Belichek may be good, but he won't stop the Colts

[ArcticWildMan]

Not this time. His magic has run out. The Pats secondary was decimated with injuries as it was but now their star CB Ty Law is on IR and they are poised for a beating of monumental proportions at the hands of the Colts next week.

I will be watching with great joy!! :D

[BSXIII]

Their #2 starting CB, Ty Poole is also on IR. The key here will be the weather. NE in January is much, much worse weather than Indy played in all year. Their offense will not be the same next week. So although New England's defense won't be at full strength, neither will Indy's offense. Personally I can't wait for this game and I really don't care what happens either way. If Indy wins, that's cool because I hate the Pats. If the Pats win, that's cool too. I live in Massachusetts and will be able to go to a cool party the next week, get free beer, then heckle the Pats fans if they lose.

[Ebenezer]

forecast better be for heavy snow...otherwise Manning may pass right by them.

[BSXIII]

forecast better be for heavy snow...otherwise Manning may pass right by them.

Snow will help, but wind and cold are key :up:

[Mr. Cynical]

If Indy get past the Pats, they win the SB imo. After watching this game, I think right now their offense is the best I've ever seen, even better than the '99 Rams ever were. It is obscene. Yeah their D isn't very good, but what offense will they face that can keep up?

[ArcticWildMan]

If Indy get past the Pats, they win the SB imo. After watching this game, I think right now their offense is the best I've ever seen, even better than the '99 Rams ever were. It is obscene. Yeah their D isn't very good, but what offense will they face that can keep up?


Their D is getting better each game though. Freeney is an animal!!! I wish we had him!

[BSXIII]

Indy certainly has a more explosive offense than the '99 Rams, but the real test will be to see if they can win in the trenches vs. either New England or Pittsburgh. Those two teams can dominate the line on both sides of the ball, and will be the real tests for Indy. Indy's o-line looked like a brick wall today against Denver, but New England has been able to penetrate their o-line every year. When they've been able to do that, Manning has looked like a run of the mill QB. Who knows what will happen this year without Law, Poole, and a hurting Seymour. IMO, Pittsburgh is the team to beat right now.

[Typ0]

If Indy get past the Pats, they win the SB imo. After watching this game, I think right now their offense is the best I've ever seen, even better than the '99 Rams ever were. It is obscene. Yeah their D isn't very good, but what offense will they face that can keep up?

Indy's D does some really good things though. They will get in Brady's face and make the Pats look like a pop-warner squad next week. I can't wait.

[Billz_fan]

Im not convinced the Colts win this game but I hope they do. Last year the Pats stopped the Colts by mugging there recievers all game. This is gonna be a good game and Im excited about it already.

On another note, man can Bill Polian put an offense together or what. He put a good one together for us and it looks like he's has fine tuned his craft with this one. He has outdone himself with the Colts.

[OpIv37]

Their D is getting better each game though. Freeney is an animal!!! I wish we had him!
Freeney is good but I think he's in an ideal situation for the type of player he is- the Colts almost always have big leads, so the other team is forced to pass- this allows him to tee off on the QB without worrying too much about yards. Who cares if an RB pops off an 8 yard run when you're up by 21?

Of course this is also a reason why Indy's D is ranked so low- most of the time they're playing prevent against an offense that's forced to pass, so the yard totals go up. It's difficult to tell how good their D would be with an average offense.

[mybills]

NE is gonna crash & burn just like Denver! :snicker:

[Drive 4 Five]

If football fans, especially Bills fans, have learned anything these past few years, it is to never ever count out the Patriots. The key to this game, will be whether or not the Colts can stop Corey Dillon because if they cannot, the Pats will drive the ball down their throats, and keep that high powered offense on the sideline. The Patriots offense is pretty damn good in their own right, and the Colts cannot afford to fall behind early in the game. It is crucial that the Colts play with a lead. Manning is 1-6 against Bill Belichick, and we all know that it is all about the coaching and the game plan, as evidenced by our own team falling to a team of second and third string players.

Still, all considered, it is very difficult to imagine the Patriots coming out on top this time.

[justasportsfan]

BB will run the ball and keep Manning off the field.

[Michael82]

Look ahead weather report....

Sunday January 16
Mostly Sunny High
32°F
Low
17°F

Precip: 10%
Mostly sunny. Highs in the low 30s and lows in the upper teens.

[helmetguy]

In weather conditions like that, you may expect Indy to give NE a big dose of "Edge" to set everything else up. Like Denver, NE has to pick its poison. Denver, time and again, bit hard on Play Action.

[buffalofan19]

I actually think NE still beats Indy, despite no Ty Law. THe only teams that have been able to beat the Patriots are those that have been able to stop them on defense (Miami and Pittsburgh). The Colts defense is still not good enough IMO. I also think NE's offense is more than good enough to control the clock with Corey Dillon and keep Indy's offense off the field.

31-28 New England.

[tbone2005orbust]

i totally agree with you there on the ball control issue. that is the way you beat indy, but the loss of Law and Poole does hurt. And if NE gets behind and is forced to throw watch out for Freeney, and also Brady making a dumb decision like that INT in the Miami game.

[DaBills]

bills_fan and just said. You beat an O like Indy's not on the field, but by keeping it off. Remember when our team was absolutely rolling over everyone on the way to thefirst SB, and people kept saying, 'how can the Giants compete.'

Well, Parcells kept Kelly and Co. on the sidelines by running it and sustaining drives. I would love Indy to take apart the Pats, but I think it may end up being closer than a blowout in the Colts favor.

BB also prides himself on having a system that he can plug guys into. That's why they don't get crazy committing major bucks to any one guy that can hurt their cap. BB may be hurting in the secondary, but ya' gotta' hand it to him – the guy's a genius at defensive schemes and I think he'll compensate somehow and pressure Manning.

Snow will favor both O's because their D's will have a tougher time covering guys making cuts in the snow. And I think Manning will resort to a dink and dunk pass attack.

This game is huge for the Colts and Manning in that he needs to overcome his previous losses to NE. If they beat NE up there, I think Pitt ends up having a tough time against Indy.

Key for Colts: Score early and get up early, otherwise, long day, Deja-Manning vs. NE all over again.

Key for Pats: Establish CD as their rushing threat and sustain long drives.

[Crisis]

It was the same thing last year- then Indy sputtered against the Pats.