The Colts played better than us and deserved to win. Give them all the credit in the world for their victory.
You know, at the beginning of the season, we had an almost entirely new receiver corps, a plague of injuries to our defensive secondary, and a variety of other problems to contend with. We didn't win the Super Bowl, or even the AFC title, but we had a solid season. We can build on this year and do better next year.
Just a few instances in Sunday's game that combined with other things to result in our loss:
1:32 1st quarter: On 3rd and 19, the Colts ran a draw play that wound up resulting in an 11 yard gain. Had Addai been stopped at the line of scrimmage, the field goal would have been much more difficult for Vinatieri to hit.
4:32 2nd quarter: On 3rd and 6, the Patriots seemed to convert a 1st down at the Indy 19, instead, the play was called back for offensive pass interference.
4:05 2nd quarter: On 3rd and 16, the Pats tried a draw on which Evans got 4 yards, but the play was called back for illegal motion on Watson.
3:37 2nd quarter: On 3rd and 21, Brady was sacked at the 49. This play, coupled with the previous two penalties, knocked us from field goal range and forced us to punt.
7:23 3rd quarter: The Patriots fail to convert a 3rd and 2 and go 3 and out. Their drive took 1:05 off the clock. This came after the Colts had a 6:47 drive. The weary Patriots defense then endured a 2:50 drive
4:58 3rd quarter: Richard Seymour enters the neutral zone, 5 yard penalty resulting in an Indianapolis 1st down instead of a 3rd and 5 attempt.
4:12 3rd quarter: Ellis Hobbs doesn't even try to play the ball and the refs throw an obvious pass interference flag in the end zone, setting up 1st and goal.
13:42 4th quarter: Jarvis Green gets called for a neutral zone infraction on 2nd and goal.
13:34 4th quarter: Addai fumbles just before the goal line. Hobbs and Bruschi are in the area, but not able to fall on the ball. The Colts regain possession in the end zone.
8:59 4th quarter: On 1st and 10 from the Indy 15, Brady hits Brown for a gain of 7. But the play is called back as Gaffney is flagged for an illegal shift.
8:38 4th quarter: On 1st and 15 from the Indy 20, nobody, and I mean NOBODY is anywhere close to covering Reche Caldwell on the far sideline. Brady throws a short dump pass to him, and Caldwell appears he will get at least 7 yards on the play. But he drops the ball after it ricochets between both his hands. The Pats settle for a field goal on the drive.
3:22 4th quarter: Heath Evans gets flagged for being the 12th man in the offensive huddle before a 1st down play. The Patriots would wind up 4 yards shy of a 1st down.
2:01 4th quarter: Tully Banta-Cain gets a roughing the passer penalty in one of the ticky-tackiest roughing calls we've seen all season. This gives the Colts an additional 12 yards in the red zone, setting up 1st and 10 from the 11 instead of 1st and 10 from the 23. On the same play, the ball pops out of Reggie Wayne's hands, but no Patriot is able to grab it out of the air. The Colts eventually score the game winning TD.
We've got no-one to blame but ourselves. The roughing penalty was pretty God-awful, but we could have stopped them after that. Reche had some bad dropped passes, Brady had some passes that looked way off, our defense got ripped apart by the Colts in the 2nd half, we committed some stupid penalties, etcetera.
You know, we had the ball with a 3 point lead and 3:22 on the clock. We get a a 1st down, the game is very close to being over. We get two 1st downs, the game is over. Instead, we went 3 and out and punted.
But we'll be back. And we'll be better. And we'll play better.
All in all, a good season. Good, not great. Can't wait until next year.
