by Patriots Daily Staff
feedback@patriotsdaily.com

Believing sincerely that a watched pot never boils, our own Chef has been passing the time in the PD Kitchen (idle this week with a road game on tap) by perusing the Intertubes for choice meat on this Sunday night’s Colts-Pats matchup.

He shoots, he scores. It seems the Pro Football Hall of Fame has designated the game as its Throwback Game of the Week, and with that comes all kinds of cool archival materials from the many memorable battles fought by these two rivals over the years.

We thought you might find something of interest there. Remember to compliment the Chef and tip the waitstaff.

Addition:

Some more appetizers in the form of NFL.com video clips about Colts/Patriots

Week 9: Patriots vs. Colts Preview

Weather update: Patriots vs Colts

Belichick ready for Colts

Cassel a bona fide starter

Colts’ concerns

Generally Speaking: Bill Polian on Colts

Colts not sharp

by Bruce Allen
bruce@bostonsportsmedia.com

If Tom Brady hadn’t gotten hurt, you might not even have noticed it so much this season.

With his injury however, more attention is being paid to the defensive side of the ball, and even then, it’s not getting a whole lot of attention.

Don’t look now, but almost the entire Patriots defense is being remade. It’s getting younger, faster and more athletic. The growing pains are there, we’ve seen them. This sort of transition is going to have its bumpy parts, but the move is being made nonetheless.

At linebacker, for years the starters seemed to play the whole game, every game. For a long time it was Tedy Bruschi, Ted Johnson, Roman Phifer and Mike Vrabel, with Willie McGinest alternating between outside linebacker and defensive end. When Phifer, Johnson and McGinest all either retired or went elsewhere, Junior Seau came on board for the last two seasons. Only Bruschi and Vrabel remain today, and they were joined last season by Adalius Thomas. During those years, the only young linebacker to see the field was Tully Banta Cain, and he was allowed to leave via free agency, being deemed not worthy enough to keep around.

by Kevin Henkin
feedback@patriotsdaily.com

(Editor’s Note: This morning we welcome this guest contribution from old friend Kevin Henkin, who has an idea on how the Patriots can quickly return to the top of the NFL heap. We cannot believe we didn’t think of this first. But that’s Kevin Henkin, folks. A visionary.)

While I may not be a football “expert” along the lines of Tony Kornheiser or Glenn Ordway, I know at least this much: The Patriots need to steal Condoleeza Rice away before the San Francisco 49ers get their grubby little brie-encrusted hands on her.

It’s not all that surprising that the 49ers have Condi Rice in their sights. Perhaps more than any other team in the NFL, the 49ers enjoy a proud tradition of being a great football team a long time ago. That’s why this choice is so savvy for them. Football is, after all, is a game of war and Condi Rice is battle tested in managing two wars at once! Talk about multi-tasking.

Condi also brings a lot of other qualifications to the table. For example, she has been photographed on multiple occasions holding a football during photo-ops. Anyone who brings a football along to a press conference is clearly a student of the game. (Ever see Rich Kotite carrying around a football to press conferences? I rest my case.)

Also, it is said that when Condi served as Provost at Stanford University, she played a large role in landing Dennis Green as Head Coach of the football program. Yes, folks, the same Dennis Green who subsequently elevated the team back to above-average prominence (culminating in an exciting Aloha Bowl loss!). Heady days for the Cardinal football program indeed.

There is also the fact that Ms. Rice has often spoken of her ultimate of goal of one day becoming the NFL Commissioner. Suffice it to say that, considering the robo-nazis who currently occupy the NFL front office these days, the Patriots could really use a friend in the big chair the next time a huge cheating controversy happens.

Also consider the executive experience that Condi Rice can brag about. With her firmly in charge, she wouldn’t be allowing things like having her starting quarterback’s knee being operated on over and over again by some quack hippie doctor using a dirty steak knife out in California. Rest assured that the shenanigans would be over and order would be restored in this once proud Patriots organization.

Lastly, when it comes to “the way things are done” in Foxboro, Condi would obviously fit right in, what with her long track record of denying obvious truths to the press and treating important reporters very rudely.

For the sake of summation, let us recap the Condi situation: Carries football around. Wants to be Commissioner. Hired Denny Green. Takes no mess. Soon to be unemployed. Hates reporters. Wow. Honestly, do we need to hear anymore, folks? This is a win-win for everyone involved (except maybe for incompetent surfer-boy doctors out in California). It is what it is. As they say out in Texas (where people really love football!), let’s get’r done. In Condi We Trust!

I am not really happy with the Giants this week.  Haven’t been happy with them for the last 3 weeks, truth be told.  It’s not so much the attitude they’ve displayed this week or the bad judgment they’re guilty of, for showing up to Arizona dressed like pall bearers.  It’s not their lack of respect, it’s their lack of gratitude.  These are the same guys that have been talking all week about the galvanizing effect of playing the Patriots close in the regular season’s final game.  Many of them credited it with giving them the confidence to make their memorable run through the NFC conference.  Three impressive games that allowed them to show their city, and the rest of a doubting NFL, that they were championship timber.  They’re the toast of Manhattan and are the Last Hope for those who do not want to see the Patriots win another Super Bowl.  They are now America’s Underdog.  And they seem to really be enjoying it.  Not just the attention, but the thrill of playing their best and coming together at most important part of the season.  Who wouldn’t, right?

My problem isn’t with any of this, it’s the fact that I haven’t heard one Giant thank the Patriots for any of it.  After all, it’s the historic success of the Patriots that allowed the Giants to share some limelight in what would have been an uneventful evening at the Meadowlands 4 short weeks ago and ride that winning energy all the way to the Phoenix.  If the Patriots weren’t so damn good it’s likely that this week we’d be reading about Brett Favre’s favorite fertilizer, be subjected to Tony and Jessica at the Maxim party, or what it’s like to be reared by a man named Bum.  Instead it’s the shocking revelation that Eli Manning didn’t say a word to the world until he was three years old - a trait that virtually guarantees him Super Bowl glory (this is great news for my neighbor with the 6 year old who loves the taste of paint chips), actual score predictions, and half-hearted trash talk. 

And the Patriots are responsible.  They turned the 10-5 average team with the shaky QB and a bad secondary into the “hottest team in the NFL”.  They are so damn good they forced the Giants into playing inspired football and once they started, they didn’t want to stop.  They’ve taken this precious gift from New England and have cashed it in for a Super Bowl berth.  And not one word of thanks.  Not even an “hey, man, I appreciate it” head nod.

It’s just not right.

This years Patriot team is so damn good that it took two teams to the Super Bowl.  The Patriots made you, Giants, and Sunday they are going to destroy you.

The argument for the Giants winning this game seems to boil down to the fact that they outplayed the Patriots for 3 quarters a month ago, but couldn’t close the deal; now they are playing much better (an arguable proposition), the Patriots are the same or have even regressed a bit (also arguable), therefore the Giants will be able to finish the job this time around.  Even the most ardent Giant partisans seem to concede that at the very best, it will be a close game, and pin their hopes on the Giants making more big plays down the stretch and pulling out the win.  However, what this analysis ignores is that the Patriots are at their very best in close games when the game is on the line.  You can count on exactly one finger the number of big games in which the Patriots were outplayed late in the 4th quarter and let a tight game slip away.  That one time obviously was last year’s AFCCG, and this year’s team was built with the express purpose of not allowing that situation to happen again.  They proved that repeatedly this year–this was probably the best team since the ‘03 edition in terms of managing “close and late” situations and doing enough to win.  I do not believe this is entirely luck–I think there is a skill to it–and the Patriots are the best in these situations in today’s NFL.  I’ve resigned myself to the fact that this is probably going to be a real nail-biter (these games just always turn out that way, right?), but again, even if the Giants are able to neutralize the Patriots obvious strengths and keep the game close, they are still going to need to overcome the Patriots’ less obvious but equally important strength of managing the 4th quarter to victory.  It’s just too tall a task. Patriots 31, Giants 28.

You’ve got to hand it to the Giants. They made it here the hard way, winning all three road games. I still don’t think they are in the class of any of the final four AFC teams, though.

I’ve always been a closet Eli Manning fan. I think it’s because he’s always been crapped on for not caring enough, which isn’t true. I see his disintrest as a positive quality that helps him remain calm when he needs to deliver. He doesn’t have the charisma of his brother, but when all of the chips are on the table, I’d take Eli over Payton and his anxious feet when you have to come from behind in the fourth quarter of a playoff game.

I don’t think Eli has the weapons around him to win his next game, though. Burress has come up big in the playoffs so far, but in my opinion the lack of a good check down option for Eli is going to be the Achilles heal for the Giants offense. Despite Shockey’s mouth and antics, his hands are going to be missed when they need to complete a third and seven with Plaxico and Toomer covered. I think the Pats will allow Steve Smith some opportunities to make big catches before they start worrying about a rookie in the Super Bowl beating them.

This time Pats’ will have the right side of their OL back, and we see what that has meant for Maroney in the past two games. They also don’t have to force the ball to any specific receivers in order to break those pesky records. Brady will have the full buffet of receivers to choose from, so I’d be surprised if we see the fourth down kicking units make five appearances like they did in week 17.

Take the Over, Not the Underdog.

Everybody loves the underdog, from David to the Little Engine That Could.

Pundits cite the ‘01 Patriots or the ‘90 Giants as examples that yes, your team too can do the impossible. (Of course, they never mention the one element those teams had in common.)

Why not the ‘89 Broncos, the ‘92 Bills or ‘94 Chargers? They were big underdogs, too, and so good at it, they never broke character through their respective Super Bowls. Updated rule: Everybody loves the underdog, until the underdog loses.

But let’s not insult these Giants. They’re a nice team. They put it all together at the right time, and made a legendary march on the road through the playoffs. They feature an embattled young quarterback, an enigmatic wide receiver, a sack-happy defense, and an NFL lifer at coach.

They’re the ‘85 Patriots. What’s not to like?