Patriots corral the Colts in Foxboro
Monday, December 05, 2011
It simply didn’t feel like a typical New England-Indianapolis match-up.
After all, the Colts came into the game at Gillette Stadium with the only winless record in the NFL, at 0-11. These two teams are used to battling for things like AFC championships, and not used to simply going through the motions.
Sleep-walking or not, the Patriots managed to put Indianapolis one step closer to the NFL’s top draft choice next April, with a 31-24 win on Sunday.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAfter Stephen Gostkowski put the Patriots on the board with a 39 yard field goal on the opening drive, the Colts’ new starter at quarterback, ex-UConn standout Dan Orlovsky, engineered a monstrous 19-play, 67 yard drive that took a whopping 10:19 off of the clock. The Colts found themselves planted on the Pats’ one yard line as the first quarter came to an end. A Joseph Addai run for no-gain, followed by a tipped pass in the end zone and an Orlovsky sack by Rob Ninkovich. The Colts were forced to settle for a 31 yard Adam Vinatieri field goal that tied the score at 3-3, with 14:11 to play in the second quarter.
From there, it seemed as if both defenses would be content to just let the offense take its’ time. Tom Brady put together a monster drive for NE, covering 16 plays and 86 yards, and taking 6:40 from the clock, before an 11 yard pass to Rob Gronkowski for the touchdown gave the Pats a 10-3 lead. There was just 2:57 left in a fast-moving first half.
Forcing the Colts into a quick three-and-out, the Patriots got the ball back on their own 40 with 1:38 to go before the break – plenty of time to put the ball in position to score. Four straight completions to three different receivers (two to Wes Welker) placed the ball at the Indy one with :25 seconds left, and two plays later, BenJarvus Green-Ellis covered that final yard into the end zone for the score to make it 17-3 New England at the half.
Taking the second half kickoff, Brady moved the Patriots quickly down the field behind the up-tempo, no huddle offense. Reaching the Indy 21 yard line, he found Gronkowski from that distance wide open for a 24-3 lead, with 12:16 to play in the third quarter. Seven plays, 77 yards – it was almost as if the varsity offense scrimmaged against the junior varsity defense.
And it was no contest.
Indianapolis followed the Pats’ touchdown with a drive to mid-field, where Delone Carter promptly fumbled the ball to Kyle Arrington, setting up the offense on the NE 34. Again behind the no-huddle offense, Brady found Gronkowski on the ninth play of the drive from two yards out, for their third touchdown combination of the day. The catch was Gronk’s 14th TD reception of the season, which appeared to set the NFL single-season record for tight end touchdown catches. However, later the NFL ruled the toss from Brady to be a lateral, giving Gronk a rare rushing touchdown and taking away the record – at least temporarily. The erstwhile record-setting play made it 31-3 with 4:13 left in the third, but there was little doubt left on the field.
Game, set, match. Then, garbage time.
The Colts did manage to get the ball into the end zone as UConn-ex Donald Brown scored on a five-yard touchdown run, bringing the score to 31-10 with 10:24 to play. A late TD was added when Orlovsky found Pierre Garcon from 33 yards out to bring the final margin closer, and after the Pats could not run out the clock, Orlovsky led another drive against a soft NE defense for another 12 yard strike to Garcon to make it 31-24 with :40 seconds left. The Pats recovered an onside kick attempt to finally put the Colts out of their misery.
"It’s good to be 9-3," coach Bill Belichick said post-game. "I think we put our team in a decent position here. Hopefully we can keep improving here through the last quarter of the season. I thought we did some good things out there today. We’ve obviously got to do a better job of finishing the game. That was disappointing, but we’ll work on that."
An atypical Pats-Colts game? Only if you're used to nail-biters and Peyton Manning appearances. Neither made their presence felt in this one.
Post Game Notes
Defensive end Andre Carter, on the 4th quarter let-up by the Patriots defense, allowing Indianapolis to make the score more than respectable - "“We just know that in the end, as a team, we have the talent and we have the mentality, we just have to finish strong. It’s something that we have to communicate as a group and as a team, and move on from there.” ...Wide receiver and special teams captain Matthew Slater saw a lot of time in the defensive secondary, playing at safety - “I was a ‘Jack of all Trades’ my rookie year. I did a little bit of everything. My career has been about (taking) whatever anyone asks of me and then going out there to do it at the best of my ability. Playing hard and fast and doing whatever it takes to help this team have success.”...With the win, the Patriots are the only team in the NFL to have recorded nine or more wins in each of the last 11 seasons...with two touchdown passes, Brady passed Johnny Unitas and moved into a tie with Warren Moon for sixth on the NFL’s all-time touchdown pass list...Brady also became the sixth quarterback in NFL history to have 30+ touchdown passes in at least three seasons...and still more Brady...he has now thrown for 3,916 yards through 12 games this season, setting a new NFL record for most passing yards in the first 12 games of the season...Welker set a personal best with his seventh 100-yard receiving game of the season (11-110)...Welker now also has 13 career games with 10 or more receptions...even though Rob Gronkowski's TE TD record will have to wait, he did become the first Patriot tight end to ever have a rushing touchdown in a game...the Patriots are now 20-1 when BenJarvus Green-Ellis scores a rushing touchdown...Jerod Mayo recorded his first career interception in the fourth quarter against Dan Orlovsky...Matthew Slater made his first NFL start, at safety...Nate Jones, who was signed to the team earlier in the week, made his New England debut with a start at safety...
One-and-One:
Nitpick - What else could it possibly be, but the defensive performance in the fourth quarter? Sure, the team was cruising with a 31-3 lead...but to lose focus and allow three TD's to a team that should have been delivered a knockout punch, is just lousy defense...
Superlative - several to choose from, but we'll go with Rob Gronkowski's three scores on the day, which should have given him the NFL tight end single season record for TD's. But the last grab from Brady was later deemed a lateral. Really? Are the stat gurus with the league really that ridiculous? Even Brady said afterward that he threw the ball, and he thought it was a forward pass...
Sneak Peek @ Next Week - @ Washington:
This will be a good test for New England. The Redskins traditionally play sound defense and can certainly generate a pass rush, led by one of the NFL's best in Brian Orakpo. Even though they were beaten by the New York Jets this week, Mike Shanahan will certainly know how to prepare for a Bill Belichick team...so the week of preparation for the Patriots will require a lot of focus. That's a good thing for a team that lost quite a bit of that focus in a lousy fourth quarter against the Colts...
