New England Patriots Played 'Bend Don't Break' To Perfection vs. Peyton Manning

It always seems to come down to the last possession with the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts, and recently, that possession has belonged to Peyton Manning.

It did on this occasion, too, albeit with different results.

The Patriots were to the Colts for the first half of this storied rivalry what the Colts have been to the Patriots in its recent past. The Patriots were the bully that had its way, but finally the Colts rose up and said, "No more."

Since then, it's been all Colts. No matter what the Patriots have done, it's seemed impossible for the final score to end in their favor.

We've heard all week long how the winner of this game has often gone on to great things in the postseason. With James Sanders' game-ending interception on Peyton Manning, it certainly felt like the momentum swung toward New England's side of the field.

Sanders summed it up best after the game when he said, "I had an opportunity to make a play and made it."

That same phrase could apply to their entire defensive performance.

Yes, it was one play, but the Patriots defense to this point has been defined by one play.

It was a big interception by Patrick Chung in the fourth quarter against the Bills that ended their bid at a rally. It was a key tackle by Jermaine Cunningham and Brandon Spikes on fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line against the Vikings that helped keep them at bay going into halftime.

It was another big interception from James Sanders that helped fend off a comeback attempt by the Steelers in their prime-time showdown last week.

And really, it was three plays that helped seal the deal for the Patriots this week. An interception by Brandon Meriweather on the Colts' opening drive of the game made Bill Belichick's decision to defer look very smart.

Devin McCourty's interception in the third quarter made Belichick's decision to draft him look even smarter.

But Manning himself admitted he was confused at times by the coverages.

"New England was moving their coverages. They were really mixing them up, moving around, and I had a couple misreads on the coverages," said Manning after the game.

I have a feeling that's exactly how Belichick drew it up. Don't believe me? Just check any of the games the Patriots have played against Manning.

More to the point, Belichick's defensive mantra for the past decade has been "bend, don't break." The Patriots did just that. They bent to a shade of a hair before the breaking point, but snapped right back into place on the game-ending interception.

They disguised their coverages, knowing that he could burn them, but knowing also that they could force bad throws and poor reads.

According to WEEI.com, Sanders said, "I don’t know if we were daring him to throw deep, but we were trying to disguise the whole game and keep them guessing. At times our disguises worked, other times they didn’t work.

"(Manning) is one of the best quarterbacks to play this game and it’s tough as a defense to hold those disguises. If you’re not sound, he can hurt you.”

Of course, Manning shredded them for 396 yards and four touchdowns—there's your bending. But those three interceptions were the game changers—there's your not breaking.

It's no mystery that New England gives up yards in bunches. They've allowed a record-tying five 300-yard passers already this season, with six games and at least three more capable quarterbacks to go.

They are, however, making plays when they need to. They quietly rank in the top 10 in team interceptions.

It's hard to argue this defense is "good" when they rank 24th in scoring and 29th in yards. What matters, though, is that they're playing winning football.

What matters is that they're not letting those rankings get to their heads. They play their best because it only takes one play to change a game, and when that play happens, they know they need to be on top of their game.

What matters is that when the game's on the line, they aren't buckling. That's quite contrary to what we saw last year, when "fourth quarter" nearly became a bad joke for the Patriots.

Heck, even "bend don't break" was almost an even worse joke.

But no one was laughing on Sunday. Not James Sanders, not the Patriots, and especially not Peyton Manning.

Source: WEEI.com

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