The sun wasn’t exactly out, but the guns certainly were in Foxboro Saturday night. Credit: Getty Images
How the Patriots and Colts played out in real time Saturday night on CBS:
8:15 p.m. EDT -This is Dan Dierdorf’s last game as an announcer for CBS. Hope you grew out your 80s style moustache in solidarity.
8:17-Horrific interception by Andrew Luck right to Alfonzo Dennard. He chased him down though and knocked him out at the 2.
8:19-Next play, 2-yard TD run by LeGarrette Blount. 7-0 Patriots.
8:23-Colts go 3-and-out on their 2nd possession, not a hot start for the franchise in Luck.
8:28-13-yard catch by Shane Vereen on 3rd-and-5.
8:30-25-yard catch by Julian Edelman.
8:31-Beautiful 16-yard catch by Danny Amendola, inches above the ground. Finally earning his crazy contract!
8:37-9-yard catch by Coby Fleener on 3rd-and-3. First 1st down for Indy but T.Y. Hilton limped off the field after banging knees with Logan Ryan.
8:40-22-yard catch by Griff Whalen on 3rd-and-6. Impressive play by Luck to get it off while getting hit.
8:41-Wow, excellent 38-yard TD throw from Luck to LaVon Brazill. I guess the Colts won’t roll over after all, 14-7 Patriots.
8:46-Sack by Erik Walden, a loss on 5 on 3rd down forces a Patriots punt.
8:49-Jamie Collins showing off his coverage skills, staying tight with Fleener down the sideline to break up a 3rd down pass.
8:51-Second block in the back on a Patriots punt return.
8:53-First quarter ends with Patriots leading the Colts 14-7.
8:57-8-yard run by Vereen.
8:58-27-yard catch by Edelman, he is the key to the Patriots’ passing game these days.
8:59-13-yard catch by Edelman on 3rd-and-10. Indy can’t stop him.
9:02-2-yard TD run by Blount, his 3rd of the game. 21-7 Patriots. He has become such a weapon on the goal-line.
9:06-Illegal contact on Steve Gregory hands Indy 29 free yards.
9:10-9-yard catch by Whalen and 3rd-and-5, big play by Luck. Pats defense need to hold them to a field goal here.
9:15-36-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri. I had wondered what happened to him. Patriots up 21-10 with 5:35 left in the 1st half.
9:18-Back-to-back 8-yard runs by Blount. Patriots have run it 20 times and only thrown 10 passes. Is this Earth, where am I?
9:21-Nothing sums up how ugly this last play was: Ryan Allen had the snap go over his head. Instead of kicking it out of the back of the end zone, he tried to throw it forward but it bounced off a Colt and still did the trick. Yuck, Indy gets the ball back after the ensuing punt.
9:28-Luck throws it up for grabs but Logan Ryan and Dennard run into each other to cause an incompletion that should have been an interception.
9:30-16-yard catch by Hilton, his first real play of the game.
9:33-Donta’ Hightower made his first career interception! Luck’s pass went off the hands of his stiff fullback Stanley Havili. That at least saved New England three points, maybe seven. Huge play.
9:37-Vereen drops a 3rd down catch that he had to make.
9:38-Allen went to the locker room after getting hurt on the free kick, yikes. How is that possible? Colts got the ball back deep in their own end after a 53-yard punt by Stephen Gostkowski. Indy sits on it and New England leads 21-13 at halftime. The score is about what it should be, the Colts couldn’t do anything at first and the Pats defense looked more vulnerable as the first half went on.
9:55-Pats go 3-and-out on their first drive.
9:58-Colts keep converting on 3rd down, 3rd-and-7 but Hilton makes a spectacular diving 40-yard catch. Aqib Talib tried to grab him around the waist but there was no help behind him.
10:01-Luck throws a fade to Fleener on 3rd down but his college teammate can’t make a one-handed catch. Colts settle for a 21-yard field goal but they’ve trimmed New England’s lead to 21-15.
10:04-Blount elects to take the ensuing kickoff out of the end zone but he only returns it to the 12.
10:06-Hello play action fake, 53-yard catch by Amendola.
10:08-Nice play by Brady to roll out and complete an 8-yard throw to Edelman on 3rd-and-7.
10:11-17-yard pass interference on Josh Gordy, Edelman drew it. That gives New England 1st-and-Goal from the 5.
10:13-3-yard TD run by Ridley and a 2-point conversion run, Patriots back up 2 TDs (29-15). Former Patriots bust Darius Butler makes his presence felt with a stupid unnecessary roughness penalty.
10:21-Great play by Collins to chop Trent Richardson down for a 1-yard loss.
10:22-46-yard catch by Hilton, why do the Patriots play zone when Indy has one guy to cover?
10:23-That was fast: 35-yard TD catch by Brazill. The Colts receivers keep getting behind the Pats soft secondary. Indianapolis has cut it to 29-22 with 5:01 left in the third quarter.
10:26-Slow mo replay on the sideline of Luck slobbering all over the joint with his mouthguard in. Relax dude.
10:28-4th 3-and-out by the Patriots offense, not what they needed.
10:30-Sack by Collins, he came right up the middle. He looks like he’s going to be a real nice player. Big stop by the Pats defense on the next play to force a punt. Now they need some points.
10:32-Kenbrell Thompkins drops a pass and gets hit in the head. He gets up slowly but looks OK.
10:34-3rd-and-1 so Pats hand the ball to James Develin, sadly he gets stuffed.
10:35-No worries, special teams ace Kanorris Davis pins the Colts at their own 12.
10:37-Patriots up 29-22 after three quarters, could be a roller coaster fourth.
10:40-Haha Joe Vellano tripped Luck but wasn’t called for it. That easily could have been a gift first down.
10:45-Oh you know, 73-yard TD run by Blount. A new Patriots record, 4 TDs for the former Oregon Duck. Patriots lead 35-21, Colts’ run defense is non-existent.
10:49-A star is born tonight: interception by Collins and he returned it to Indy’s 18. So maybe he should have been starting from Day 1.
10:51-16-yard catch by former Colts great Austin Collie on 3rd-and-10.
10:55-Six touchdown runs by the Patriots after Ridley bounces in from 1-yard out. Patriots up 43-22. For some reason, Tom Brady is the holder for Gostkowski. Is Ryan Mallett too busy holding the clipboard?
11:02-Pats force a 3-and-out, Colts threw it on 3rd-and-1 then didn’t go for it deep in their own end. Down 21, what did they have to lose? They know this is the playoffs, right?
11:03-8-yard run by Blount.
11:04-3rd-and-3 but Amendola makes an 8-yard catch.
11:07-Vince Wilfork is shown chucking on New England’s bench, who knew he had LeBron’s receding hairline? Tough look even for Big Vince.
11:09-30-yard run by Blount but it ended with his only mistake he made of the game: he stepped out of bounds at the end.
11:10-10-yard run by Ridley, Blount will rightfully get all the attention but Ridley has been good too. Blount just set the franchise record for rushing yards (167) in a playoff game.
11:12-Robert Mathis stripped the ball from Brady but nobody knew where the ball was so Logan Mankins fell on it.
11:15-Bill Belichick doesn’t care about your 43-yard field goals, instead he tries to have Gostkowski drop one at the goal-line but it goes a few yards in. Weird, maybe they know Allen is hurt so Gostkowski needs the practice for next week?
11:23-Chris Jones sacks Luck for a loss of 5.
11:26-How poetic. Dennard ends the game with his second interception (he began the game with that near pick-6). Nobody will probably mention it, but Luck had four interceptions. Game over, Patriots win 43-22. They reach their eighth AFC Championship Game in the last 13 years (think about that). If the Broncos win Sunday, it’ll be in Denver. If the Chargers win (which could happen), it’ll be back in Foxborough. This is the 18th career playoff win for Brady (most in NFL history), but the funny part is that it was all about the running game and the defense making plays. Plenty to work on, but also build on for next week.
Follow Metro Boston sports writer Richard Slate on Twitter: @RichSlate
