Was this a questionable call?

More photos » by Nam Y. Huh - AP

4 days ago: Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne (87) cuts in front of New England Patriots cornerback Jonathan Wilhite (24) during the first half an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 15, 2009 in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

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You can't give Peyton Manning the ball.  You need to keep it out of his hands.  And he proved that.  Whether or not Kevin Faulk had the first down will be discussed ad infinitum.  Whether or not Belichick should've gone for it on 4 and 2 will be questioned.  Discuss.

Nice start, but I'm afraid of a momentum shift.  If we let Manning set the pace, our DLs will be gassed.  We're getting the ball first in the second half.

Hey gang, here's your Sunday early games open thread.  I will be at my daughter's cheerleading competition where spirit fingers will be involved, but that's another story.  I will at least have a few other dads to commiserate with.  I think I'm going to start a business with a mobile bar and big screen TV for events like these.  I'd make a fortune.  Talk to you tonight.

by Stephan Savoia - AP

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Here we are.  Week 10 and it's the Colts.  This is a critical game, but not because we want to beat up on one of our biggest rivals.  Unless both teams implode in the second half of the season, it's a forgone conclusion that they'll win their respective divisions.  What's the first thing looked at when determining home field advantage in a playoff scenario?  Head to head record.  If seeding works out and we happen to face Indy in January, we want them in Foxboro.  Take Peyton Manning out of his dome and put him in the snow, that's what I way.

But there's still the emotional part of beating Indy.  We're 2-1 in the post season against Peyton and the boys, but we're 1-4 overall in our last 5 matchups.  As a fan, me no likey.  At about 11pm ET, I really want to see this face:

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Ugghh, 1 in 4 in the RedZone for the Miami game.  Don't fret - Moss's 71 yard TD (remember the stiff arm against rookie corner Vontae Davis?) doesn't count, so 1 in 4 is not that bad.  Still, no one likes 3 instead of 6, so let's get our act together boys and start converting in the RedZone.  Especially at the Lube.  Against Fivehead.

No, I haven't gone to the darkside.  I'm still your old, loveable MPF (emphasis on old).  I had a fun lead up to this most heralded game, but I'm still looking to head into the Lube and end Indy's undefeated streak in style.  Looking at the injury report, we appear to have key folks coming back.  Granted, it was the media portion of practice and those players could've sat during the closed portion, but it bodes well for us.  Of particular note: WR Julian Edelman, RB Sammy Morris, C Dan Koppen, S Brandon Meriweather, and LT Matt Light (Doubtful).

Out of all of these returning players, I think Edelman will be the most impactful, IF his arm has healed enough.  He'll provide a nice third receiver option for Brady and could rotate in and out with Wes Welker to keep him fresh.  I would then suggest Sammy Morris in order of importance.  When Laurence Maroney is having trouble, Morris seems to find a way to work through the holes.  He's also been providing a nice checkdown target for Tom Brady.

All in all, these returns to practice are good to see.  Or maybe Darth Hoodius is making Indy prepare for them when they may not return?  No, he would never do that with an injury report, would he?

Ben Watson warming up for some action against the Colts on Sunday.

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Bill Belichick details the process of picking which plays to run, which ones to throw out and how to prioritize what the players need to know.

You always want to prioritize what's important, because by the end of the week we're sitting here on Friday or Saturday and every player has been told 1,000 things: ‘Do this,' ‘Do that,' ‘When this happens, do this,' ‘When that happens, do that,' ‘If they do this, you're going to check to that,' ‘Read this guy,' ‘Read that guy.' He's got 1,000 things in his mind and I think it's important to boil it back down to, ‘OK, those are all techniques and they're all adjustments and they're things we need to do, but what do we need to do to win this game? Let's make sure we've got first things first.' Because somewhere between those 1,000 things, there's one and then there's 1,000. There's got to be some kind of priority, so I think every time you come to the end of the week, you want to bring it back to what are the most important things to do as a team and at each position, whether it's tight ends, ‘Here are the three most important things for you to do this week.' For the corners, ‘Here are the three most important things for you.' That type of thing, so that you don't lose sight of the big picture and so you don't take a chance on players not knowing what the most important things are and making those decision themselves. You remind them that this is how the game is played. This is what your role is. This is what your job is. First things first.

 

Friday is certainly a coming together time and Saturday a lot of times is just a further coming together or further solidifying. Maybe we put some things on the back burner. ‘We've got this if we need it.' ‘We've got that if we need it.' ‘If this situation comes up, this is how we're going to handle it, but this is where we're going to go with. Here's how we're going to play the game.' Now if we have to adjust it, we adjust it. Because again, when you go through all of that in the beginning of the week, the players don't really know - and sometimes the coaches don't know for sure either - exactly how it's going to unfold. Again, I think to just identify and get everybody on the same page - ‘Ok here's how we're going to start, so let's don't get confused with this other stuff. If we need it, we'll come to it, but that's not what we're going to lead with.' So then the players can really zero in on, ‘Ok, these calls, these adjustments...if this is called and that happens, here's what we're going to do. There's another play were that might happen, but that play is 40 plays down the road. That's not what we're thinking about right away.'

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Image (cropped) from: www.foxboroblog.com

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So, thanks for being stupid enough kind enough to let me run your blog for a few days, Patriots fans. Though your liquor cabinet is bare, your toilet seat is coated in piss stains, and the living room carpet as a nice, warm present waiting for you when you get home, I'm sure you enjoyed my two days of blogging here. I appreciate all the fine comments and the insight. This is a smart, intelligent Pats fan community here (well, except for andrew29910, but even Pats fans are making fun of him), and it has been a joy to see the Colts and Patriots blog communities really come together and enjoy this great sports rivalry. 

I leave you with a great quote from Colts center Jeff Saturday, who was interviewed by Colts.com. You might remember him as the guy who pancaked Vince Wilfork into the endzone on Joseph Addai's game-winning TD in the 2006 AFC Championship Game. Saturday, who is likely a future Hall of Famer, has a great quote about this upcoming game that I hope both players and fans take to heart (emphasis mine):

Question: Is it fun to play games like this [Against the Patriots]?

Jeff Saturday: Absolutely! I think the thing you do want to take away from this week is enjoy the week. Understand, this is cool. This is what you play football for. You don't play for the 0-5 teams, or the 0-8 teams. You play for the two best teams in the division, or in the conference, playing each other and battling it out. I mean, there's no hiding. We'll see where we are Sunday night. I think that's exciting. I think players that enjoy this game understand how fun these times are and how few times you really get this opportunity. So, you might as well go out and make the most of it.

I hope you enjoyed this week as much as Jeff Saturday seems to have. Enjoy the game Sunday everyone.

More photos » by Winslow Townson - AP

12 days ago: New England Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo (51) celebrates a stop as Miami Dolphins center Jake Grove (64) and quarterback Chad Henne look on during the fourth quarter of New England's 27-17 win in an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

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Yesterday, we had the unthruths about the 2009 Colts. Now, we close out with untruths about the 2009 Patriots.

False

Tom Brady will take three years to fully recover from his injury, which means that he won't be "great" for a while now.

True

This year, Brady is completing 65% of his passes for 2364 yards (third best in AFC) and has 16 TDs to 5 INTS (same TD to INT ratio as Peyton Manning). Early this season, Brady did look "out of sync" with his receivers, and the Patriots are lucky they did not lose their first game of the year to the Buffalo Bills. However, Brady has recovered his form and is playing very well. In fact, it is shaping up to be one of his best statistical seasons ever.

Much of the "it will take three years" talk comes from using Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer as an example. Palmer suffered a somewhat equally horrible knee injury to Brady's in 2006, and it is only now that Palmer looks to have returned to form. This example is very misleading and flawed though. Palmer was "ready" to play the next season after his injury, but the Bengals roster in 2007 was not the Patriots roster in 2009. Flaws in the Cincy roster, bad coaching, and poor ownership factored more into the Bengals struggling since their last playoff appearance; not Palmer's injury.

False

The Patriots have lost too many important players to be a contender anymore.

True

Gone are Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison, Mike Vrabel, and Richard Seymour. These players were the foundation of three championships. However, new players like Jerod Mayo and Brandon Meriweather have the Patriots allowing only 14.5 ppg (#2 behind the Colts). So, statistically, this is one of the better defense the Patriots have ever had. When you have Tom Brady, and you give him a defense that is only allowing roughly 2 TDs a game, you ARE a contender.

False

The Patriots basically have only two receiving weapons on offense: Randy Moss and Wes Welker. Double those two guys and you should be able to shut down this offense.

True

Um, if things were that easy, the Patriots would be 0-8 now. They aren't. When teams double those two WRs, tight end Benjamin Watson has stepped up and made some big plays. He is on his way to a career year, currently with 19 receptions for 271 yards and 4 TDs.

Like with all great teams, lots of silly, incorrect information gets thrown out there and just accepted as fact (like when people say Peyton Manning "struggles" against 3-4 defenses). When morons spew this kind of lazy garbage, it is up to us bloggers to kick them in the nuts, laugh in their face, and yell "WRONG!"