New England Patriots Links 11/19/10 - Patriots In A Rush To Meet Colts

Mike Reiss offers his three keys for the Patriots on Sunday.

1. Handling the Colts' strong pass rush.

2. Controlling the game's tempo despite Peyton Manning's effective no-huddle offense.

3. Establishing balance on offense in order to increase their play-action options.

Greg A. Bedard breaks down his three keys to a Patriots victory over the Colts.

1. Patriots must control Colts defensive ends Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney.

2. Win the turnover battle.

3. Fans need to bring the noise to Gillette Stadium on Sunday.

Jerod Mayo responds to a media question if he felt this Patriots team was in a position to be playing their best football.

"There are a lot of teams that would want our record right now. At the same time, we’re not satisfied," he said. "If we start to play our best football now, we’ll be hard to stop."

TEAM TALK

• Erik Scalavino states the obvious: Patriots defenders face a daunting challenge Sunday.
• John Cockrell Friday Out-Takes: A tale of two (New York) cities.
• Erik Scalavino tells us what happened at Thursday's practice.
• Patriots Locker Room quotes from Thursday.
• Patriots-Colts Thursday Injury Report.
• Patriots Today - How do the Pats prepare for Manning? (3.32 min. video)
• Patriots Today - Light vs. Freeney. (3.39 min. video)
• Locker Room Uncut - Practice news and locker room thoughts. (3.41 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Mike Petraglia says that the Patriots defense knows, timing is everything if you want to get to Peyton Manning.
• Mark Farinella asserts it's all about the pass rush this week in Foxboro.
• Greg A. Bedard reports the Patriots defense is working on disguising its coverages in practice.
• Mark Farinella writes the Patriots will look to duplicate the same pressure on Peyton Manning that they showed on Ben Roethlisberger.
• Tom E. Curran lays out how the Pats have a leg up on the Colts this time.
• Robert Lee feels the Patriots defense needs to do three things to beat the Colts: Disguise the defense, attack Manning when possible and play tight coverage.
• Ian Rapoport notes every member of the Patriots D-Line plays every spot. Through nine games, Belichick has employed nine different configurations up front.
• The Herald Staff lists the varying front lines the Patriots defense has used through nine games.
• Mike Reiss looks at the final numbers breaking down the Patriots defensive alignments.
• Karen Guregian warns us not to be fooled by the Colts injuries or Peyton Manning's pedestrian numbers against the Bengals last week.
• Mike Reiss posts four stat nuggets on Pats-Colts.
• Mark Farinella posts the transcript of Jerod Mayo's Q&A with the media Thursday.
• Matt Pepin offers the transcript of Peyton Manning's conference call with the media yesterday.
• Christopher Price tells us five things we need to know about the Patriots on Thursday. QBs Jonathan Crompton and Brian Hoyer have been acting the Peyton Manning role.
• Gary Marbry presents his stat-filled Colts at Patriots game day preview. Lots of interesting numbers to note.
• Tedy Bruschi breaks down Pats-Colts. With rival Colts hobbled, a perfect chance for Patriots to get on a roll.
• Countdown Daily (ESPN) Mark Schlereth and Tedy Bruschi both pick Patriots to win. 
• Tom E. Curran discounts all the Brady-Manning mutual admiration and says what both QBs won't admit: They each want to beat the other, badly.
• Steve Buckley points out the Patriots rookies are aware of how big the team's rivalry is with the Colts.
• Danny Picard notes the Colts offense may look different this year, but the Pats defense still sees Peyton Manning as it's most important player at the helm.
• Shalise Manza Young compares Pat Chung with Rodney Harrison and Lawyer Milloy and says opponents are taking notice.
• Christopher Price finds since 2001 the Pats hold the NFL best record after November 1 (76-23), and that usually leads to good things down the road.
• Robert Lee reports MVPs are fine, but Brady prefers Super Bowl rings.
• Mike Reiss reveals Pierre Woods received a 2-year contract to rejoin the Patriots.
• Mike Reiss breaks down offensive snaps, noting the Patriots are one of the NFL's heaviest shotgun-usage teams with a 43.3 percentage.
• Ian Rapoport Patriots Notebook: Tully Banta-Cain has "no understanding" of why he hasn't started since Week 2; Jerod Mayo knows the "D" has a serious test ahead of it.
• Mike Reiss offers the transcript of his weekly online chat.
• Shalise Manza Young offers the transcript of her weekly online chat.
• Christopher Price posts a YouTube clip of Patriots-Colts over the last seven years. (6.28 min. video)
• Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa report the 21-year old man who ran a red light and crashed into Tom Brady's car got his license suspended for two months.
• Kirk Minihane makes his Week 11 picks. New England over Indy.
• Jim Lazar makes his Week 11 picks. Pats, 34-17.
• ESPNBoston Patriots-Colts AccuScore report.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Tim Graham (ESPN) Pats run game the difference versus Colts.
• Clark Judge (CBS Sports) Game of the Week: Colts-Patriots never gets old.
• Albert Breer (NFL.com) Colts-Patriots never gets old because of Manning, Brady.
• PFW Staff (Pro Football Weekly) Patriots-Colts matchup of the day: RBs BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead vs. Colts run defense.
• Kevin Fishbain (Pro Football Weekly) A healthy Taylor would improve Pats' backfield.
• Tim Graham and Paul Kuharsky (ESPN) Double coverage: Pats vs. Colts in 2015.
• John Clayton (ESPN) Pats-Colts is marquee matchup, but Eagles QB is making a bid for spotlight.
• Greg Garber (ESPN) Patriots winning with small ball.
• Mike Sando (ESPN) MVP watch.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Brady tops, Jets missing in MVP watch.
• Tim Graham (ESPN) Wrap-up: Bears 16, Dolphins 0.
• Greg Gabriel (Nat'l Football Post) Week 10 rookie report card, part 2. Five Patriots rookies featured.
• Matt Williamson (ESPN) Scouts Inc. ranks the top 10 rookies after Week 10.
• Ross Tucker (ESPN) Newsflash: All NFL players are tough.
• Don Banks (SI) When it comes to running up the score, there's no etiquette in NFL.
• Mark Kaboly (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) Hines Ward thinks Patrick Chung should be fined for helmet-to-helmet hit.
• Steve Corkran (San Jose Mercury News) Oakland Raiders' Richard Seymour starts to take charge.
• ESPN Sunday Countdown: Week 11 Picks. Ditka, Johnson, Carter and Jackson all pick New England to win.
• Peter King (SI) Weekend Pickoff: Week 11. Pats 30, Colts 24.
• Peter Schrager (Fox Sports) Cheat Sheet: NFL Week 11 preview and picks. Patriots 30, Colts 27.
• Mike Tanier (NY Times) Week 11 NFL Matchups. Patriots over Colts.

VIEW FROM INDY

• Bob Kravitz (Indy Star) Here's why Colts and Patriots hate each other.
• Phil Richards (Indy Star) Peyton Manning and Tom Brady can't play forever.  History tells us they'll be hard to replace.
• Phil Richards (Indy Star) Phil Simms respects genius of Peyton Manning.
• John Oehser (Colts.com) With two touchdowns in three games, Colts CB Kelvin Hayden's confidence rises.
• Phil Richards (Indy Star) How the Colts and Patriots match up.
• Mike Chappell (Indy Star) Colts Austin Collie practices again, but will he be able to play?