Brady threw for 312 yards, three touchdowns and led the Patriots to two second-half scores in a 34-27 victory Sunday night in the “Deflategate” rematch.
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For three quarters, the Colts hung right with the defending Super Bowl champs, putting together two scoring drives that lasted over six minutes and turning a Tom Brady interception – his first of this 2015 season – into six points.
“We expected this to be a gadget game in the kicking game, the onside kick, a few kind of fake – fake punt, fake field goal”.
A boneheaded play by the Colts took the wind out of Lucas Oil Stadium, and left most scratching their heads. “And if you get a certain look, you got 3 yards, 2 yards-you can make a play”.
He also referred to a “communication breakdown, ” and noted: “I didn’t do a good enough job of coaching it during the week”. When the play clock was at 9 seconds, just after the Colts’ offensive line shifted (and then lined up incorrectly, prompting an illegal formation flag – but that’s neither here nor there), only Bolden was standing in position to make a play. In Pagano’s mind, the worst-case scenario was that the Patriots were fooled and the Colts would have just taken a delay-of-game call and punted on the next play. But he did, and the play not only failed, it went down as one of the more boneheaded moments in recent National Football League history.
“I don’t regret the play call”, Pagano said.
“You’re not surprised with anything [with] how they play”, he said. Brady finished 23 of 37 in the first meeting since January’s AFC title, which ultimately led to allegations of improperly inflated balls, months of investigation and eventually a four-game suspension that was nullified in court. “Again, I take responsibility there”. After JMU went up 24-17 on their first overtime possession, Maine answered back with a touchdown of their own and sent on the PAT team. It prompted commentator Phil Simms to say: “There is absolutely no way they should have snapped that ball”.
Sunday night’s gaffe isn’t the only knock on Pagano in his tenure at Indianapolis.
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As the season goes on, teams will look to find different ways to beat Brady and the Colts gave a glimpse into one way – forcing him into holding the ball longer than he would like because typically that is when he isn’t as sharp. There were basically two defenders lined up on one blocker, and despite all signs pointing to the Colts simply calling a timeout to regroup, the team actually snapped the ball. The Colts ran an inexplicable fake punt play that didn’t work and handed the Patriots the football back for free on a short field.
