Post-Game, Week 8: Patriots 21 vs. Indianapolis 40

The New England Patriots simply didn't have enough defensive weapons to fend off the Indianapolis Colts' attack, and Indy avenged its 0-7 slide against the Pats with a 40-21 lambasting of the defending Super Bowl champs.

Indianapolis (8-0) scored on the game's opening possession, and New England (4-4) tried to play catchup all night. The defense couldn't stop Peyton Manning, and the Tom Brady-led Patriot offense couldn't keep pace.

Manning completed 27 of 38 passes for 321 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception. He also ran three times for 24 yards to go with Edgerrin James' 104 yards on 34 carries, and Dominic Rhodes' 4-yard touchdown on his only carry. Asante Samuel, who really had a pretty decent game, simply could not match up with a taller, more experienced Marvin Harrison, who caught 9 passes for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns. Harrison, 6-feet-0 is in his 10th pro season, while Samuel is 5-10 in his third season.

For New England, Brady was 22 of 33 for 265 yards and 3 touchdowns, but a few errant passes and the Patriots inability to establish a running game left the New England defense too long on the field, and the offense too many times without points. (Brady actually edged Manning in QB rating, 121.4 to 117.1).

Manning continuously fed Harrison and Reggie Wayne (9 catches, 124 yards, 1 TD), and the Patriots debilitated defense had no answer.

Indianapolis returned the opening kickoff 37 yards to their own 46. A sign of the bad things to come. New England stopped James for a 3-yard loss on first down, and that was as close as the Pats were the rest of the way. A 48-yard pass to Harrison, a pair of James runs (6, 2) and a 1-yard pass to Harrison put Indy up 7-0. New England scored first in these teams' last six meetings.

For what it's worth, New England struck right back, giving some hope to the local faithful. Brady engineered an 11-play drive marked by a 5-yard David Givens reception on 4th-and-1 from the Colt 21 that kept the drive alive. Two plays later, Brady hit Deion Branch on a 16-yard strike to tie the game at 7.

But Indianapolis converted a 4th-and-1 and three third downs on their second drive, capped by a 2-yard James dive, and that, for all intent and purpose, was that. New England punted, and Manning made his first mistake. Mike Vrabel snagged a pass intended for tight end Dallas Clark and gave the Patriots field position near midfield. But Brady fumbled on the next play, setting the Pats back 18 yards. New England eventually converted on a 35-yard bullet to Givens, but Corey Dillon eventually fumbled the ball away. Indy scored to make it 21-7, and the Patriots never really recovered.

The Colts went up 28-7 in the third quarter before the Patriots made it interesting by closing to 28-14. The entire game, one felt that the Patriots were never completely out of it, but that everything was just out of reach. Several bounces and close calls (all correct) went Indy's way. There was little New England could do but ride it out.

Brady hit six different receivers, all at least three times each. Branch, Troy Brown and Daniel Graham caught 5 passes each, Givens had four, and Dillon and Ben Watson had three. Several pundits got their wish by the tight ends becoming more involved in the passing game. Brady was sacked only once, on the 18-yard fumble. A minor victory over the ESPN pregame crew who predicted Dwight Freeney would sack Brady at least three times. The Patriots did not sack Manning.

New England cut way down on penalties, committing only 4 for 24 yards. The Patriots remained dismal on 3rd down conversions (36 percent offensively, 71 percent defensively). Both teams were 67 percent successful in the red zone, but Indy had twice as many opportunities. New England was crushed in time of possession again (36 minutes to 23, roughly)

Dillon had only 12 carries for 40 yards. Mike Cloud had 1 carry for a loss of 5 yards. Brady lost a yard on one carry. Doug Flutie mopped up with 3 of 7 passing for 20 yards.

Vrabel led the team in tackles for the fourth time this season. He had 10, while Rosevelt Colvin and Tedy Bruschi each had 9. Samuel had 8.

Indianapolis hosts Houston next week. New England travels to Miami. Both games are scheduled for 1 p.m.