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| ESPN.com |
And I'm not sure I wouldn't say this isn't the right time to note that Dan Dierdorf will be working his last game tonight for CBS, with Greg the good Gumbel brother. Congratulations to Dan on a long and distinguished career. I understand he was a player at one time, too!
FIRST QUARTER
The Colts won the toss and start at their 20. Luck rolls right and hits somebody named Jack Doyle, who LEAPS over two Patriots for a 7-yard catch. Someone named Dane Fletcher trips up Donald Brown for a yard. There are going to be a lot of someones and somebodys in this writeup, I expect.
Yep. Luck throws his third-down pass right to somebody called Alfonzo Dennard, who unfortunately for Luck is a Patriot, and he returns the ball down to the one-yard line. Dennard had LaVon Brazill completely blanketed on that quick hitch and Luck had no business ever throwing over there.
It's 7-0 one play later after LaGarrette Blount runs through Kelvin Sheppard. If there's a worse way to start a game, especially for Patriot-haters around the world, I can't picture it. Patriots 7, Colts 0
Luck at his 20 again. After nearly getting sacked on 2nd down, he settles for a 2-yard crossing route to T.Y. Hilton on 3rd down, and the ball's going right back to New England. Hoo boy.
Shane Vereen catches a pass for an initial Patriot first down before Tom Brady hits Julian Edelman on a little crossing route and Edelman turns and sprints upfield for 25. New England at the Colt 30 just like that. Couple of plays later, a sliding catch by, hey, it's Danny Amendola, inside the 10. The Patriots go no-huddle and Blount is in for another TD on two carries, the second off a block by MICHAEL HOOMANAWANUI. The rout is on in Foxborough. 14-0
The good news for the Colts: they've come back from worse. Brown goes up the middle for 7, and on 3rd down, getting time to throw for the first time tonight, Luck hits Coby Fleener for 9. Patriots have been getting excellent pressure on both edges so far. Three plays later, Chandler Jones hits Luck as he throws for what must be the third time already, but somebody named Griff Whalen is there for the reception on a pivot route and runs away from Kyle Arrington for 24. The next play, Luck says, screw the blowout talk and fires a perfect pass down the near sideline for Brazill, who makes a nice catch at the 5 and beats Dennard for a 38-yard TD. That's more like it. Patriots 14, Colts 7
Aaand here come the Colts, forcing a 3-and-out. Darius Butler broke up a pass for Amendola on 1st down, Stevan Ridley got nowhere on 2nd down and Erik Walden thoreauly beat RT Marcus Cannon to sack Brady on 3rd down. Brady was ducking before he even got hit.
The Colts respond with their own three and out. Luck stripes a pass for Da'Rick Rogers at midfield but Rogers drops it. Trent Richardson gets his standard two-yard carry, then Jamie Collins blankets Fleener on 3rd down.
Penalty on the return moves the Pats back to their 25. Vereen bangs out 11 yards on 3 carries, including a draw Brady audibled to on 3rd-and-3. Ricky Jean-Francois stuffs him to end the first quarter.
SECOND QUARTER
Vereen gets revenge on Jean-Francois on 2nd down, juking him in the backfield and gaining 8, then Blount runs through Sheppard again for a 1st down at the NE48. Quick slant from Brady, who throws a bullet, to Edelman gets 27 after Julian runs through three sloppy tackles in the Colt secondary. After two incompletes, including one where Sheppard blanketed Amendola, Brady hits Edelman again, for 16 down to the 11. Ridley bangs it down to the 5 on two carries and Vereen pushes it inside the 1. Blount again? You betcha, as the touchdown vulture supreme scores his 3rd TD via air, that is, by jumping over Sheppard and the Indy line. The Colts really need Sheppard to make a play. 21-7
On 2nd down, Luck steps up and guns a beautiful out route throw to Fleener, who turns it upfield for a 30-yard gain. Brown peels off another 7 on another draw, with Anthony Castonzo sealing the end well. Luck scrambles down to the NE36 for another first down and fires to Whalen at the 22 to convert another 3rd down. Luck targets what I believe is already his eighth receiver so far when he hits fullback Stanley Havili over the middle for 4. D'o'n't'a' Hightower stuffs a Brown carry, though, and Steve Gregory has Hilton covered too well on the far sideline for Luck's throw out there to have much chance.
So, a question: who should Rams fans root against when Adam Vinatieri is playing against the Patriots? No problem for him from 36. 21-10
Dare I say the over is finally looking good for once? Blount returns the kickoff to the 25 and then adds 8 on the ground, taking advantage of Cory Redding's overpursuit. Don't the Colts have a pass rusher named Mather or Matthias or something who's supposed to be pretty good? Wonder if he's suited up tonight. Nice cut in the backfield by Blount and a nice wall-off by Nate Solder get him another 8. On 3rd-and-2 near midfield, though, hey, there's Sheppard, along with Jean-Francois, making a big stop of Blount on the left edge. Bill Belichick fakes going for it on 4th-and-2, then rushes the punt team onto the field trying to catch the Colts off-guard, then takes a delay-of-game anyway. Good execution there by the Colts.
AND HILARIOUS EXECUTION BY THE PATRIOTS. Long snapper Danny Aiken snaps the ball well over punter Ryan Allen's head, and it flies a good 40 yards inside the 5. Allen picks it up, then attempts to dish it to Illini DB Tavon Wilson but instead loses it almost Garo Yepremian-style, and Jeris Pendleton, one of several charging Colts, swats it out the back of the end zone for a safety. The interesting question here is whether or not Allen could have been considered in the act of a forward pass. Replay, though, makes it conclusive that Sheppard (making another play!) actually forced a fumble and Pendleton knocked it out for the 2-pointer.
Well, there's a play you don't practice much. Patriots 21, Colts 12
Whalen returns the free kick to the 28, where the Colts will start with 2:12 till halftime. For the second time today, idiots on defense prevent one another from making an interception. Luck is hit yet again while throwing a bomb for Brazill, it's well short, but Devin McCourty and Dennard both go for it and blow what should have been an easy pick. You know, super slo-mo showed Brazill got a hand in there, too, so let's give him credit for a good play. Somebody named Ryan Logan, or maybe Logan Ryan, hell if I know, stuffs Brown for no gain at the 2:00 warning.
Luck hits Hilton with a sideline bullet for 16, and Whalen with another bullet for 17 at the NE39. With pressure from Rob Ninkovich off the edge for about the millionth time already, Luck dumps off to Havili, who blows the catch and bobbles it to H'i'g'h't'o'w'e'r for an interception. Looks like you're on your own again this week, Andrew.
Pats at their 36 with 1:14 to go. Ridley gains 5 and the Patriots use their first timeout. Perhaps forgetting that Brady can no longer ruin my fantasy team this year, New England has run 24 times tonight and passed just 11. A quick thanks to Brady for completely destroying said fantasy team and giving me the worst season I've had in 10 years of playing FF, btw. Also thanks to Mike Shanahan for forgetting that Alfred Morris was the 2nd-leading rusher in the NFL in 2012. He deserved to get fired just for that. Ok, enough of that. Did I mention I lost FIVE games by less than the amount my FREAKING KICKER got outscored by? Seriously, though, enough of that.
ANOTHER handoff to Vereen is stuffed by an otherwise-quiet-tonight Jerrell Freeman. Brady's got Vereen open down the far sideline, but he tracks the ball over his head instead of over his shoulder and can't make a play on it. The punter Allen was apparently injured on the safety, and Stephen Gostkowski comes in and NAILS a 54-yard punt that Whalen returned to the 16. Jackie Slater's kid Matthew made a spectacular diving whiff on Whalen at the 5 but tracked him back down for the tackle.
The Colts run out the clock and send us to halftime.
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| Patriots.com |
Adjustment #1 for the Colts is that they've gotta start protecting Luck better. He hasn't gotten sacked yet strictly because of his impressive movement in the pocket and quick release. Ninkovich and Chandler Jones are definitely giving him trouble on the edge rush, though. This game is starting to resemble Indy's playoff loss in Baltimore last year. If the Colts aren't going to put extra guys back to protect Luck, Pep Hamilton should at least help him out by re-establishing the run with Brown and set up play-action.
On defense for Indy, it's time for some guys to show up, especially Robert Mathis, who I don't think has even gotten his name called yet. That and New England's deadly-effective running game has me thinking the POTG is going to a Patriot lineman. They need Mathis to show up and they need their LBs to start making some darn plays. Covering Edelman might also be a good idea. Brady hasn't burned Indy's suspect secondary yet; I think they can afford more blitz pressure to at least get their defensive stars playing at a higher tempo. Not much I can think of for the Patriots to change on either side of the ball. Don't have the long snapper snap it so high on punts, I suppose.
THIRD QUARTER
The Colts get a much-needed 3-and-out after Vereen can't quite get to a Brady pass on 3rd-and-2, with the Patriots immediately complaining he was held. Hoomanawanui, who I'm amazed actually made it this far into a season without breaking, tearing or rupturing something, had a catch on 2nd down.
Gostkowski still punting - Allen is questionable with a shoulder injury - and this one only travels 29 yards, setting the Colts up at their 37. They do run Brown on 1st down, but pressure forces Luck to throw away on 2nd down. Ninkovich blasted him down to the ground blatantly late, with no flag on Bill Belichick's team, of course. 3rd down, Luck steps up from yet another Ninkovich rush and finds Hilton, behind Aqib Talib's coverage, for a diving 40-yard catch. A back-shoulder throw to Fleener gets Indy inside the 5. Brown gets them to the 3, but then they stupidly hand off to Trent Richardson, who of course gets nothing, then Jamie Collins successfully blankets Fleener for the second time tonight to force Vinatieri back out. 21-15
Cam Johnson spins Blount down at the 12 on the return; maybe the Colts are gaining some 2nd half momentum again? Never mind, BIG PLAY ALERT, as Brady goes deep for Amendola off play-action; Danny runs under it at midfield and gains 53. Brady then gets away from a stunting Mathis - hey, there he is - on 3rd-and-7 to hit Edelman for 9. Next third down, JOSH GORDY interferes with Edelman at the 5 to keep the drive alive. And on 3rd-and-goal, it's Ridley vulturing a vulture TD from Blount, running behind Dan Connolly and Cannon. Ridley then runs through Freeman and others to convert the 2-pointer. Patriots 29-15
The Colts have just gotta get a clutch defensive play, but there's none to be found. Plenty of rain to be found, though. Guess what Richardson does, loses a yard, running into Collins after he'd been blocked to the ground. There's some talent for you. Speaking of freaking talent, Andrew Luck picks now to grab this game by the balls, stepping up and bombing away to Hilton for 46, a perfect drop in the bucket, then firing into the end zone for Brazill for a 35-yard TD behind the rather useless McCourty. Wow, how long did that TD drive take, 20 seconds? Nice blitz pickup by Richardson on the TD pass, too, and hey, somebody did ask for more protection for Luck at halftime. Patriots 29, Colts 22
The over has fallen! The over has fallen! The over has fallen! And now the Colts force Brady 3-and-out. Sheppard STONES Blount for no gain on 2nd-and-3, and pressure from Walden forces an incomplete on 3rd down. 44-yard punt by Gostkowski is not returned.
Colts going for the tie from their 29, but end up with their own 3-and-out. Collins blitzes and runs right over Brown to sack Luck, and Whalen gets injured running his 3rd-down route and can't get to the throw. And, as it has been for 13 years now, a Belichick defense gets away with blatant pass interference without a call. Dierdorf aptly described what Logan Ryan (Ryan Logan?) did to Whalen as a "wrestling takedown". But instead, the Colts punt.
Kenbrell Thompkins has yet to catch anything tonight other than a a shoulder to the head from Antoine Bethea, which happens on 1st down on an incomplete pass. IRONY ALERT! Thompkins is replaced by Austin Collie, who's had more concussions than he can count even when his head isn't buzzing. Ridley, though, gets a solid block from HOOMANAWANUI for 9 up the middle. Would have been nice if Illini Mike had ever done anything like that in a Ram uniform. The 3rd-down call, though, is weird, a handoff to fullback James Develin that goes nowhere. So it's a very wordy 3-and-out again by the Colts.
Predictable middle run by Brown still gets 4 to the IND16. Havili injured a hand or wrist on the play and the Colts let the 3rd quarter run out.
FOURTH QUARTER
Another strong block by Costanzo springs Brown for another 8. Somebody named Joe Vellano then gets away with a blatant trip that should have been a penalty but is instead a sack of Luck. Dennard has Brazill blanketed on 3rd down and nothing doing there. Dispiriting 4-and-out there by the Colts.
Even more dispiriting for Indy: Blount exploding out of the blocks for a 73-yard TD run the next play. Guess who had the freaking key block, too, pancaking Robert Mathis. Michael Freaking Hoomanawanui. LaRon Landry whiffed miserably on him in the hole, and he was gone from there. Studly block by Logan Mankins, too. Patriots 36-22 Brady holds the PAT attempt for Gostkowski, WITH THE LACES OUT, LUKE MCCOWN.
Colts could use another of those 3-play scoring drives from Luck right about now. A false start by Costanzo is not an auspicious start. Even less auspicious: Luck's terrible throw for Fleener, undercut ably by Collins for an INT returned inside the Colt 20. Start the bus, Andrew.
Bethea blows an INT in the end zone and lives to regret it when Collie lassies one in inside the 5. Ridley follows Develin into the end zone to put the Pats up 3 TDs with 11:00 left. 43-22 Does Luck have another miracle comeback in him?
Does Luck have another first down left in him? He hits Fleener for 9 but his passes on 2nd and 3rd down were pretty wild. Chuck Pagano triggers another round of Gregg Easterbrook autotext by choosing not to go for it on 4th-and-1 deep in his own end.
Blount gains another 9 and Amendola keeps the sticks moving for New England with a sliding catch at the 30. Blount chews more clock with another short run to convert 3rd-and-1, and a whole bunch more with a 31-yard burst off LT behind another dominating freaking block by future Hall-of-Famer blocking tight end Freaking Hoomanawanui. Pats are at the Colt 29 and going for 50 points, without Brady really doing anything. Which sounds exactly like my fantasy team! The 3-and-out seems to have taken out any wind the Colts had left in their sails. Ridley runs through a Colt "defender" for 10 and makes it even more apparent Indy has lost interest in tackling. Gumbel and CBS pick the right time to give Dierdorf a respectful sendoff, during which - a Christmas miracle! - Robert Mathis shows up and makes his first play of the game, a strip-and-rip sack of Brady that the Patriots still recover. On 4th down, with the over and the cover crushed, Belichick sees no need to try another FG and lets Gostkowski splash a punt into the end zone from the 26.
Luck gets one last scrimmage to get the Colts across midfield and throw one last INT, his 4th to Dennard, with Brazill not expecting a back-shoulder throw. No comeback tonight.
Final score: Patriots 43, Colts 22
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| ESPN.com |
Yep, I'm going to do it. LaGarrette Blount had 166 yards and 4 TDs - a 40-point fantasy game - but the Patriots, who totaled 234 yards on the ground, could have won this game with Austin Davis at QB handing off to Isaiah Pead thanks to the dominance of their offensive line, and the number of key blocks Michael Hoomanawanui threw tonight was frankly stunning. Nate Solder deserves mention for his domination of Robert Mathis, but the Patriots didn't even need that thanks to their running game. The POTG goes to the blocking TE, Illini Mike. Who else would you figure it would be coming into this game?
Another 2-1 gambling game for RamView, SU and O/U, while losing the sucker bet of thinking the Colts would lose but cover, which is of course the mindset that allows bookies to maintain a comfortable lifestyle. You're welcome, Las Vegas!
This game showed Indy's need to improve on both lines for next season, especially defensive line, where they've got nothing but Mathis. They still need an effective pass-rushing complement to him and somebody in the middle who can take over the line of scrimmage. They don't have that guy now. I'm far from sold on their offensive line, too.
On to Sunday's games.
-$-
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