New England Patriots Vs. Indianapolis Colts - November 4, 2007

I'm generally not a big NFL fan (prefer the CFL), but I've been a fan of Tom Brady since the Patriots drafted him from Michigan many years ago. I have several of Brady's rookie cards and am pleased to see that they have escalated in value with his three Super Bowl rings, MVP awards, etc. I've also enjoyed watching the Patriots play - just an all around good team that is coached well. I try to catch Patriots games whenever they are on the tube, even though I don't have cable. Worse case, I follow the live play action on the internet.

Earlier today, the high-scoring, offensive powerhouse Patriots, which went into today's game 8-0 for the reason, played the defending SuperBowl champion Indianapolis Colts, 7-0, in a game that many touted as the game of the century. I thought that was a bit much, but it was a highly anticipated game nonetheless. The Patriots have steamrolled over their opponents this year thus far, scoring at least 34 or so in each of the eight games they have played. They have scored on every single initial drive and Brady, going into today's game, has 30 touchdown passes already in less than half the season. The Colts' Peyton Manning currently holds the single-season record of most TD passes in one year with something like 49 (which was only set a couple of years ago when he broke Dan Marino's record).

I tried to buy a live NFL feed for the game, but I couldn't get it working due to technical problems, so I had already made arrangements to go to my Dad's place to watch the game. My wife and son wanted to come too, and so after I donned my official Tom Brady home jersey, we jumped into the car and headed over to my Dad and Mom's place, about 45 minutes away.

After watching the remnants of the Buffalo/Cincinati game, we settled into my Dad's very short couch and watched the commencement of the "game of the century". While I do not wish for this entry to be a play-by-play analysis of the game, I'd like to offer a few generalized thoughts on the matchup.

The Colts fans were already making excuses before the game started, saying that if they lost, it was because Marvin Harrison wasn't dressed and his replacement Anthony Gonzales got injured early. I'm sure it may have been a slight factor, but I doubt that there would have been much of a different outcome had they played, and here's why. By the way, the Patriots won 24-20, coming from behind, in a nailbiting finish.

First, I have to say that the officiating was TERRIBLE, even though the Patriots won. The first thing I said to my wife was "that head referee is really young". I believe it was his first game as a game referee (I believe he was a linesman before). The Patriots were penalized for 150+ yards in penalties. If you watch their games you will see that this is very abnormal. But let's look at a few of these calls.

First, the Pats' coach Bill Bilicheck correctly challenged one of the early plays in which the refs called a Colts player as in bounds, when one of his feet was clearly out of bounds. Video replays showed otherwise.

Also, the Colts were charged with pass interference twice early on. Both cost them significant yardage with the Colts gaining something like 35 to 50 yards per penalty, each putting them under the 10 yard line of the Patriots. Even the commentators on the game cannot figure out how the second one of those was pass interference - in fact, on replay, the Colts defender was clearly the one doing the interfering, wrapping his arms around Randy Moss the whole time. There was another pass interference against Moss later. I remember after a few calls, I said to my wife, "every single freaking call is going against the Patriots!" And it continued. It was laughable.

There were a number of calls where the Patriots were interfered with, but nothing was called.

Imagine, getting this many penalties, and the Patriots still won! And given the fact that the refs were obviously on the take from the Colts, as well as the fact that the Patriots were playing in absolutely hostile conditions at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, that makes the victory even more impressive.

Tom Brady was a bit shaky at first, being sacked on his first possession. He also threw two interceptions this game (all season, he has only thrown one). He relied on the running game heavily which, I remarked to my wife, puzzled me greatly, since Brady's been on fire with the passing game (they scored 52 on the Redskins last week). Now, I agree that Brady can't just long-bomb everything since the Colts defence is very good. But for three quarters plus, the only Patriots touchdown came in the first quarter. But by the fourth quarter, Brady picked it up and made some pivotal passes (to Randy Moss and Wes Welker) to get critical yardage in order to set up two touchdown scores within four minutes in the fourth quarter. Moss was awesome in the game, with the pinnacle of that being that absolutely stunning one-handed catch he made (look for it on youtube or something - it was an insane catch in the midst of defenders - he caught the ball on the end with his full arm extended in midair and somehow managed to corral it into his body before he got hit. Absolutely stunning catch that was again a critical one).

The Patriots defence were able to put immense pressure on Manning in the fourth, getting a pick and forcing a critical fumble.

24-20 did reflect how close the game was, but boy, they should put in officials that don't have such a clear bias towards the Colts. As it stands right now, the Colts and Pats will more than likely meet in the AFC Conference Championship game in January, and it's a good bet that the Patriots will be holding a perfect 16-0 season record (based on what I see as their upcoming opponents for the last seven remaining games). I'm pretty sure this time, the Pats aren't going to be charged with 10 penalties/almost 150 yards (unless the same refs are used). I can't wait!