Comments on: Saints’ win cements Pats’ legacy http://musketfire.com/2010/02/08/saints-win-cements-pats-legacy/ A New England Patriots Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and more. Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:35:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Warren http://musketfire.com/2010/02/08/saints-win-cements-pats-legacy/comment-page-1/#comment-344 Warren Thu, 11 Feb 2010 09:48:37 +0000 http://musketfire.com/?p=2194#comment-344 Nice play by Porter, but he didn't exactly come out of nowhere. He was tight on Wayne, too tight to even bait Manning into the throw. And yet Manning threw it anyway, reverting back to his old self by trying to stick the ball in there. They would've been better off taking the play to the outside, since Porter was not only close to Wayne but positioned to his inside. All in all, a bad route by Wayne, and a bad read by the QB. As for this "team of the decade" stuff, it would've been absurd to consider the Colts even if they had beaten the Saints. I mean, if you're gonna count regular season wins, you have to count playoff records even more. The Pats reached the AFC title game five times, they won four AFC championships, and three Super Bowls. As for the lone AFC title game and SB they didn't win, they came one defensive stop from winning both of them. They owned their division. The only years they didn't win (other than 2000), they tied for first and lost the 3rd tiebreaker to the Jets, and the 4th tiebreaker to Miami, despite playing the entire season without the reigning MVP. The Colts, on the other hand, only made the SB twice, and the AFC title game three times. Other than their two SB appearances, they never came close. The AFC title game against the Pats was nowhere near as close as the score indicated. As Bob Kravitz of the Indy Star said, the Pats "spend the entire afternoon in the shadows of the Colts' goalposts." But, in the end, what really does the Colts in is all the times they made the playoffs and failed to win their first game (six), which includes home losses, losses as the favorite, and losses as the first or second seed. (This includes a 41-0 beatdown.) Only twice did they really have the best team in the NFL (2005 and 2009), and they failed to win the SB either year, even losing in the first round at home to a 6th seed. Then there's this past season, where they practically threw a home game in order to avoid the pressure of being undefeated when it came time for the playoffs (Polian's fault, not Manning's or his teammates'). The Pats went for it, went 16-0, won the AFC Championship, and came a dropped INT away from winning the Super Bowl. That's gotta count for something, too. If Colts fans want to compare themselves to someone, try the Steelers. Being the second or third best team in one decade is nothing to be disappointed about. Nice play by Porter, but he didn’t exactly come out of nowhere. He was tight on Wayne, too tight to even bait Manning into the throw. And yet Manning threw it anyway, reverting back to his old self by trying to stick the ball in there. They would’ve been better off taking the play to the outside, since Porter was not only close to Wayne but positioned to his inside. All in all, a bad route by Wayne, and a bad read by the QB.

As for this “team of the decade” stuff, it would’ve been absurd to consider the Colts even if they had beaten the Saints. I mean, if you’re gonna count regular season wins, you have to count playoff records even more. The Pats reached the AFC title game five times, they won four AFC championships, and three Super Bowls. As for the lone AFC title game and SB they didn’t win, they came one defensive stop from winning both of them. They owned their division. The only years they didn’t win (other than 2000), they tied for first and lost the 3rd tiebreaker to the Jets, and the 4th tiebreaker to Miami, despite playing the entire season without the reigning MVP.

The Colts, on the other hand, only made the SB twice, and the AFC title game three times. Other than their two SB appearances, they never came close. The AFC title game against the Pats was nowhere near as close as the score indicated. As Bob Kravitz of the Indy Star said, the Pats “spend the entire afternoon in the shadows of the Colts’ goalposts.” But, in the end, what really does the Colts in is all the times they made the playoffs and failed to win their first game (six), which includes home losses, losses as the favorite, and losses as the first or second seed. (This includes a 41-0 beatdown.) Only twice did they really have the best team in the NFL (2005 and 2009), and they failed to win the SB either year, even losing in the first round at home to a 6th seed. Then there’s this past season, where they practically threw a home game in order to avoid the pressure of being undefeated when it came time for the playoffs (Polian’s fault, not Manning’s or his teammates’). The Pats went for it, went 16-0, won the AFC Championship, and came a dropped INT away from winning the Super Bowl. That’s gotta count for something, too.

If Colts fans want to compare themselves to someone, try the Steelers. Being the second or third best team in one decade is nothing to be disappointed about.

]]> By: jamie http://musketfire.com/2010/02/08/saints-win-cements-pats-legacy/comment-page-1/#comment-340 jamie Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:55:52 +0000 http://musketfire.com/?p=2194#comment-340 I don't disagree that the interception was more Porter than Manning. In fact, I was calling the passing routes throughout most of the Super Bowl but the Colts run the same routes all the time, opposing teams just can't seem to stop them. What Manning could have done was read that Porter was playing Wayne tight and went somewhere else or called a hot route for Wayne. This predictability was what haunted the Patriots offense this season and is something they need to fix if they want to continue to be contenders moving forward. I don’t disagree that the interception was more Porter than Manning. In fact, I was calling the passing routes throughout most of the Super Bowl but the Colts run the same routes all the time, opposing teams just can’t seem to stop them. What Manning could have done was read that Porter was playing Wayne tight and went somewhere else or called a hot route for Wayne.

This predictability was what haunted the Patriots offense this season and is something they need to fix if they want to continue to be contenders moving forward.

]]> By: Kevros http://musketfire.com/2010/02/08/saints-win-cements-pats-legacy/comment-page-1/#comment-338 Kevros Wed, 10 Feb 2010 10:25:32 +0000 http://musketfire.com/?p=2194#comment-338 The INT was more Porter than Manning. Porter said after the game, he knew the route Wayne was going to run based on the Colts formation and the motions that occurred before the snap. Blaming the INT on Peyton was just way too convenient for the media not to. But I don't expect Pats fans will ever admit that... The INT was more Porter than Manning. Porter said after the game, he knew the route Wayne was going to run based on the Colts formation and the motions that occurred before the snap. Blaming the INT on Peyton was just way too convenient for the media not to. But I don’t expect Pats fans will ever admit that…

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