Patriots Fanatic

Brady hasn’t been pleased with the level of intensity the team has been displaying:

They played much better than we did in our own stadium, that’s the most disappointing part. I wish we would have showed a little more fight last night…

[re: injuries]
We’ve dealt with those in the past. We’ve dealt with plenty of injuries. We’ve dealt with plenty of tough situations. I think a lot has to do with the character and toughness of the team. I think we need to show more character…

I believe in the guys we’ve got, I think we can play better than we did last night. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be very frustrated. I’d just say, ‘You know what, we’ll never beat those guys.’ But I don’t really feel like that. We weren’t going to beat them last night the way we played, but I thought wholeheartedly we would win that game. I don’t care about injuries. We talk about ourselves as a team. When you talk about yourselves as a team, you mean it, and I mean it. There’s not one guy that makes up the team.

I think it’s a general malaise, we look at the scoreboard and we’re losing and things aren’t going our way. We need to take that as a challenge, (not) go into that funk. We’ve been down in several games this year and come back and fought hard. We all know we’re capable of it. There’s nothing that says we can’t score every time we touch the ball. There’s no rule that says we can’t. But sometimes I think we score and say, ‘Wow, that wasn’t too bad. Let’s go out there again.’ And it’s not the same, and there’s not that same sense of urgency. As a captain, I will stress to the team that we have to start playing with higher expectations for ourselves.

(via)

Ick. Ick-ick-ick-ick-ick-ick-ick. Ick.

It pretty much went the way I had predicted it would.

I really wish I had been wrong.

If the Colts can’t win the game Monday night, they don’t deserve to ever beat the Patriots. I’ve been a Pats fan since 1976 and I still expect the Colts to have an easy win:

• The rumblings in the press are that Seymour still won’t be able to play. Bye-bye any hope of a pass rush.
• It’s looking more like Dillon and Pass will be out. Can re-signing Mike Cloud be anything other than an act of “my god, we need to have at least one theoretical running back” desperation?
• To sign Cloud, they cut safety Arturo Freeman. Ought to be interesting to see who plays alongside Wilson.

So let’s see — the Pats will have no running game, will have no pass rush, and won’t be able to blitz because there’s no way their secondary will be able to cover the Indy receivers one-on-one.

I never bought into any of the hype the past two playoff seasons of how the Patriots had no chance against the Colts, because the facts of how the team was playing didn’t support the hype. But it’s different now — the Pats D is clearly and unrefutably much degraded. Now add two rookies on the left side of the OL and that the starting RB will likely be someone signed a couple of days before the game…

The most likely result is a Colts win by at least two touchdowns (something remiscent of the San Diego debacle). The only way I can see the Pats winning this game is in a shootout. Now, from what we saw from STL before Bulger went down, the Pats certainly could win in a firefight, but, sad to say, it’s not likely.

Hey — I fervently hope I’m wrong, but it’s hard to ignore reality.

Halberstam’s new book - The Education of a Coach - has been released. It’s getting good reviews and the except of it in SI was very interesting.

If you’re thinking about buying it, please consider buying it through the link on this page.

Reiss, again:

PRACTICE NOTES: Defensive linemen Richard Seymour and Ty Warren; running back Patrick Pass and safety James Sanders weren’t present for the first part of practice opened to the media. The first portion of practice included special teams and stretching. Running back Corey
Dillon rode an exercise bike and then loosened up by running. Three players added to the injury report on Wednesday - tight end Benjamin Watson and receivers Tim Dwight and David Givens - were present for the early part of practice. Receiver Troy Brown and cornerback Randall Gay were present for the second day in a row. The team practiced indoors today, with Patriots coach Bill Belichick saying third down and the red area were top items on the agenda.

This doesn’t give me the greatest of feelings:

The Patriots continue to explore contingency plans at running back.

Accounting for the possibility that Corey Dillon (ankle) and Patrick Pass (hamstring) might not be ready for action against the Colts –- thus leaving them with only newly signed Heath Evans at running back –- the team worked out free agent Olandis Gary on Tuesday.

The 5-foot-11, 218-pound Gary has played for the Broncos (1999-2002) and Lions (2003). He missed last season with a shoulder injury. Over his career, he’s rushed for 1,998 yards and 11 touchdowns in 48 games, with more than half of the yardage coming his rookie season in Denver.

Gary has also been productive in the passing game, catching 59 passes for 415 yards.

(via)

Add Dwight and Watson to the list…arrrrrgh! And Seymour and Dillon were not seen in the portion of practice open to the press (though Gay and Troy Brown were).

Offensive tackle Matt Light (ankle) — out
Running back Kevin Faulk (foot) — out
Receiver Troy Brown (foot) — questionable
Running back Corey Dillon (ankle) — questionable
Receiver Tim Dwight (rib) — questionable
Cornerback Randall Gay (ankle) - questionable
Receiver David Givens (knee) — questionable
Defensive lineman Jarvis Green (shoulder) — questionable
Defensive lineman Marquise Hill (ankle) — questionable
Outside linebacker Willie McGinest (finger) - questionable
Fullback Patrick Pass (hamstring) — questionable
Safety James Sanders (ankle) — questionable
Defensive lineman Richard Seymour (knee) — questionable
Defensive lineman Ty Warren (hip) - questionable
Tight end Benjamin Watson (knee) — questionable
Quarterback Tom Brady (right shoulder) - probable

In addition to Seymour, I think another thing the Patriots have to get back for this game is the big play. I don’t mean long scoring strikes (though those would be nice). I mean things like getting INTs or forcing fumbles at key times, getting big punt and KO returns, etc. All of that has been sorely missing so far this year.

To win the Indy game we really need to get Seymour back. One of the keys in the past wins has been to get pressure on Manning and make him move, preferably without blitzing him. Since Seymour has gone down (and, to be fair, sometimes even before) the Patriots have gotten no pressure on enemy QBs. Manning cannot be allowed to have all day back there or the results will be disastrous. Blitzing isn’t the answer, either, as our secondary isn’t good enough to lock up the receivers during a blitz.

And then there’s Starks.

It appears he has two styles of play — attempt tight coverage and be beating long, or give a 7-10 yard cushion. If I were Dunghill, I’d tell Manning to throw for Starks’s man every time until the
Pats proved they could deal with it.

The Pats cut Zeroeue and signed ex-Seahawk and ex-Dolphin Heath Evans. Patriots’ Nation seems to be split on whether this means Pass is basically OK or whether it means he’s out for some time. I’m voting for “out for some time”, though I fervently hope I’m wrong.