Rewatched the short cut of the game this morning (mostly just the defense), here are a few more thoughts to pass along…
I never thought I’d say this but the Patriots need to get Jonthan Wilhite back. Patrick Chung has quickly become one of the emotional leaders of the team, but he struggles when he’s forced to be in coverage all the time. With Wilhite out Chung was relegated to, as far as I could see, entirely nickel corner responsibility. Not that Wilhite is a pro bowler but he is a better slot corner than Chung. When he comes back Chung can rotate in with Sanders and Meriweather at safety. Of course it might not have made much difference against the Colts as Meriweather and Sanders were in deep coverage most of the day and Chung excels near and around the line of scrimmage.
It looks like my one wish of next offseason, aside from no lockout, is for the Pats to re-sign Logan Mankins long term. Everyone is singing his praises, about what a difference he’s made with his leadership and nastiness. I know Dan Connolly has been really solid this season and is probably the future right guard once Neal retires, but Mankins is a special player who plays where BB values players the most, on the line.
How good has the Lawfirm been this year? And how nice was it not to have a Laurence Maroney fumble yesterday?
When you have a young defense that’s going to give up yards you can’t make mistakes. You must play solid football and that’s what the Patriots did yesterday. One turnover could’ve been the difference.
Say what you will about the Patriots defense but they were the difference in the game. The were better at stopping the run than the Colts and they forced three more turnovers. No matter what the stats say they were the better defense yesterday.
Nothing’s more annoying than a DeadlineHollywood.com-esque TOLDJA! but I have to say I was pretty dead on with my defensive game plan based on what the Pats did in 2009. Arrington was on Wayne, McCourty was on Garkon, Chung was on Collie/White. The front was indeed Cunningham- Wilfork – Wright – Banta-Cain and we saw lots of Guyton and not much Spikes. Maybe all this film study is starting to pay off.
What I didn’t see coming was the Kyle Arrington at defensive end wrinkle. Seems like BB always likes to do at least one thing to Peyton Manning that no one has seen before. Unfortunately Arrington never sacked him, and I think the Pats got a little too cute with it in the 4th quarter when the Colts just started running right at him and picked up some big yards.
Vince Wilfork has to be all-pro this year, he is an absolute beast and is a leading an excellent young defensive line that can stop the run.
I shake my head imagining how good this team would be with Bodden and Ty Warren, but I digress…