl, but you know there would've been Fridge and Grogan highlights 16 times a day for 2 weeks leading up to that one.

[Ksyrup]

I'm wondering if we're seeing Marvin Harrison fall off a cliff the last month or so. I think I've seen more dropped passes/confused plays from him in the past several games than in his entire career. Maybe it's just a bad string of games, or maybe he's making a Rod Smith-like drop-off. He's looked more like TO on a bad day than himself lately. And last night, he was a non-factor with 2 bad drops (although a nice catch on the 2-point conversion).

I told my wife before the game that I hoped this game would be be better than the Super Bowl is going to be, and I certainly think it lived up to my hype. I was rooting for Manning just because he has gotten an unfair amount of crap about not being able to win, so coming up big was good to see. Maybe it's the Elway fan in me identifying with him. Had NE won, though, I probably would have rooted for them against the Bears. I wonder how Bill Simmons is going to twist his hate of Manning without coming off as an asshole. He'll probably wait until after the SB and if Manning loses, he'll feel justified in continuing to rip him.

After a solid year of living through Gator dominance (basketball and football championships, Grossman for the Bears, etc.), it was nice to see Reche Caldwell come up so small last night. I thought the "plug and play" style that NE used all year finally bit them in the ass. Not only did Caldwell play terribly, but he and Gaffney didn't seem to be on the same page with Brady several times last night. You have to think a Deion Branch wouldn't have had those issues. That's the price you pay (or don't pay, as the case may be).

[RedKingGold]

Anyone got a photo of Reche Caldwell after he dropped that wide open catch?

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by TroyF

The Pats OLine was great, but I still think the most underrated thing about the Pats is their DLine. You could tell they weren't right yesterday, yet they put a ton of pressure on Manning for a majority of the game.

All the starting O/D-Lineman are signed through 2009 too I believe. Seymour's been injured all year, but being re-injured on the 1st play didn't help us. I'm wondering if the flu was contributing to the fatigue shown by the D-line in the second half, or if it was just the Colts having long drives. Maybe we were only sending 4 early on and they were getting pressure, then tiring late or the Colts switched up alignments, but it seemed we were having a lot more success when we blitzed early on and we then got away from that, starting with the last drive of the 1st half (I despise teams having success on defense getting pressure switch to the prevent for the last 2 minutes of a half, even when it helps us like in SD last week) and continuing in the second. I don't remember Colvin's name being called in the 2nd half and he's been huge in the past 10 weeks. We also screwed up at least once or twice by having a LB (Eric? Alexander on the one particular play I remember) in single coverage against Dallas Clark where the safety help wasn't forthcoming. I'm sure the Colts try to set that up, and maybe we were rotating the safeties over to help on Harrison and/or Wayne, but it would seem necessary to stick at least a safety/nickel back on Dallas Clark, who's basically a slot WR in all but #, if you're not gonna double him.

I realize the irony of bitching about the Colts mugging our receivers or a literal interpretation of a rule helping the other team, but the 3 penalties (PI on the Pats, non-PI on the Colts, Roughing the Passer on Banta-Cain), pissed me off, and would have anyway since inconsistent interpretation of pass interference and the pussification of the NFL w/regards to QB's are the two things I hate most about refs these days. That's not meant to take anything away from Indy, congrats to the Colts; like Denver last year they were the better team over the course of the season (especially once their defense remembered how to tackle) and we shouldn't have even gotten by San Diego last week. Overall though, 2006 wasn't bad for a rebuilding season and I look forward to seeing what we do with 2 1st's, the possibility of more if Samuel is franchised/transition tagged, and only one other significant FA (Graham.) Hopefully we can get a rematch in Foxboro next January.

[Alan T]

My thoughts as someone who didn't have a team involved. (I'm a NFC Falcons guy).

I am a bit suprised at all of the patriots fans who are upset at not getting a Pass interference call. All I heard before the game was how the lack of pass interference calls from this Head ref and his crew would be to the Patriot's benefit.

I think its really sad that all of the Colts fans take more pride in talking trash to the Pats and their accomplishments than being happy or estatic at seeing something for the first time (their team getting to the playoffs). I remember when I finally saw my Falcons go to the superbowl I didn't care about the Vikings or the win we had, I just was pumped and couldn't wait to see what happened next. If people fixate more over putting down other teams than the excitement for their own, then it must be a pretty lonely and hollow win for you. If its just for retaliation for past losses and the responses from them.. well it makes you look just as bad as them.

I thought the Patriot corners did an excellent job at removing the long routes from two excellent receivers. The price they paid for doing so however was giving up alot of short stuff. The Pats really had no good answer for covering Dallas Clark however.

I don't really know if running the ball more would have helped the Pats.. when I watched the game, it looked like everyone was running on Artificial terf except Corey Dillon. He looked like he was running in the meadowlands after alot of rain. He really looked old in this game.

Will Caldwell be Boston's football version of Buckner? The drop in the endzone could be forgiven since they still got a TD on that drive, but not forgotten. The drop wide open on the sideline at the end of the game when they needed a TD can't be forgiven.

[Antmeister]

There is one thing that I didn't see mentioned in this thread, but Indy almost lost the game in their last drive when the wide receiver fumbled the ball into the air and was able to yank that thing out of the air. Dodgerchick and I felt as if that moment went into slow motion and breathed a sigh of relief when he came down with it. Overall it was a great game.

[firebirds]

Ksyrup, your observation of Marvin Harrison's play the last month is right on. What many don't realize is that he reinjured his hand, initial injury came early in the season, and hasn't been the same since. I've noticed that he is catching the ball more with his arms and body than with his hands during the last month or so. The extent of the injury is somewhat of a mystery to fans. According to local media he has not allowed the team Dr's to examine it nor sought treatment from the trainers. I wouldn't be surprised to hear about him having surgery or longterm rehabilitation after the SB.

[VPI97]

Originally Posted by RedKingGold

Anyone got a photo of Reche Caldwell after he dropped that wide open catch?

[Butter]

Originally Posted by RedKingGold

Anyone got a photo of Reche Caldwell after he dropped that wide open catch?

[gstelmack]

Congratulations to the Colts. You played a whale of a game and deserved this victory. Petyon Manning played with poise and made the plays he needed to make to win this game. I'll be rooting for you and Tony Dungy in the Super Bowl.

Congratulations to my beloved Patriots. You played hard, your corners came up big, and you almost pulled out another miraculous victory. Here's to seeing you back here next year.

[RedKingGold]

Originally Posted by VPI97

Gold.

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

More gold.

[MIJB#19]

Thank you Indianapolis Colts. Thank you New England Patriots. Thank you German television for broadcastig that game live (without commercial breaks!). Yes, it ment staying up until 4:30 am, but boy was this game of football worth it. The second quarter alone was worth not going to bed when it was 21-3 and the game looked done.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Alan T

I think its really sad that all of the Colts fans take more pride in talking trash to the Pats and their accomplishments than being happy or estatic at seeing something for the first time (their team getting to the playoffs).

I think it's mostly the generic Pats-haters rather than the Colts fans you're hearing the crap from in this thread. I've never read such hard-hitting and in-depth analysis of a team's post-game handshake ritual, and I refuse to believe Colts fans were focusing on that at that moment. You ONLY read that kind of stuff in a Pats thread.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by molson

I think it's mostly the generic Pats-haters rather than the Colts fans you're hearing the crap from in this thread. I've never read such hard-hitting and in-depth analysis of a team's post-game handshake ritual, and I refuse to believe Colts fans were focusing on that at that moment. You ONLY read that kind of stuff in a Pats thread.

Yeah, I think it's more Pats-haters than Colts fans. I'm a Colts fan and I think I was pretty even-keeled on this except for to bitch at st. cronin for crying foul .

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Galaril

Hey, great game. BTW. Nice reaction by Belichick after the game...very classless once again. Manning went over to shake his hand, and Belichick ignored him and walked by. Matbe LT was right about the coach.
Where is Synovia now

I know it was after a tough loss, but thats no reason to be a sore loser...theyve had their moment, let someone else have theirs.

Congrats to the Colts.

Agree 100%.

[Northwood_DK]

Originally Posted by MIJB#19

The second quarter alone was worth not going to bed when it was 21-3 and the game looked done.

I made that mistake

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, when Samuels ran that pick back for the TD, we were this close to a UF/OSU game breaking out. Lucky for us, we got USC/Texas.

[Northwood_DK]

Had they managed a TD in the end of the first half I would properly have stayed up. But at 2 o’clock in the night when the game looked like a blow-out the bed was just pulling to hard.

I have to catch the re-run later tonight. Please don’t reveal the result.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Northwood_DK

Had they managed a TD in the end of the first half I would properly have stayed up. But at 2 o’clock in the night when the game looked like a blow-out the bed was just pulling to hard.

I have to catch the re-run later tonight. Please don’t reveal the result.

Ping: HA

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Ping: goob

Fixed.

[jeff061]

Lot of people lying to prove a flawed point, as usual.

Quarterback Peyton Manning
"I really appreciated it, Tedy Bruschi came up, Kevin Faulk, and Tom [Brady] just wished me luck. I just appreciated the class those guys demonstrated. They've beaten us and today we beat them."

As for for Belichick, he's a dick in press conferences? No way!!!! It's less to do with him disrespecting the Colts and more to do with him hating to deal with questions in general, especially after a loss, and unable to suck it up. Not an excuse by any stretch, but that's Belichick. Nothing new there.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Originally Posted by stevew

I guess I missed that as the cameras traced Manning for 5 minutes, while Tommy Boy was never in the frame...or if he was, he must have sprinted past him.

You're full of shit as pointed out in the above post.

[Easy Mac]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Yeah, when Samuels ran that pick back for the TD, we were this close to a UF/OSU game breaking out. Lucky for us, we got USC/Texas.

well, to be fair, a UF/OSU game did break out. Only thing was that it took the NFL version of FLA an extra 30 minutes to wake up.

[WelshWizard]

Originally Posted by gstelmack

Congratulations to the Colts. You played a whale of a game and deserved this victory. Petyon Manning played with poise and made the plays he needed to make to win this game. I'll be rooting for you and Tony Dungy in the Super Bowl.

Congratulations to my beloved Patriots. You played hard, your corners came up big, and you almost pulled out another miraculous victory. Here's to seeing you back here next year.

I echo the above comments here. Our Patriots played a great game and came up short against a Colts team that fought back from what looked like it might be over for them. Credit to Manning, i am not a fan of his but boy he hung in there and came up big for them. This was a fantastic game and i also look forward to what should be a great Superbowl.

Next year our Pats will be at it again and as long as Brady is at Quarterback we have a shot every year.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by wade moore

Fixed.

ROTFLMAO!

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Where's Don King? I want a rematch! Ah, have to wait until next year.

[Greyroofoo]

I just wonder if we'll hear anymore of the "Bill Belichek is in Peyton Manning's head" crap after Peyton just walloped his ass 3 straight times.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Antmeister

There is one thing that I didn't see mentioned in this thread, but Indy almost lost the game in their last drive when the wide receiver fumbled the ball into the air and was able to yank that thing out of the air. Dodgerchick and I felt as if that moment went into slow motion and breathed a sigh of relief when he came down with it. Overall it was a great game.

Even if the Pats recovered the ball, the Colts would have retained possession anyway due to the (bs) Roughing the Passer call, and that probably would have been the lead story today, at least on WEEI and the like.

Oh, and if the Dungy or the Colts OC (Tom Moore?) actually claimed they were trying to run for a 1st down from the 4 yard line when the 1st-down line was at about the 18-inch line, they're either a terrible liar or a terrible coach. Although that would have set up a hell of a decision on 4th and 1 at the 2 down 3 with a minute left.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by Greyroofoo

I just wonder if we'll hear anymore of the "Bill Belichek is in Peyton Manning's head" crap after Peyton just walloped his ass 3 straight times.

I fully expect it. B/C to experts like Bill Simmons, before this game the Patriots had absolutely owned the Colts. Nevermind the fact that the Pats dynasty was actually over before this game was played, and the Colts have beaten the Pats twice in a row prior to this game, both times in Foxboro.

On the flip side, I was of course, at the game. Without a doubt the best Colts home game ever, best Colts game ever, but everything. Can't wait for the super bowl, I just wish the media would cover the Colts-Bears instead of the Pats "blowing it", like the Colts just walked into a situation where the Pats were going to blow it even if the Colts fielded a team full of high schoolers in the second half.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

Man, why don't you just enjoy your frickin' win and quit whining about (or better yet "speculating" about press coverage). Why the hell do you care what Bill Simmons has to say anyway? You guys should just move on really. Enjoy the win, and the SB. And us Pats fans will batten down the hatches for the battle royal next year. By the way, most of the press I have seen has been positive about Indy's dominance in the second half and gutsy performance and not at all about NE blowing the game. You should look for those articles instead -- they are all over the place, including in the Boston media.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Yeah, when Samuels ran that pick back for the TD, we were this close to a UF/OSU game breaking out. Lucky for us, we got USC/Texas.

I think you mean USC/Michigan.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

I think you mean USC/Michigan.

The Michigan/USC game was terrible. No, I meant last year's championship game.

[Butter]

I meant it instead of UF/OSU, not USC/TX.

Well, forget it NOW.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

Even if the Pats recovered the ball, the Colts would have retained possession anyway due to the (bs) Roughing the Passer call, and that probably would have been the lead story today, at least on WEEI and the like.

That pass interference call was BS, but unfortunately was a consistent call with what we've seen this year. So while I didn't like it (solely as a football fan), it wasn't because they've let those kinds of plays go all year and shouldn't have called this one. Not to mention, Tom Brady is on record as saying this year that the refs need to do MORE to protect QBs, which is patently absurd. But apparently in his mind, that type of call should have been made anyway.