Pats-Colts: Additional Comment

I'm confused and a little shocked that so many people sound so surprised by last night's result. We knew New England had a C-rate secondary, and that the Patriots are soft up the middle against the run. We knew that if they fell behind, they'd have to throw, throw, throw. We knew Indy's defense was better than last year's and that all of our running backs are hurt.

So I don't understand why people are asking "What happened last night?" Disappointment, I understand. Surprise, I don't.

One thing we didn't know until shortly before game time was that Richard Seymour would be inactive again. That's literally huge. Seymour is a big guy and he contributes an enormous presence. The impact of his nonexistence is even greater. Other guys, like Vince Wilfork, have to play longer with less relief in situations which they may not be best suited. And because the defense isn't playing as well as it has in the past, it's on the field for more plays, which makes the players more tired, which makes them play not as well, which keeps them on the field longer. You get the point.

Last year, according to stats stated during The Big Show on WEEI, Wilfork played in about 20 plays per game. In the last few games, he's been on the field for about 60 plays per game.

Heck, a warm body would help. A healthy Seymour can literally change the course of a game. A healthy Seymour might have meant a stronger pass rush on Peyton Manning. A health Seymour might have meant Edgerrin James wouldn't have had free reign in the middle of the field.

I was also surprised to hear so many people complain about Asante Samuel, who I thought had I pretty good game, outside of the two Marvin Harrison touchdowns. As I pointed out last night, Harrison has at least a couple inches on Samuel, and not many people can successfully guard Harrison in single coverage. Samuel almost got that first touchdown away from Harrison, and that might have changed things. Unfortunately, Indy got a lot of the breaks and bounces.

Otherwise, I thought Samuel looked pretty good. He gave out a few solid licks like the one against Denver tight end Jeb Putzier from a couple weeks ago. I think one of them was a tight end (Dallas Clark) this week too. When Rodney Harrison comes back, whether or not he's the same player he was before his injury, I think Samuel is his heir apparent. Better that Harrison comes back fully healthy so he can pass on a few more visual examples to Samuel. Regardless, a few more lessons, I think Samuel is there. He's certainly as good as anyone the Pats have in the secondary now. And he's growing that Harrison edge that we're missing.

Other than that, the secondary is a shambles. Randall Gay put in an acceptable performance for his first game back, but it's like the Swiss is more hole than cheese. Everyone, of course, is pointing at Duane Starks. He's clearly overmatched in just about any single coverage -- never mind, make that every situation. Period.

In a thin defense of Starks, Rodney Harrison was on Dale and Holley on WEEI, and made a couple good points. He immodestly compared Starks to Ty Law (instead of to himself) and said that Law was a Pro Bowl caliber cornerback. Starks, quite simply, is not. Anyone who expected Starks to do what Law used to was fooling himself. That doesn't excuse the result, though. Players still have to make plays. "That's what they're paid to do," Harrison said. Harrison was unable to provide any solutions. There don't seem to be any.

Seems to me the coaches are just going to have to find a way to get help to the players who need it. Easier said than done. This is far tougher than it was last year. At least last year, there was Harrison.

A lot of people were also all over Corey Dillon and running game. It's a bad situation, but you can hardly blame Dillon or any of the other backs. They're all hurt, or didn't you know? As good as Dillon is, he can't carry the team on his back with a bad ankle. The only healthy back is Mike Cloud. He signed only a couple days before the game and clearly wasn't ready the one play the Pats handed him the ball.

The solution here is simply Time. We're just going to have to wait until these guys are healthy, hope someone (Cloud) can hold down the fort, and hope none of the injuries get further aggravated before they heal.

To this point, we've been talking about injuries. Injuries are one of the key reasons many experts, coaches and players say it's so tough to repeat as champions, why no one has "threepeated." That seemed pretty reasonable to me, and it's looking like it may be catching up to New England now.

There was talk before the season about how deep playoff teams play that much more that the players are tired and more susceptible to injury the following season. Moreso for perennial contenders. I didn't believe it. Seems to me that six months is plenty of recovery time. Maybe it isn't.

Exacerbating the problem is that every team on the schedule wants to beat the defending champion. That sometimes means opponents are extra fired up, maybe a little more reckless, maybe a little more likely to inflict injury, intentional or otherwise.

The news isn't all horribly bad.

A lot of people got their wish and saw the tight ends successfully partake in an expanded role in the passing game. Daniel Graham and Ben Watson combined for 8 catches for 77 yards and a touchdown. Looks like they were able to make their blocks before releasing to run their patterns. Two plays, including the touchdown, were screens to Graham. Very odd. Very effective. However, still conspicuous by his statistical absence is Christian Fauria, who has played in all eight games, starting four.

I was going to say something about Mike Vrabel beyond what I said last night about him leading the team in tackles for the fourth game, but I don't remember what it was. Whatever, until Tedy Bruschi is 100 percent, it looks like Vrabel is "the" man. There were a few murmurs about Bruschi last night and today. Give the man some time! It was just his second game against one of the toughest offenses in the league. He'll come around, and the entire defense will be better for it.

The only other bright spot was Tom Brady, who is tied with Carson Palmer for second in the league in passing yards (2,285). Brady remains in the top five in several of the most important quarterbacking statistics (rating, yards per completion, interception percentage, sacks), and top ten in just about all the others. Not many other QBs are that high on all the lists. Now, we all know that Brady would trade all those numbers for the most important statistic: wins. But at least it shows that SOMETHING is going right.

Bill Belichick sounded surprisingly calm during the press conferences and interviews I heard. He wasn't nearly as upset as he has been after some of the previous losses this season. He expressed disappointment, but he wasn't seething, not even under his breath or in the sarcastic sting of his answers. He defended most of the coaching decisions, including the failed onside kick, which Indianapolis recovered when they were ahead 28-14. Belichick said it wasn't too early in the game, which would have signified panic, and where a failed kick would certainly have incapacitated the team. And it wasn't too late that a successful attempt wouldn't have made any difference.

I wish someone would have asked him about the challenge on the Manning to Harrison touchdown with 6:00 left in the game. If someone asked, I missed it. Anyway, like I said before the game, I like last night's head referee, Bernie Kukar, and this was exactly one of those situations made for him.

After reviewing the play, he came onto the field and said, "After reviewing the play, the ruling on the field stands. Time out, New England." No deep explanation. Hardly a pause between words. There was something wrong with the whole challenge, and it sounded like Kukar was in no mood for Belichick's wily ways.

I kinda felt like Jimmy Conway in "Goodfellas" after Spider tells Tommy what to do to himself. Much as Jimmy loved Tommy, he said, "Good for you, Spider. Don't take **** from anyone."

So, good for you, Bernie.