But in a series defined by wild games and insane plays, Indy’s terrible fake punt might have been the worst of the worst. Whalen snapped it to Anderson, who was immediately tackled, which gave the Patriots a short field to work with. “Alignment-wise, we weren’t lined up correctly and then a communication breakdown between the quarterback and snapper”. “I take responsibility there”, Pagano said.
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Late in the third quarter, on fourth and 3, the Colts tried for a fake punt trick play – of sorts – against the visiting Patriots. The victory improved New England’s record to 5-0, one-half game ahead of the 4-1 New York Jets for first place in the AFC East. This sets up a big game against the Jets at Gillette Stadium next week.
If you think back to Andrew Luck’s first three starts of the season and then compare it to the team’s game on Sunday night in week six, you would probably notice a lot of similarities – and that’s because a lot of the issues were the same ones.
Had the suspension been upheld, Brady would have made his season debut in front of a hostile Indianapolis crowd.
The play in the Colts’ 34-27 loss to the Patriots on Sunday night was a failure in every way possible – poorly conceived, poorly executed. He was 30 of 50 for 312 yards and three touchdowns. “We didn’t know what the play was going to be, obviously, but they went on the swing-gate type play”.
Peyton Manning threw three interceptions and Brandon McManus kicked the crucial field-goal in overtime. It may have cost the Colts the game.
Early in the game, the New England defense looked porous, as it gave up 21 points in the first half, including a 13-play, 89-yard drive on the Colts’ first possession of the game. On Sunday, about three hours before kickoff, Luck was seen throwing with even more zip. Defensively, they will get a faceful of Ivory, which would be a stern enough test with a full-go Dont’a Hightower. Chandler Jones and company stymied the Colts to allow just two scores on Indianapolis’ first ten drives, and only four of the Colts drives extended beyond 20 yards (before the garbage time touchdown). They continued to take shots down the field, and they refused to back down from the defending Super Bowl champs.
The fake punt is just one more example of why New England looks down on Indy. But again, we shifted over, and I didn’t do a good enough job coaching it during the week. It wasn’t the Patriots’ best performance, and the mood afterward reflected that, as the locker room vibe made it feel nearly as if the team had lost the game.
But the Colts did not get blown out, instead leading the Patriots 21-20 at halftime.
But in the second half, Brady reverted to form. His presence was sorely missed as Rob Gronkowski was able to get involved in the first drive in the second half and brought in a few passes including a touchdown. The touchdown catch by Blount was the first of his National Football League career. The punter bobbled the snap, the ball was flipped into the air, and it landed in the hands of a Spartan with only one Wolverine between him and the goal line. “It was a good win”, Brady said rather unconvincingly. He was playing bold all game – going for it on fourth down and later running an onside kick that the Colts likely recovered although the refs ruled otherwise.
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The difference between this play and the ending to the Michigan/MSU game on Saturday is the difference between a building that collapses because of an engineering flaw and one that collapses because it’s been hit by a tornado.
