The wait is now over

Remember what everyone said when the 2005 schedule came out and they saw Colts at Patriots on Monday night, Nov. 7? "That one will decide home-field advantage in the AFC," they said. Given the recent history of this matchup, I'm sure many of those people were also talking about the tremendous cloud hanging over the Colts when they play in Foxboro. I just don't see it that way.

I think the Colts are going to come into this game extremely confident. With a 7-0 record and a three-game edge over New England, they know that it's not for home-field advantage. "Pressure" might be one of the most overused words in sports, but in this case, I do think the current standings might take away some of the so-called pressure, take away some of the anxiety as the Colts are preparing for this game. It might make the game strategy and the play-calling a little looser and faster.

After last year's 20-3 defeat to New England in the playoffs -- the third Pats win over the Colts in a 12-month span -- do the Colts need to win this game more from a psychological standpoint? I don't think so, just because you have to put it in the context of the whole season. With an unbeaten record, with the fact they are a better team than they were a year ago, even if they lose this game, it looks as if the road to the Super Bowl in the AFC will still have to go through Indianapolis.

Not that it isn't a big game.

I was there when these teams met in the playoffs last season, and everyone thought it was going to be the game in which the Colts got the monkey off their backs. But I just remember watching the Patriots in practice, listening to what they had to say and noting the attitude. What's a good word to describe them? I guess you'd have to say they were angry. I can't say the other word that applies here, but suffice it to say, they were mad.

We talk so much about "skill" -- what a pretty throw, what a nice play. But so many times -- especially in big games -- it just comes down to which team is the most physical. There's no doubt the Patriots were the most physical football team that day.


Last year, I thought the Colts played it fairly safe, and it didn't work for them. So I don't expect them to do that again this year. I expect them to be physical and aggressive, as they have been all season.

I keep thinking back to the offseason, when I saw Colts head coach Tony Dungy and noted that he at least had to be happy about his defense in that playoff loss. They played the Patriots tough for the most part, before finally giving in later in the game because they were on the field so long.

"No, I was disappointed," Dungy said. "There are big games -- sometimes playoff games -- where your defense just has to shut the other team down. And we just didn't do that. So we had to get tougher, faster, more physical."

And that's what they did. They drafted some key players, switched some people around, and that's what we've seen from the Colts this season: a tougher, faster, more physical -- and absolutely better -- defense.

Even though you look at the Colts schedule and say it hasn't been the toughest competition, the way they played is still impressive. They have had dominating moments -- many dominating moments -- on the defensive side, and they have constantly shown that the offense can still be explosive when it has to be.


Meanwhile, don't forget that the Patriots are still a very good team, trying to round themselves into shape. Regardless of the outcome of the game, I believe they will be in this to the very end -- they will be a factor in the playoffs. But I don't see this game as a tremendous obstacle that the Colts can't overcome.

This game will say a lot about the Patriots -- win or lose. I think we'll have a better idea after this game whether or not the Patriots will be getting things back together. Are they going to return to the team we've seen so much in the recent past? I think we saw some of those signs in the victory over Buffalo Sunday night. There's no doubt the return of Tedy Bruschi helps. He's a leader, he's smart and he's a good player. Those qualities will always help a football team.

The Patriots have played in so many big games with so much success, it does bode well for them. We'll see a team that is as emotionally high as it's been all season. The crowd will be beyond excited. The New England fans have gotten so used to winning, it's almost been commonplace, but I think they'll be motivated to welcome in their arch rival -- a team that has started to take on the look of perhaps the team that can supplant New England as Super Bowl champion.
It should be fun.
source : http://www.nfl.com/