Patriots 2014 Opponents, 5 First Impressions of the Colts
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Andrew Luck and the Colts have the #1 offense in the NFL in 2014 and will be a huge test for the Patriots defense. (USA Today photo)[/caption]
The New England Patriots come off their bye week and travel to Indianapolis to renew their rivalry with the Colts on Sunday Night Football. This rivalry peaked during the Peyton Manning years but now with the addition of Andrew Luck to the Indy offense, the rivalry has been rekindled and will take place on the national stage.
The Patriots (7-2) have won five in a row, mostly recently dismantling the Denver Broncos 43-21 two weeks ago. Tom Brady continued his five game hot streak where he’s thrown 18 touchdowns and just one interception.
The defense intercepted Manning twice and threw many different looks at the Denver offense and kept them off balance all game. They held the Broncos to just 43 yards rushing and forced them into being a one-dimensional attack.
The Colts (6-3) are also coming off of a bye week and have won six of their last seven. Last week they blew out the NY Giants 40-24 with QB Andrew Luck throwing for 354 yards and four touchdowns. Luck has already thrown for more than 3000 yards in the team’s first nine games. He and wide receiver T.Y. Hilton have become a potent combo.
The Colts’ defense has excelled at getting opponents off the field on third down and has stiffened their run defense, coming in at 9th best in the NFL. They’ve found their pass rush with 2nd year LB Bjoern Werner rushing off the edge in the absence of Robert Matthis.
All-time History: This will be the 78th meeting between the two rivals dating back to 1970. The Patriots own the all-time edge 48-29 and have won the last four meetings including a 43-22 win in the divisional playoffs last season in Foxboro.
As part of the lead-up to the game on Sunday, we’ll have a detailed breakdown of the matchups later in the week, but here are Five First Impressions of the Colts:
Luck An MVP Candidate: Much of the talk at the half-way point of the season centered around who was the first half MVP. As usual, much of the discussion had to do with Manning, Brady and DeMarco Murray who has gotten off to a blistering start for the Dallas Cowboys. But Luck’s numbers jump off the page as equally worthy.
Luck has completed 250 of 393 passes for 3085 yards, good for 26 touchdowns against nine interceptions. This is only the fifth time in NFL history that a QB has thrown for 3000 yards or more in just his ninth game.
The Colts are the #1 scoring offense in the league, averaging 32.1 points per game as well as the leading offense in terms of yardage overall (452) and in passing (337). Luck has spread the wealth, tossing touchdowns to eight different receivers.
Hilton/Wayne Another Dynamic Duo: The New England defense faces another stiff test this week as Luck will have the speedy T.Y. Hilton and Reggie Wayne to deal with in the Colts dynamic passing offense.
Hilton has been on fire lately with three 100 yard receiving games in the last four outings and has 56 catches for 937 yards and three touchdowns in 2014. Wayne doesn’t quite have the same breakaway speed he possessed a few years ago but is still quite effective and has had a productive first half with 42 catches for 504 yards and two touchdowns.
The matchup between Hilton will probably fall to Darrelle Revis and this one should be a great one to watch on national television. Hilton has 15 catches of 20 yards or more and will be a tough matchup for the Patriots corner.
Colts Defense Aggressive Using The Blitz: One of the reasons the Colts defense has been so successful on third down this season (30.2 percent) is they’ve been very aggressive at using the blitz to disrupt opponents passing schemes.
It is something Chuck Pagano brought with him from Baltimore, an up-tempo, aggressive scheme that tries to overload the opponents blocking schemes. It can’t be successful without relying on solid play from the corners and Vontae Davis and Greg Toler have been very good. Davis in particular has been outstanding limiting opposing WRs to a 45.5 completion percentage.
Defensive end Cory Redding, and LBs Werner and D’Qwell Jackson have been very effective at providing QB pressure. It will be an interesting chess match on Sunday to see how much Pagano will send extra bodies at Brady, who always seems to find a way in defeating the blitz.
Colts Defense Struggling Against TEs: One interesting sub-plot this week will center around Indy’s struggles covering tight ends. Thus far they’ve had their struggles covering the likes of Julius Thomas, Heath Miller, Zach Ertz and Larry Donnell. But Rob Gronkowski brings an extra dynamic into the mix bringing the element of size and physicality with the ability to stretch the seams of the defense.
Opposing tight ends according to Pro Football Focus (PFF) have been targeted 67 times and have caught 49 passes for 577 yards (11.8 ypc) and seven touchdowns. That places Indy 29th in the league at covering tight ends. Gronkowski now fully healthy has been on fire lately and has 49 catches, for 663 yards and eight TDs on the season.
Gronk has a huge size advantage on safeties Sergio Brown and Mike Adams and the recently activated LaRon Landry is physical enough but struggles in coverage. Colts LBs have struggled in coverage as well so how they look to slow down Gronkowski and force Brady to test their corners will be a key to watch.
Special Teams Key For Both Teams: Another area to watch closely is the special teams battle on Sunday. Indy has an outstanding kicking tandem in the ageless Adam Vinatieri and punter Pat McAfee.
Vinatieri is a perfect 20 for 20 on field goal tries this season and at 42, remains one of the best of all time. He has ice water running thru his veins and never seems to miss a big kick at crunch time as Patriots fans can attest to. McAfee has an outstanding 46.6 punting average with a ridiculous 43.6 net.
The Colts coverage units on both punts and kickoffs have been outstanding in 2014 and facing the Pats Julian Edelman on punt returns will be a key to watch. In a match of two good football teams, special teams can easily turn the tide for one or the other. Look no farther than the Patriots – Broncos game of two weeks ago where STs play made a difference of 13 points in the early going.
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