Halftime: Patriots Make Some Mistakes, But Lead Colts 21-12

The New England Patriots made some uncharacteristic special teams mistakes, but lead the Indianapolis Colts 21-12 after a solid overall first half of football in the Divisional Playoffs.

LeGarrette Blount accounted for all three of the Patriots' scores thus far - all of his touchdowns coming from two yards out.  The Patriots have been deploying a run heavy attack, and were a little bit too conservative in their play calling, especially late in the half.  Quarterback Tom Brady has been very sharp, but has only thrown the football 11 times thus far.

The Patriots were able to force the Colts into two turnovers - both interceptions.  Alfonzo Dennard intercepted a pass and returned it to the two yard line on the opening drive.  Late in the half, with the Colts driving, Dont'a Hightower came up with an interception off of a pass that deflected off Colts' fullback Stanley Havili.

New England should be leading this game 21-10, but were forced into a safety after a terrible snap from Danny Aiken resulted in punter Ryan Allen fumbling the ball out of the back of the end zone.  Allen was then hurt on the ensuing punt, leaving kicker Stephen Gostkowski to handle punting duties.

The Patriots had a solid first half of football no doubt.  They kept Robert Mathis off Tom Brady and only allowed T.Y. Hilton to grab two passes.  They'll get the ball to start the second half and are in a good position to win this game, but they will need to cut down on the mental mistakes.