Patriots Ride Simple Plan to 42-20 Victory over Colts

While many New England Patriots writers will be dusting off their Weezer albums to commemorate Jonas Gray's big day—I already did that a few weeks ago—the 42-20 victory over the Indianapolis Colts gave me more of a French-Canadian feel.

Bill Belichick's decision to ride Jonas Gray to victory was truly a Simple Plan, which just happens to be a Quebecois punk band and an album name. I'll let some of their albums help score the demolition at Lucas Oil Stadium.

No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls 

Josh McDaniels—offensive coordinator for the Patriots—called a throwback game reminiscent of the era when football players stuffed some straw in their shirt and lined up for battle. Gray toted the ball 38 times for 199 yards and four touchdowns.

Although Gray ran with precision, fervor and at a fantastic pad level, he wouldn't have gotten anywhere without the big bodies up front moving the Colts defenders out of the way. For a defense that had given up less than 100 yards per game coming into the game, Bryan Stork and his minions had little trouble creating holes. Bill Belichick noted Rob Gronkowski's "aggressive approach," per Rich Hill. 

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Belichick: "Gronk's taken a really aggressive approach [to putting defenders on the ground]."

— Rich Hill (@PP_Rich_Hill) November 17, 2014"

Nate Solder—as well as the tight ends and fullbacks—were especially key pulling across the formation and using their angles to create huge running lanes. Solder's background as a tight end is evident when you see him moving down the line. Gronkowski was a monster as an inline blocker, while James Develin made the key block on multiple first down and touchdown runs.

Still Not Getting Any 

While New England racked up 244 yards on the ground, the Colts were only able to muster up 19 yards. Fifteen of those came on the feet of their quarterback Andrew Luck, while Trent Richardson and Ahmad Bradshaw combined for four yards on 14 carries.

Dont'a Hightower, Jamie Collins and Rob Ninkovich led the Patriots on the stat sheet with 19 combined tackles, but they had a lot of help from in front of and behind them.

Dominique Easley's penetration and Vince Wilfork's anchor held up Bradshaw and Richardson long enough for the linebackers to close and tackle. On the odd chance that either thought about getting the edge, Darrelle Revis and the rest of the defensive backs came up big in run support, displaying a physical panache in taking on blocks.

Get Your Heart On 

Once known as a finesse team, the Patriots are starting to take on the persona of a physical brawler. Gray is running through walls. Vince Wilfork has become one. Gronkowski is blocking people into the stands. Phil Perry of CSNNE.com noted Gronk's description of his block on Sergio Brown:

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Gronk describes his pancake of Sergio Brown as only he can: "I took him and threw him outta the club." http://t.co/SjtDuVIq4S

— Phil Perry (@PhilAPerry) November 17, 2014"

As the Detroit Lions—the best run defense in the NFL—and Eddie Lacy of the Green Bay Packers loom on the schedule, the offensive and defensive lines will not be able to let up if the Patriots want to retain their stranglehold on the No. 1 seed in the AFC.

The Patriots currently hold at least a one-game lead plus a tiebreaker on the next three teams, but the Kansas City Chiefs have their sights on the AFC West and a possible bye themselves. Their win over New England in Week 4 not only gave them the tiebreaker, but it may have set the Patriots on the track to righting their season.

Statistics and figures courtesy of NFL.com.