Patriots vs. Colts: Score and Twitter Reaction for 'Sunday Night Football'

It wasn't the beatdown many expected, but the New England Patriots remained perfect after a 34-27 victory over the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday night.

Although the Patriots already owned the lead when it happened, the turning point of the game may have been a questionable play call by Colts head coach Chuck Pagano in the third quarter.

Despite having plenty of time to make a comeback, Pagano gambled on a 4th-and-3 from the Indianapolis 37-yard line. Words don't do the formation justice; you'll have to look at this tweet from the NFL:

Unsurprisingly, using a 190-pound wide receiver—Griff Whalen—as your snapper and lone blocker is a recipe for failure. The Patriots stuffed Indianapolis safety Colt Anderson for a loss of one yard, forcing a turnover on downs and setting themselves up with incredibly favorable field position.

Aside from the formation, ProFootballTalk questioned whether it was the right time to attempt such a brazen trick play with 1:14 left in the third quarter while the Colts were down by only six points:

Yahoo Sports' Andy Behrens figures Pagano will be vindicated in the long run:

At least the Colts now have a new banner to accompany that AFC finalist pennant in the rafters of Lucas Oil Stadium, as CanucksArmy's Matthew Henderson pointed out:

New England assumed possession at the Indy 35-yard line following the turnover on downs and wasted little time taking a 34-21 lead. Tom Brady found LeGarrette Blount for an 11-yard touchdown pass with 12:48 left in the game.

That proved to be the game-winning score after Indianapolis scored a late touchdown.

Brady finished 23-of-37 for 312 yards with three touchdowns and an interception, while Blount's 93 yards on the ground helped New England move the chains and eat time off the clock.

Andrew Luck had an uneven performance, looking great for stretches but also making a number of poor throws. He was 30-of-50 on the night for 312 yards and three touchdowns.

For the majority of NFL fans outside the greater Indianapolis metropolitan area, anything short of a Patriots rout was a surprise. Hell hath no fury like a Bill Belichick scorned.

New England's players and coaches have had months to stew over the Deflategate scandal, and they circled this game as soon as the NFL announced the 2015 schedules. Add in how well the Patriots have started the year, and they entered as heavy favorites Sunday night.

But the Colts didn't hold up their end of the bargain, as they held a 21-20 halftime lead. Luck showed little rust, despite missing the last two weeks after suffering a shoulder injury, while Indy's defense made timely stops and turned one Brady first-half interception into six points.

With New England holding a 10-7 lead in the second quarter, Brady looked to Julian Edelman on a short out. Edelman bobbled the ball, and as it was in midair, Colts safety Mike Adams snagged the pigskin and ran it back 14 yards for a touchdown. The NFL shared the replay:

You don't normally see the sure-handed Edelman drop passes without contact, but the Patriots wideout suffered a finger injury that affected him during the game. Vice Sports' Aaron W. Gordon shared a screenshot from the NBC broadcast that showed Edelman's gruesome pinkie:

"

Can’t imagine why Edelman is having trouble catching the ball. Can’t Even Begin To Fathom. pic.twitter.com/BxpZCpLsan

— Aaron W. Gordon (@A_W_Gordon) October 19, 2015"

But a little less than two minutes after Indianapolis got on top, Blount rumbled for a 38-yard touchdown run to help give New England a 17-14 lead with 9:33 left in the half.

Blount has undoubtedly become a thorn in the Colts' side after he carved them up for a combined 314 yards and seven touchdowns to knock Indianapolis out of the postseason two years in a row.

The Colts responded well after the TD, marching 80 yards in a little less than seven minutes. Their drive culminated in a three-yard TD pass from Luck to T.Y. Hilton. Luck did a great job of remaining patient in the pocket and moving around to buy time. Eventually, that allowed Hilton to get open in the end zone.

The Shutdown Corner's Frank Schwab highlighted two key moments that helped Indy go ahead 21-17:

New England nearly scored a touchdown in the waning moments of the first half. Brady found tight end Scott Chandler in the end zone for what looked like six points. Instead, however, the referees penalized Chandler for offensive pass interference, wiping out the TD.

Chandler vociferously objected to the call, but this screenshot from The Cauldron showed him putting his hands in the face of Colts corner Greg Toler:

"

"Pass interference? Me?" pic.twitter.com/hxrI7Gs2ws

— The Cauldron (@TheCauldron) October 19, 2015"

The Pats settled for a 35-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski to close out the first half.

After playing perhaps their best half of the season, the Colts regressed once the third quarter began.

New England received the ball to start the second half and immediately moved 80 yards for the go-ahead score. On 2nd-and-5 at the Colts' 25-yard line, Brady and star tight end Rob Gronkowski hooked up for a touchdown pass to help give the Pats a 27-21 lead.

The Indianapolis secondary left Gronk wide-open, which allowed him ample space to catch the ball and then run for the end zone. ESPN's Anthony Becht knows a thing or two about how to defend tight ends, considering he played the position for 12 years in the league. He was shocked to see the Colts allow Gronkowski to run so freely:

Neither team had much success offensively after that touchdown. Perhaps wanting to spark his team, Pagano opted for his fourth-down gambit on his team's third drive after going down, which blew up in his face in a big way.

Saying that call specifically cost the Colts the game would be reductive, but gifting the Patriots a short field obviously did the Colts few favors.

A 13-point lead was a big enough cushion for New England over the remainder of the game. It ratcheted up the pressure on Luck and stifled the Colts offense. Luck hooked up with Griff Whalen for an 18-yard touchdown with 1:19 left, but the game was over when Indy failed to recover the ensuing onside kick.

The victory didn't reveal much about the Patriots. They were one of the best teams in the league entering Sunday night, and nothing from their performance would have you believe otherwise.

New England will play the New York Jets at home next week, which could be a tricky matchup. The Jets have one of the NFL's toughest defenses, and while their offense doesn't win games on its own, it doesn't do much to lose them, either.Nobody will expect Ryan Fitzpatrick to outduel Brady, but as long as he can avoid turning the ball over, New York might have a chance to pull off the upset.

For Indianapolis, the defeat was a mixed bag. The Colts played well for two quarters, and then everything fell apart in the second half. Luck's accuracy lessened as the game went on, which leads one to believe his injured shoulder hasn't fully healed.

Maybe Luck can get back to 100 percent with another week to recover, but Indianapolis has to be concerned with its slate of games ahead.

The Colts will play a resurgent New Orleans Saints team next week, and they'll get the Carolina Panthers, Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons in succession after that. Indy could easily drop three or even all four of those games.

Even with the general malaise of the AFC South, starting the year 3-7 or 4-6 would be worrisome for the Colts.

Post-Game Reaction

"Good, heads-up play by our punt return unit," said Belichick about that fateful fake punt attempt by the Colts, per Phil Perry of CSNNE.com.

Pagano owned up to the mistake after the game.

"I take responsibility," he said, per Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post. "Communication breakdown between the quarterback and the snapper."

The play didn't come completely out of the blue, however, as Pagano added his team had practiced the alignment "for a while," per Hubbuch.