Not Luck's Time Yet - Instead, Patriots Are the Ones Headed to Arizona
 LaGarrette Blount torched the Colts in the playoffs again, logging 30 carries for 149 yards and three touchdowns in the Patriots romp over Indy. (USA TODAY Images) |
In the end, all the hype about the Indianapolis Colts being a different team than in November was just that …hype. The Patriots once again used a punishing ground attack led by LaGarrette Blount and steamrolled the Colts 45-7 in the AFC Championship Game and advance to the Super Bowl against the Seattle Seahawks.
Blount ran over the Colts for 164 yards and four touchdowns in the Divisional Playoffs last season and on Sunday night ran for 149 more on 30 carries with three more touchdowns. Indianapolis had slowed down other teams in the playoffs but both Cincinnati and Denver were beat-up teams and facing a fairly healthy Patriots squad it was no contest. Blount rode roughshod over the over-matched Indy defense.
Here are some other observations from Sunday’s championship game:
Not Luck’s Time ….Yet: Much was also made that this week, Luck would surpass both Manning and Brady and take his place at the head of the table as the top dog in the AFC. And like Manning before him, it is not going to be easy for him against the Patriots. For the fourth time in four tries, Bill Belichick’s defense mixed their coverages, blanketed his favorite receivers and confused the heck out of him.
Luck’s numbers were the worst yet in his four meetings connecting on only 12 of 33 passes for 126 yards no touchdowns and two interceptions for a QB rating of just 23.0. The Patriots pass rush, so maligned at times this season was tremendous all night and at the same time not logging a single sack. Which is why sacks can be so overrated at times. The A-gap pressure by Jamie Collins and Donta Hightower was strong and they forced Luck to move and hurry his throws consistently all evening.
Much like Manning’s 49 touchdown season where he came into Foxboro on fire and only put up 3 points, Luck’s 40 touchdown season was much discussed but he and the Indy offense was only able to score seven. He’ll get his time in the spotlight, but not this year…not just yet.
Arrington/Ninkovich Come up Large: Kyle Arrington had another fantastic game against Colts WR T.Y. Hilton holding him to a single catch. In November, he held Hilton to just three catches for 24 yards, both his lowest totals of the season.
Arrington is somehow still thought of as a weak-link in the Patriots secondary in some circles but his performance was no fluke. He provided tight coverage all game long and shut down the Colts and Luck’s go-to guy.
Also on the defensive side of the ball was a fantastic effort by Rob Ninkovich. Ninkovich has a knack for coming up big in big games and this one was no different. He set the edge in the running game, consistently pressured Luck and knocked down a couple of passes at the line of scrimmage.
Ninkovich didn’t show up very much in the stat sheet but his night was key in the success the Patriots had in shutting down the Colts passing game.
Patriots Offensive Line Passes Test: Much of the talk leading up to this one was the fact that Indy hadn’t allowed a 100 yard rusher since the November game. And with the healthy return of Arthur Jones coupled with the loss of center Bryan Stork, the Colts were confident that they could slow New England’s rushing game.
But the Patriots offensive line once again teed off on the smaller front seven of the Colts. And they still added an extra OL (Cameron Fleming) for about 30 snaps and the Colts had no answer for it.
Blount had big holes that kept getting bigger as the night wore on. And once Blount can get thru the point of attack with a head of steam, he’s tough to bring down. The pass protection was also very good, as Tom Brady for the majority of the game had a good amount of time to look downfield.
A Week Later…the Deception Continues: The Patriots dusted off the same play that drew the ire of the Ravens this week, but on the WR screen pass, Brandon LaFell dropped the pass.
However, on a tackle eligible play, Brady was able to hit LT Nate Solder for a touchdown that fooled everyone. Solder didn’t even draw a soul in coverage and was able to rumble into the end zone.
Brady completed 23 of 35 for 226 yards with three touchdowns to three different receivers (Solder, FB James Develin and Rob Gronkowski), and they kept Indy off-balance evening. Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels showed many different looks and the Colts were unable to matchup.
Milestone Game: Of course this was a hat and t-shirt night with the Patriots getting their new swag for being AFC Champions. But Brady became the NFL’s #1 passing yardage leader in the post-season early in the first quarter.
His three touchdown passes take him to 49 in the post-season which he already owns. And with his start in Glendale, Arizona, Brady will be appearing in his sixth Super Bowl.
Bill Belichick passed Tom Landry with his 30th post-season win on Sunday night, which is tops in NFL history as well.
The Patriots will be playing in their eighth Super Bowl which ties them with Dallas and Pittsburgh for the most in NFL history.
Injury Update: Julian Edelman was dinged up as was Darrelle Revis but both were able to return to the game. Edelman, in retrospect looked really dinged up at the end of the game. Sealver Siliga suffered a foot injury and didn’t return. All three will need monitoring as the count-down for the Super Bowl continues.
Bill Belichick said it best when taking the Lamar Hunt Trophy for being the AFC Champs from Jim Nantz, he said, “All I have to say is….we’re on to Seattle”.
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