10 Things We Learned Last Night
In no particular order, here are 10 things we learned about the Patriots in last night’s game, an 18-15 loss to the Indianapolis Colts:
1. Even when it doesn’t have the apocalyptic feel of the last several seasons, any time the Patriots meet the Colts is a good time. Last year, it was positioned as a battle for the very soul of the NFL — two undefeateds from different sides of the tracks: the sweet-as-a-toothache Colts against the evil, Godless Patriots. This year, there was none of that hyperbole, but last night’s annual meeting of the two was still great fun. From Kevin Faulk lining up at quarterback to Indianapolis fighting for its very playoff lives to the chess match between Patriots coach Bill Belichick and Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy, it was one of the best games the league has seen all year. On a day replete with yawners, it was a high-intensity contest from start to finish. In the end, the more desperate team — the Colts — won the football game, improving to 4-4 and nosing its way back into the AFC Wild Card picture. “We felt we had to win because we had lost two games already, were coming off a difficult game, a short week and I thought our guys showed some resolve,” Dungy said. As for the Patriots, the loss drops them into a three-way tie for first place in the AFC East, and makes the next two week’s on the Patriots schedule (Sunday at home against the Bills, and the following Thursday night at home against the Jets) exceptionally interesting. “We’ve come here the last couple of years and it’s been just like this, last possession, last couple of plays,” Belichick said. “In the end, the Colts just made a couple of more plays than we did. And that was it. That was the difference.”
2. In the game of football, you take what’s being given to you, you’re gonna be successful. Led by quarterback Matt Cassel, the Patriots were able to dictate the tempo much of the night by taking a quick look at the Indianapolis defense: New England kept a running back in Matt Cassel’s back pocket for much of the night, so if the safeties were playing deep, they handed the ball off to either BenJarvus Green-Ellis to Kevin Faulk on a series of draws that succeeded more often than not — the Patriots averaged 4.4 yards per carry. (Faulk had 60 rushing yards, while Green-Ellis had 57 rushing yards and a touchdown.) If the safeties challenged, they would throw the ball, usually a short connection — Cassel had just two completions of 15 yards or longer. Everyone got into the act, as seven different players registered receptions on the night. The stats weren’t particularly impressive, but the slow and steady approach paid off most of the evening for the Patriots, who were driving for a potential game-winning score late in the fourth, only to see the whole thing come apart on a Dave Thomas penalty (more on that later). But it was another step forward in the maturation process of Cassel, who finished 25-for-34 for 204 yards passing and one interception. He didn’t try to do too much, and it almost got him and the Patriots their third consecutive victory.
3. Bad drops have plagued the Patriots receivers the last couple of weeks. With just under a minute left in the third quarter, Gaffney slipped open down the left sideline and was so wide open it was shocking. The receiver had clearly beaten the coverage, and Cassel quickly recognized what was happening. He lofted a sweet ball down the sidelines for a sure touchdown. Only problem was, the ball went right through Gaffney’s hands. The Patriots were forced to settle for the field goal — a 25-yarder that tied the game at 15 — instead of the touchdown. You don’t want to say one drop cost them the game, but the complexion of the fourth quarter would have been far different if New England had put seven on the board at that point instead of three. “I make that catch, and it’s a different game,” Gaffney glumly told reporters after the game. “For whatever reason, I wasn’t able to make that play, and it ended up costing us.” It marked the second straight week there were bad drops by Patriots’ receivers. (Against the Rams, Moss and Wes Welker both had drops on good Cassel passes.)
4. When it comes to penalties and the Patriots, timing is everything. After not taking an accepted penalty last week against the Rams — and not being flagged through the first half last night — the Patriots were going on a remarkable seven full quarters without an accepted penalty heading into the third quarter of last night’s game. But with just under 10 minutes left in the third, right tackle Nick Kaczur was flagged for a false start. Then, with 4:45 left in the fourth and the Patriots driving for what would have been a go-ahead score, tight end Dave Thomas came crashing into the end of a Green-Ellis carry, knocking an Indianapolis defender out of the picture and drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct call. “It was a mistake by me,” Thomas told reporters after the game. “Obviously, they called it, and I’ll own up to it. I felt like that was definitely a critical mistake for me, and it really cost the team.” In a game where there was zero margin for error, it was a fatal mistake, leaving New England in a difficult 3rd and 16 situation and knocking them out of field goal range. New England was unable to convert on the third down play, and on fourth down, Cassel was picked off by Bob Sanders, the first interception of the night for Cassel. (Although, in truth, it was a bad decision by Sanders — the Colts would have had significantly better field position if he had just knocked it down instead of picking it off.)
5. The Patriots’ run of good results with their pass rush came to an end last night. New England was coming off back-to-back solid efforts with their pass rush — they had seven sacks in their two previous games — but last night, those numbers were way down. The Patriots did not have a sack on the night, and were unable to get any sustained pressure on Manning. Linebacker Mike Vrabel and defensive end Ty Warren each hit Manning once, but they couldn’t knock him off his spot, one of the keys to slowing the Indianapolis offense. Much of reason they couldn’t get to Manning was his lightning-fast release, still one of the quickest in the league. And by some accounts, the Indianapolis offensive line played their finest game as a unit all season. (It’s also worth mentioning in the context of this discussion that New England’s run defense played very well, limiting the Colts to just 2.2 yards per carry.) But on a night where New England needed to play good team defense — especially with the secondary perilously thin — the front seven wasn’t able to get the sort of pass rush on Manning it needed for the Patriots to be successful.
6. In their first meeting with Peyton Manning, New England’s young defensive backs were a bit of a mixed bag. There were some breakdowns in pass defense, but overall, the best of the youngsters appeared to be cornerback Terrence Wheatley. The Colorado product knocked down a Manning pass intended for Marvin Harrison on third down on the Colts’ first possession of the game, forcing an Indianapolis three-and-out as the Colts punted on the next play. Wheatley suffered a hand injury on the play, but ended up with a pair of passes defensed. Cornerback Jonathan Wilhite struggled at times, while cornerback Mike Richardson appeared to get undressed on Anthony Gonzalez’s second touchdown reception of the night.
7. The on-field chemistry between Randy Moss and Matt Cassel may still be a work in progress, but there’s no doubt where Cassel and Wes Welker stand. We have said this before, but it bears repeating: it’s nothing short of remarkable that Welker is on pace to catch as many balls this year as he did during last year’s record-setting run. Last night, the Texas Tech product had seven catches for 37 yards, putting him on pace to equal last year’s total of 112 receptions. On a 10-yard reception in the fourth quarter — his sixth catch of the game — Welker tied the NFL record for most games with six or more receptions to begin a season. Welker has had six or more receptions in each of the Patriots’ eight games this season, and ties the NFL record established by Jacksonville’s Jimmy Smith in 2001.
8. Kevin Faulk can no longer be called underrated. The do-everything running back was at his spare-part best last night, even lining up at quarterback on a pair of occasions in the first half. He finished with 60 rushing yards and 38 receiving yards (as well as minus two yards passing). He lined up twice at quarterback in the first half, both times in the second quarter. The first time, Faulk took the snap and ran for five yards. Later in the second quarter, they used Faulk as a quarterback a second time — he took the snap and threw to Wes Welker on a screen pass that ended up losing two yards.
9. Some game plans never really change. After all these years, the best way to beat the Colts is still to keep Peyton Manning off the field. The Patriots had scoring drives of 13, 13, 15 and 15 plays, controlling the clock and dictating the tempo for much of the middle two quarters. (In all, New England had an edge of eight-plus minutes in time of possession, even with a nine-minute first half drive by Indianapolis.) “We would go on long drives, then they would go on long drives, so we knew we weren’t going to get many possessions,” said Manning, who was 21-for-29 for 254 passing yards and two touchdowns. “Thankfully, our defense was holding them to field goals.” It took the Colts out of the flow of their offense, and made them a one-dimensional team. Indianapolis abandoned the run almost completely — they rushed the ball for only 47 yards, 20 of which came in the second half.
10. Adam Vinatieri can still overshadow Stephen Gostkowski. On a night where Gostkowski had another excellent performance (three for three on field goal attempts — 29, 35 and 25 yards — to go along with his 13th touchback of the season), it was Vinatieri who was the big story. The ex-Patriot booted a 52-yarder in the fourth quarter that stood up as the difference in the game. “I’ve got all the respect and admiration for that team,” Vinatieri told reporters. “I’ve still got a lot of good friends over there. I guess that’s why it’s that much sweeter when you have an opportunity to play well and help your current team beat your former team. I’m pretty happy about that.” The kick was Vinatieri’s longest since a 57-yarder at Chicago on Nov. 10, 2002.
Christopher Price has covered the Patriots for Boston Metro since 2001. His book, “The Blueprint: How the New England Patriots Beat the System to Create the Last Great NFL Superpower” is current available from St. Martin’s Press in paperback. He can be reached at christopher.price@metro.us.
