Pats vs. Colts - your prediction?

[IndyColtsFan]

Most of the other points can simply be attributed to the bandwagon fans, those who have only watched the Patriots since the 2000-2001 season. They'll cry foul and not criticize the team for the bad things that happened that they COULD control - Maroney fumbling a TD and Brady throw a pick instead of a TD.

However, I wanted to address this point. The Colt's won their SB 29-17. Manning threw for one TD and one INT. All other points were scored on FGs (3), a pick-6, and a kickoff return as well as a strong defense (although the Bears were a poor opponent and the NFC was noticeably weak in comparison to the AFC that year, the Colts had a solid D). So if you treat Brady's rings like that you clearly have no choice but to discount Peyton's single ring since it wasn't like he went out and tore it up in his SB appearance. In fact, that entire SB run by the Colts was more on the merits of their defense and kicking then the strength and accuracy of Manning's arm. In those 4 games, Manning threw 3 TDs and 7 INTs including an absolute stinker vs. Baltimore (QB rating of 39.6!).

edit: And to be clear, I'm just illustrating my point. I really don't discount either QBs based on the supposed strength or weakness of their surrounding teams.

Hey, I agree with you. I'm perfectly happy throwing out SB rings as an indicator of QB "greatness," because those are team awards, not individual awards. I don't credit Peyton for the Colts' SB win, unlike many Pats fans who credit Brady for theirs. Peyton had a rough postseason that year and it was the Colts defense (which, by the way, was AWFUL in the regular season) that turned it up and saved them, particularly against the Ravens. I will say, however, that Peyton was primarily responsible for the win vs. the Pats in the AFC Championship.

The only thing I mentioned in this thread was the poll on Sunday night football from the 20 living HOFers who overwhelmingly selected Manning as their QB, and then the Brady fanboys started in with their comparisons. Brady generally can't beat Manning on stats or other benchmarks, so all they have is the rings argument. Which is incredibly lame considering the likes of Brad Johnson and Trent Dilfer have a ring and Marino doesn't, so by their logic, they are better than Marino.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I don't know why people keep saying that, it's irrelevant. You don't have to win the game by any more than 1 point. You can blow 17 point leads all you want and still win. If they had been given the first down they would have won the game (an ugly win is still a win).

An ugly win is a win, that is true, but the point is directed more towards the fans moaning and groaning about that one call while ignoring a huge body of evidence that the Patriots, not the refs, were responsible for their own demise. People shouldn't be whining about a single play "costing them the game" when:

a) there is no concrete evidence that the call was wrong to begin with;
b) the Pats made many mistakes which contributed to their demise, include letting Manning steamroll them for 14 pts and 140 yds in 4 minutes;
c) even if the Pats make the first down, Maroney could have fumbled and the Pats still would have lost.

So if you're going to blame someone, how about blaming Maroney for fumbling an easy TD at the goal line? How about blaming the Pats defense or their coaches for not adjusting and letting Manning whip up on them? This silly whining about a "questionable" call is ridiculous because the Patriots have no one to blame but themselves for being placed in that position. THAT is the point.

Look, I've been a Colts fan since they moved here in 1984. The Colts have blown leads before and lost games. In some of those games, there were bad calls that hurt the Colts and may or may not have cost them the game. My response was this -- "you guys had the lead and blew it, so don't complain about a single play." Heck, the Colts have WON some games they didn't deserve to win and I would be the first to admit it. They probably didn't deserve to win last week vs. Houston, for example.

 

[bowzer85]

SUCH an EPIC game. great comeback.

 

[MotF Bane]

Our defense went home after halftime. I think I'll put the biggest share of the blame on that.

Also, I didn't see anything to concretely say the call was bad, but truthfully, I don't know enough of the rules to say anyways.

 

[spidey07]

Our defense went home after halftime. I think I'll put the biggest share of the blame on that.

Also, I didn't see anything to concretely say the call was bad, but truthfully, I don't know enough of the rules to say anyways.

Forward progress ends where you have control of the football for a complete forward pass. Same with a catch is not inbounds unless you have control of the football while the player (not ball of course) is inbounds.

 

[BUTCH1]

Well good points made, a had a sick feeling when Maroney fumbled at the goal line, not a good thing to to against Indy, I just had that gut feeling that it would come back to haunt and it did. for some reason or other coaches think tossing in a bunch of DB's and going "prevent" is going to slow someone like Manning down when it hasn't worked, not once..

 

[spidey07]

Well good points made, a had a sick feeling when Maroney fumbled at the goal line, not a good thing to to against Indy, I just had that gut feeling that it would come back to haunt and it did. for some reason or other coaches think tossing in a bunch of DB's and going "prevent" is going to slow someone like Manning down when it hasn't worked, not once..

All great quarterbacks have one thing in common - if you give them time they WILL find and connect with somebody open. That's the only way to beat brady or manning, rush the crap out of them and take the burns when they happen.