Patriots would have crushed the Colts no matter what balls they used

The Patriots beat the Colts 45-7 to win their 6th AFC Championship in the Brady-Belichick era. The NFL is investigating whether the Patriots intentionally deflated footballs to be used by their offense, which could have made them easier to grip in wet conditions.

As far as DeflateGate goes, until I stop seeing words like "investigate" and "alleged," and see words like "found" and "confirmed," then I'm going not going to give weight to the story. Maybe I'll talk about the paranoid defensiveness of Patriots fans, or the eagerness of the media to find a juicy story, or the conclusion jumping of people who don't like the Pats.

I could formulate a joke about sour grapes, and include some wordplay with "wine" and "whine," but I'd rather talk about this game.

If the Patriots had used Nerf balls, this game would have still been a blowout. LeGarrette Blount would have run for 148 yards no matter how many PSI the air pressure in the ball was. And Julian Edelman would have still ran past Colts defenders like they were standing in mud.

Anyone who put money on James Develin and Nate Solder catching Brady's first TD passes of the game, you're filthy rich today.

The Pats defense blanketed the Colts receivers, forcing a horrible game from Andrew Luck (12 for 33, 126 yards, 2 INTs). They also pressured Luck, which can be dangerous because he's very good finding open guys when he's on the move. But the coverage held.

Some fun stats that illustrate how dominant this performance was:

First downs: Pats 28, Colts 17
First downs (non-penalty): Pats 27, Colts 13
Third down conversions: Pats 12 for 18 (plus 2 for 2 on 4th), Colts 3 for 11
Total plays: Pats 76, Colts 52
Total yards: Pats 397, Colts 209
Yards per drive: Pats 36.1, Colts 19.0
Time of possession: Pats 37:49, Colts 22:11

The only blemish was Brady's pick in the 2nd quarter, which turned into a penalty aided Colts scoring drive. And that one Red Zone trip (out of 7) that didn't result in a TD.

Flawless victory.

On to the two slowest weeks in sports: waiting for your team to play the Super Bowl.

Photo Credit: Al Bello/Getty Images

Leave Richard Sherman Alone

Immediately after this frightening interview, Richard Sherman became the center of the football world. But I don't think what he said was out of line. How he said it was shocking. I bet Erin Andrews wishes she could go back to interviewing Koji Uehara's son. Sherman was hyped up, in the moment. That whole team rails adderall anyway so we shouldn't be surprised when one of their most energetic players has a bit too much energy.

Sherman talked trash about his opponent. So what. Wasn't that what we were primed for in this game? "These teams hate each other." We heard that all week. Sherman expressed the hate we'd been told to expect, then he gets criticized for it?

He didn't do or say anything violent, anything inappropriate, anything obscene. And when he had calmed down later his interviews were heavy helpings of the same flavorless porridge we get from everyone else.

I suppose what he said was technically "classless," since it wasn't classy. But if we go out and look for classless things in pro sports, we'll be very busy. Sherman isn't any more classless than most athletes. What he did was bring his true personality to a segment of sports coverage we've been conditioned to expect polished and polite responses. Thank teammates, thank coaches, option to thank family and/or God, praise opponent, then for some reason say "thank you" to the interviewer. Sherman was himself for an interview. Who cares?

The outcry in response to Sherman's "classlessness" ironically verged on being more classless and inappropriate. Justin Verlander, who plays baseball, which is not football, Tweeted this...

So Russell is a class act! Sherman on the other hand.... If he played baseball would get a high and tight fastball.
— Justin Verlander (@JustinVerlander) January 20, 2014

Is that tweet considered classy or classless? I'm not a member of the Classless Police, so please tell me.

So this baseball player is suggesting that if an NFL defensive back were to play baseball, he'd be taught a lesson. Okay, Justin. I respect Verlander as a pitcher, as an athlete, and for hooking up with Kate Upton. But baseball players shouldn't be touting the physicality of their sport to football players.

Maybe I find all this Sherman backlash to be amusing and trivial because I'm a Patriots fan. I've heard my favorite athletes and coach called "classless" countless times. The word carries little weight with me. And if you are a Patriots fan and you have a problem with Sherman being "classless," remember that in 2006 the Patriots celebrated a playoff win over San Diego by dancing on the Chargers' logo, and we all ripped LaDainian Tomlinson for whining about classiness and classlessness. And in the Patriots-Eagles Super Bowl Mike Vrabel flapped his arms like the Eagles after scoring a touchdown. It's an emotional game.

So don't be a hypocrite. Don't hate Sherman because he was emotional and in the moment. I thought he acted like a bit of a clown. And a good clown is an entertaining one. But also kind of scary. And Sherman pulled that off Sunday night.

Patriots vs. Colts: The Only Word that Matters Is Execution

We have an entire week to look at weather forecasts, analyze statistics, view highlights and game footage, and generally convince ourselves that we have the slightest idea what kind of football game will be played on Saturday night. The Colts will be in town to play the Patriots and I have no clue what will happen. And I'm fine with that.

This season has been like riding a roller coaster blindfolded, across the NFL but especially in Foxborough. It's been an insane season. The way the Patriots-Saints game ended, the way the Broncos game ended, the way the Browns game ended. On the flip side of insanity, there was also the way the road Jets game and the Panthers game ended.

The only thing crazier than this Patriots season would be trying to predict what happens next.

I could drone on about stats, and about Andrew Luck being a good QB, and the Colts doing well against playoff teams, and the Patriots doing well at home, but also struggling in home playoff games lately. None of it matters.

The winner of this game will be the team that executes better. It's easy to say that, not so easy to do it.

Just look at the Colts. They played two different games against Kansas City. They played a good half and a bad half, and they barely won. They executed better than the Chiefs. The Patriots have been doing that all season long. One horrible half, one great half. So which team can find a way to play well for 35 or 40 minutes instead of just 30 could win this game.

Tom Brady needs to make good throws. Period. He's the best player on the team. He doesn't need to be amazing, but these overthrown and underthrown incompletions need to be reduced. He was 21st this season in completion percentage (60.5%), nestled between Alex Smith and Ryan Tannehill. Some of that was due to lack of talented receivers, lots of that was due to bad throws.

But hey, Andrew Luck was 24th at 60.2%.

The Patriots need to be productive on the ground. Especially if it rains. A good ground game allows the passing game to be more dynamic. It lets you control the clock. It gets you first downs. It lets you chew up a defensive line.

The Pats need to hold on to the ball. Stevan Ridley, I'm looking at you.

The Colts defied football logic and lost the turnover battle against KC but won the game. However the Colts had the second best takeaway-giveaway number in the AFC this year (+13). The Pats were third best (+9). Obviously, whoever wins the turnover battle on Saturday will probably win.

Unless they can't execute in the Red Zone. And that's been an issue for the Gronk-less Patriots all year. Either the offense needs to execute better in the Red Zone, or the defense needs to make some Red Zone stops. The Colts had one of the worst Red Zone defenses in the NFL. They allowed TDs on over 60% of Red Zone possessions. I suppose that's good for the Patriots.

Looks like I did mention a few stats and did some regular season analysis. Sue me. All those stats come with an "if" or a "but" or an "unless," which is why they mean nothing. They're in the past. The Colts allowed 3 touchdowns for every 5 Red Zone possessions their opponents had. Big deal. It's still up to the Patriots to execute on Saturday.

I do think this is the Patriots' game to lose. It's at home, against a dome team, against an inconsistent team. But the Patriots have hardly been consistent this year, they're 8-0 at home but that hasn't been easy. The Bengals were also 8-0 at home and lost there to a team that was 4-4 on the road. So who cares?

If I had to make a prediction, I'd say the Patriots should win 24-20. But predicting this season has been harder than predicting the weather. It's been like trying to predict the weather 20 weeks from now. You might have some general ideas based on past experience, but they mean next to nothing. You don't know. I don't know. Just count down the days and enjoy the show.

Felger and Mazz Were Morons Yesterday

So yesterday afternoon I would turn on Felger and Mazz, then after 3 minutes of listening to their inane, ignorant, and repetitive whining about the Patriots Draft, I'd have to turn off the radio.

What pisses me off is that they repeatedly admit that they don't know much about these college players, and just before they say they disagree with what the Patriots did, they say "I don't understand." They don't understand, so they disagree.

They questioned the Patriots trading out of the 1st round. But this was the most unremarkable, mediocre draft in recent memory. Unless you were looking for offensive tackles, this draft was like a buffet of bologna sandwiches. Some had mustard. Some didn't. None of them were worth cutting in line. And maybe it was better to wait longer to get more.

Neither Felger and Mazz asked or answered a simple question: Who would you have taken at 29? Who was so good at 29? All of the players out there, apart from a few taken at the front of the draft, were if-he-can players. All of the players available were chances. It made sense to take more chances than just one.

And other teams felt the same. The Chiefs waited as long as possible for someone to offer to take the #1 overall pick. Other teams traded out. It seemed like only the Jets and Vikings truly wanted to pick in the First Round.

Then Felger and Mazz criticized the amount of Rutgers players taken. Felger got emotional and accused the Patriots of taking players because Bill Belichick's son Stephen Belichick might have known them in class.

Rutgers had the #4 defense in college football last year (behind Alabama, Notre Dame, and BYU). They allowed 14.2 points per game, and only 20 offensive TDs (the same amount Bama allowed) in 13 games. The Patriots drafted two DBs and a linebacker from that defense. I doubt they went into the Draft planning to take three Scarlet Knights. But in the later rounds they were still there. They took three players from a good defense, who were coached well, who might fit into the Patriots system.

No matter what happened in the Draft, Felger and Mazz were going to have a Monday show revolving around how the Patriots think they're smarter than everyone else. They have fallen in love with that narrative based on selective facts, uninformed opinions, and emotional baggage from the 2005 Patriots offseason.

I know writing a blog post about what a pair of jabbering sportsradio personalities fill their 4 hours with is kind of lame. But these two reached an uncharted level of simple-mindedness, emotionalism, and whining. Felger was spouting baseless conspiracy theories. Mazz sounded like a C- student complaining that he didn't understand the test, even though the A and B students had no complaints. Mazz sounded the most like the kid who doesn't get algebra when Mike from Wayland called, and Mazz thought he caught the caller on a mistake. "Yes you did! Yes you did! Yes you did!"

I'm surprised Mazz didn't say "I am rubber, you are glue," or "Takes one to know one."

Every fact that was brought up to refute Felger's theories was dismissed. Every questioning of Mazz's complaints was misunderstood.

They don't understand, so they get frustrated. THERE WAS NOBODY BLATANTLY GOOD AT 29. Rutgers had a great defense. The Patriots have drafted well recently. They traded up last year when suitable talent was available. This year the situation was different. But such a thought is too complex for them to understand. And instead of trying to understand something that strays from the narrative they've constructed, they strongly disagree with it.

I'm done venting. Give Mike from Wayland his own segment on the show. Even if it's just to school Felger.