ShareThisBy JIM DONALDSON
Monday, November 13, 2006
We now know, without a Vince Wilfork-sized shadow of a doubt, who is the best team in the AFC.
And it ain't the New England Patriots.
Not by a long shot. Not after Sunday night. Not after losing _ at home _ to both the Denver Broncos and the Indianapolis Colts.
The Pats may be able to beat up on their weak-sister rivals in the AFC Least but, when it comes to taking on the best teams in the conference, the Pats don't measure up.
Losers to Denver in September in Gillette Stadium, 17-7, the Patriots went down in defeat again Sunday evening at the hands of the undefeated Colts, 27-20.
Coming on the heels of their victory in Denver last weekend, and with the Bears losing in Chicago to the Dolphins on Sunday, the Colts can lay claim to being not just the best team in the AFC, but in the entire NFL.
There's no question about that, so let us move on to other, more intriguing questions.
Such as: Has Colts coach Tony Dungy gotten into Pats QB Tom Brady's head?
Remember what the pigskin pundits used to say about Peyton Manning? How he couldn't beat the Patriots, especially in Foxboro, because Bill Belichick's defensive schemes left him confused and muddled? That Manning couldn't win in New England because Belichick had "gotten into his head."
Well, in the highly hyped matchup of the two best quarterbacks in football, Manning won decisively, bettering Brady by a much larger margin than the final score indicated.
While Manning threw for two touchdowns, completing 20 of 36 passes for 326 yards, with one interception, Brady was intercepted four times and had no TD passes. He finished with 20 completions in 35 attempts, for 201 yards.
In fairness, two of Brady's receptions went off his receivers' hands. And another came on a long heave just before halftime. But his first, which came in the Indianapolis end zone, after the Patriots had moved from their own 19 on their opening possession, was the result of a poor decision.
Toss in a lost fumble by Corey Dillon, and the Patriots had five turnovers. It'd be hard to beat the Arizona Cardinals with that many giveaways, never mind a team of the quality of the Colts.
Yet, despite that, Brady still had the ball in his hands in the final two minutes, trailing by a touchdown.
"What more can you ask for than that?" Brady said afterwards.
The only reason the Patriots still had a chance to tie the game was that Adam Vinatieri, who was a perfect 14-for-14 coming into his return to Foxboro, had just missed his second field goal, this one from 46 yards just after the two-minute warning.
What more, really, could the Pats ask for than to have the normally sure-footed Vinatieri miss not one, but two, kicks?
But that opportunity quickly was frittered away when, after completing a 25-yard pass to tight end Ben Watson to the Indy 39, Brady's next toss went off the hands of running back Kevin Faulk and into those of linebacker Cato June.
Two missed field goals by Vinatieri? Four interceptions by Brady? Fans of Sunday night football had to be wondering if they were watching the Twilight Zone.
"That was a tough night, all the way around," Brady said. "Obviously, we need to play a lot better than that. With as many turnovers as there were, the defense really kept us in there."
The New England defense didn't confuse Manning as it has in the past. Although not the recent past, as Pats fans should recall the 40-21 trouncing the Colts dealt the Patriots last October at Gillette _ a game in which Manning threw for three touchdowns.Marvin Harrison burned the Pats for 145 yards and two TDs on eight receptions, while his fellow wideout, Reggie Wayne, had 90 yards on six catches.
New England's special teams didn't exactly distinguish themselves, either, yielding a 70-yard kickoff return to Terrence Wilkins.
"It's disappointing to lose," Belichick said. "We just didn't do a good job tonight. They just did a better job than we did."
That's because the Colts are a better team.
Which shouldn't have come as a huge shock.
After all, since the Broncos beat the Patriots soundly in Foxboro, and the Colts beat the Broncos in Denver, doesn't it make sense that the Colts then beat the Patriots in Foxboro?
While New England is the best team in the AFC Least, the Colts are the best team in the entire NFL.
