Patriots' Thoughts Quickly Turn to Colts
FOXBOROUGH, Mass.--Can any team in the league stay competitive in a game with the New England Patriots?
It's about time to find out.
With little reason to dwell on today's 52-7 drubbing of the Washington Redskins at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots' focus immediately turned to next Sunday's showdown with the also-unbeaten Colts in Indianapolis.
"We know we have our work cut out for us," Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said. "They've beaten us the last three times and they've won 12 in a row, I guess. They're a great team and it's tough to beat them in that dome. We've got a long week and a lot of preparation."
The Colts are the undefeated reigning Super Bowl champion. But it's the Patriots who are the talk of the league. Is there anyone out there wondering if the Colts can go unbeaten this season?
Yet the Patriots were doing all they could late today to portray themselves as the underdog, given that they lost to the Colts in last season's AFC title game.
"They are always meaningful games when you play them," Brady said. "That's the way it seems the last bunch of times we've played them. Last game, it was a real tight game. The previous couple of times, it wasn't so tight. They really got the best of us. We know it's going to take our best effort. We know you can't make a lot of mistakes against those guys. When you turn the ball over against the Colts, it's usually seven points. When you punt to them, it's usually seven points. You just have to find ways to be productive and be efficient and not turn the ball over. Certainly that's always a big key. I'm happy we've got seven days to prepare because I think we're going to need each and every hour of that week."
Said Patriots Coach Bill Belichick: "There's no better team in football than the Indianapolis Colts. It will be a huge challenge for us up there."
By Mark Maske |
October 28, 2007; 9:40 PM ET
| Category:
Colts
,
Patriots
Previous: Colts Now Say They Won't Have M. Harrison in Lineup Sunday |
Next: K. Clemens Likely to Take Over for C. Pennington This Week as Jets' Starter
Posted by: IndyNative | October 29, 2007 7:51 AM
Here's to the Colts winning and running up the score against the Pats!!
Posted by: Betty | October 29, 2007 8:49 AM
Though i'm not a fan of the pats, you have to be impressed with their all around play. I think the colts actually have a better defense with harder hitters and if the indy offense can put up 21 points, the run-thescoreup-pats will lose!
Posted by: patshater | October 29, 2007 8:59 AM
Both the Colts and Pats defenses have improved over last season, while the Pats offense has clearly taken a giant step forward. It's amazing what talented receivers and quality line play will do for a quarterback.
I like what the Pats have been able to do defensively with a couple of talented TEs first in Dallas and then yesterday. We need that sort of effort against Dallas Clark who just killed us last year in the second half of the AFC championship game. Having a healthy Rodney Harrison, Adalius Thomas, and an improved up and coming safety in James Sanders will help a lot. I don't want to get ahead of myself but I just don't see how the Colts can get the Pats offense off the field. That said, I'm not fully confident that we can get Manning off the field although a lot depends on whether Harrison can play. I can't wait.
And running between the tackles on fouth down is not running up the score. It's giving the defense a chance to stop you. Kicking a field goal in that situation is running up the score.
Posted by: Pats Fan | October 29, 2007 11:02 AM
Pats win by 3 td's and Randy Moss explodes on the Colts secondary!
Posted by: Pete | October 29, 2007 12:51 PM
Well if Bellichick said the Colt's are good, it must be true. He would'nt lie.
Posted by: Mike Morgan | October 29, 2007 2:01 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
It's a safe bet that this game will be of super, if not, Super Bowl proportions. For the NFL, there isn't a more significant matchup to be had until the playoffs when these two teams likely will meet once more. Clearly the class of the league, the Colts and Pats will play a pseudo mid-season chamionship game next Sunday.
Still more hype: Peyton Manning just broke Johnny Unitas' Colts record for number of TDs. Tom Brady is on track to break Peyton Manning's record for TDs in a season.
True football fans are drooling over this one and it doesn't really matter whether or not one is a Colts or Patriots partisan.
GO COLTS!