What to Watch For: Patriots vs. Colts
Sunday, October 18, 2015
The New England Patriots (4-0) visit the (3-2) Indianapolis Colts tonight on Sunday Night Football in a rematch of last season's AFC Championship game. The Patriots have won the last six games against the Colts, their last loss coming in 2009.
"It'll be an exciting game. I know they've got a good team. They've won three straight. They made some changes this offseason, so they're a very confident team. So it's going to take a great effort to beat them," said Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady earlier in the week.
The Colts started the season 0-2 and have since won three straight games, two of those without Andrew Luck, who is expected to return in this game.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"We didn't play good as a football team period, week 1 and week 2. We caught fire at the right time to get a win in week 3, and we've been getting better ever since and everybody has. We're a team, we're a family. We win as a team and we lose as a team. I have to coach better. We have to execute better. We have to play better. A lot of things have to happen, it just doesn't fall on one guy," said Colts head coach Chuck Pagano.
Deflategate Revenge
The major storyline coming into this game is the Patriots seeking revenge on the Colts for their part in starting the deflategate scandal that saw the Patriots lose draft picks, get fined $1 million, and Tom Brady get suspended for four games before winning his federal court appeal and getting his suspension was overturned.
Remember, this was supposed to be the game in which Brady returned from his suspension.
However, as much as the media and fans want to talk about deflategate, the players and coaches pretty much stayed away from it this week.
"Well, like I said, I'm always pretty motivated regardless of the opponent, regardless of the team or the week, whether it's a preseason game, whether it's a regular season game. They're all important because there are so few of those where you get an opportunity in your life, so I don't take it for granted. I think it's exciting to go out there and do something that I love to do, to go out there and do it with teammates who I love to play with. We all put a lot of effort in, the coaches, players, so it's another opportunity for us to go out there and see if we can be a good football team," said Brady when asked about extra motivation for this week.
While Colts head coach, Chuck Pagano, also stepped around any and all deflategate questions, former Patriot, Adam Vinatieri said,"I expect them to come in well-prepared with their hair on fire ready to play hard. So we just have to match their intensity, and I know our crowd is going to be wild and crazy and trying to help us out on that too. It's going to be an electric atmosphere and hopefully we play well."
Rivalry Renewed
The Indianapolis Colts are arguably the biggest rival that the Patriots have in the AFC. The rivalry started in the Manning era and has transitioned almost seamlessly to the Andrew Luck era.
Other Patriots rivals like the Jets (Rex Ryan years), Dolphins and Bills have had years where they have been the Patriots primary rivals, but not consistently. The Broncos are a rival, but only recently, and that rivalry is really fueled by Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.
Through all of that, the Colts have been there the whole time, other than one season when Manning was hurt, the Colts have been a threat to the Patriots every season .
Colts defensive end, Kendall Langford, summed it up this week when he said,"It's a big rivalry and it's one of the biggest across the league."
Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m.
Related Slideshow: 5 Things to Watch For: Patriots vs. Colts
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