Patriots vs. Colts: Indianapolis Grades, Notes and Quotes
What was a promising start for the Indianapolis Colts against their rivals, the New England Patriots, changed drastically in the second half as the Colts fell for the seventh time in a row to the Patriots Sunday night.
Andrew Luck shook the rust off quickly, taking the opening drive for a touchdown—his first of two in the opening half—to give the Colts a lead, and Mike Adams picked off Tom Brady for the first time this season, taking it back for a score of his own, helping give the Colts a 21-20 lead at the break.
Then things began to look familiar for the Colts fans who had suffered at the hands of the Patriots in recent years. Brady led New England to a score on the opening drive of the third quarter that gave the Patriots a lead they would never surrender.
Following an unbelievable fake-punt attempt, Brady would add one more passing touchdown to put a little extra sheen on the win for New England, which improved to 5-0 on the season with the 34-27 victory.
Indianapolis on the other hand fell to 3-3, but more importantly it failed to beat the team that has plagued team for years and seems to have plenty of issues still left to fix. Let’s take a look at the grades, news and quotes from the Colts loss on Sunday.
Position Grades for Colts
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Position | Grade |
QB | A- |
RB | B+ |
WR | A |
TE | B |
OL | C |
DL | C |
LB | C- |
DB | D+ |
Special Teams | B- |
Coaching | B- |
For a player returning from an injury, Andrew Luck looked the best he has this season, torching the Patriots secondary early and looking much more comfortable in the pocket than he had all season.
That comfort was largely thanks to the short passing game the team relied on, with the wide receiver consistently getting open and giving Luck targets, while the offensive line looked better with less time on blocks needed.
The passing game was the standout, but Frank Gore continued to improve for Indianapolis, with another big game, despite limited touches as the Colts played from behind for a majority of the second half.
New England’s running game didn’t get going like it had in the playoffs each of the last two years, but the Colts' pass rush was still conspicuously absent. Tom Brady had unlimited time in the pocket and could essentially choose his target, which hurt the pass defense significantly.
Despite some early struggles this year, Mike Adams has quickly developed into a ball-hawking safety who can change the game at any time, like he did with a pick-six against the Patriots. But even the touchdown couldn’t hide the secondary's terrible performance throughout. Blown assignments, open receivers...there was next to no resistance from the secondary against the New England passing game.
Short Passing Game Looks Like Serious Improvement
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Whether it was because of Andrew Luck’s shoulder not being 100 percent yet or a reaction to the offensive line’s inability to keep pressure off the quarterback so far this season, the decision to focus on short passes was a masterstroke by the Colts coaching staff.
Through the first two games of the year, Luck could barely find enough time to breath against the blitz-heavy defenses of New York and Buffalo, but in recent weeks with Matt Hasselbeck under center, Indianapolis has relied on short and intermediate throws instead of the deep ball to move the chains.
Now with Luck back in, it appears the team is sticking to the game plan of getting the ball out of his hands quickly, and it is seems to be working. The offensive line looked much better without having to pass-block for long, and Luck was back to his elite ways against the Patriots.
Finishing the game 30-of-50 for 312 yards and three touchdowns, Luck put together his best performance of the season and looked far from a player coming off an injury that kept him out for two weeks.
The final result might not have been what the Colts wanted after a poor second half, but Luck looked the best he has this season, which is a good sign for Indianapolis who will be looking to bounce back from another defeat to the Patriots.
Mike Adams, Ball Hawk of a Modern Age
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However you feel about the term "ball hawk," which has become engrained in the psyche of modern football, there is something to be said about players who consistently find ways to be in the right place at the right time. Colts safety Mike Adams is one of those players.
Coming off his AFC Defensive Player of the Week performance against the Houston Texans in which he recorded a pair of interceptions, Adams one-upped himself against New England.
With the offense floundering in the second quarter, Patriots receiver Julian Edelman bobbled a pass, and Adams was on the spot to not only get his third interception in the past two weeks but also take the ball back to the end zone to give the Colts a lead.
It was Brady’s first interception of the season, and it showed how far Adams has come in just a few weeks this season after struggling mightily early on, even if a big part of it was the luck of Edelman bobbling the ball.
An injury limited his play for a good chunk of the game against the Patriots, and with the struggles in the secondary, Adams needs to get healthy fast or the pass defense could get even worse than it already is.
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The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Fake Punt
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Chuck Pagano deserves praise for the Indianapolis Colts' Sunday night performance; let’s get that out of the way right off the bat. The Colts came to play when expectations were low, and they put in arguably their best offensive performance of the year.
But as the offense started to stall in the third quarter, Indianapolis needed a spark to get things back on track and avoid another Patriots blowout. So, with the score at 27-21 in favor of New England and the game nearing the fourth quarter, a fake punt deep in Colts territory was called for.
It wasn’t your typical fake punt, though, trying to catch the defense off guard with a run to the outside or a pass. No, the Colts shifted their entire team sans snapper Griff Whalen and Colt Anderson under center.
The Patriots left a group of players over Whalen and proceed to immediately sack Anderson once the ball was snapped, giving New England the ball on a short field. Tom Brady took quick advantage, leading the team to a touchdown early in the fourth quarter that more or less put the game out of reach.
Whatever the explanation behind the play was, it didn’t work out on the field and turned a manageable deficit for the Colts into a comfortable Patriots lead. It is a play that will be remembered for a long time—and not for good reasons.
Chuck Pagano on the Fake Punt
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The Colts put in a much-better performance than many expected against the New England Patriots on Sunday, but all the talk after the game was around one play when the execution wasn't quite there.
Watching the fake-punt attempt in the third quarter, it was clear something went wrong with the shift, which was designed to catch the Patriots off guard and misaligned, but coach Chuck Pagano took full blame for the play's final result, according to SportsCenter:
""We shifted over and I didn't do a good enough job coaching it throughout the week...I take full responsibility." Chuck Pagano on fake punt.
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 19, 2015"
It is hard to predict what would have occurred had the Colts decided to punt the ball in that scenario, or even succeed in picking up the first down, but seeing as the ensuing touchdown from Tom Brady was the difference in the final score, it is hard to argue it had a big impact on the game's finish.
Andrew Luck on His Shoulder
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Despite another loss to the Patriots, Andrew Luck and the Colts looked like the team they were supposed to be on offense. Slinging the ball around the field throughout, Luck recorded his best game of the season, despite coming off a shoulder injury that had sidelined him for the past two games.
Per Kevin Bowen of Colts.com, Luck said his shoulder was feeling fine, though, after the game, and anything he missed was on him, not the injury:
"Andrew Luck on his shoulder: “By no means was I perfect. I missed some throws I should have hit. That has nothing to do with my health."
— Kevin Bowen (@KBowenColts) October 19, 2015"
Some expected Luck to take time to shake off the rust after sitting for a couple of weeks, but the star quarterback opened the game with a long touchdown drive and didn't look back. If he can build on this performance moving forward, Indianapolis will be in great shape.
Chuck Pagano on Aggressiveness Against Patriots
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The fake punt will be talked about for the rest of time, but it wasn't the first time in the matchup against the Patriots that the Colts risked a lot in an attempt to get a leg up on their rivals.
An onside kick after taking a 14-10 lead nearly paid off, but the officials ruled in favor of New England after a review and gave the Patriots the ball with decent field position. Chuck Pagano said after the game that he planned on being aggressive and doing whatever it took to pull off the upset, per Mike Berman of IndySportsCentral:
"Pagano: "It's one game, it's a long season, we were going to be aggressive. We wanted to attack this football team."
— Mike Berman (@MikeBermanIndy) October 19, 2015"
If the gambles had paid off, or if the Colts had won regardless, there would be a different conversation coming out of the game. But after another defeat at the hands of the Patriots, Indianapolis might have to reconsider some of the risks it took.
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