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England goalkeeper Scott Carson has been chosen ahead of Paul Robinson. Photograph: Mike Egerton/Empics Steve McClare
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The New England Patriots won the most important regular season game ever in the NFL against the Indianapolis Colts, yet they lost their aura of invincibility. The hype for this season’s week nine Colts-Pats match-up was huge. Some named the game Super Bowl XLI-and-a-half. Never before in the history of NFL regular seasons have two unbeaten teams faced each other with such a strong combined record. It was the crunch between the two current biggest rivals in American Football. It was the seemingly unbeatable Pats against the champion Colts. It was good (represented by the quiet but efficient Colts) versus the evil empire (a Pats team that was called unsportsmanlike in so many games when they ran up the score on already beaten and battered teams). In all fairness, the New England Patriots were regarded as the evil empire even before this season. That’s the moniker a dominating presence and an unlikeable coach will get you. This year, however, evil took up a whole new meaning. First they had the “cameragate” incident against the New York Jets, when they were accused of filming defensive signals of their opponents (a deed that is highly forbidden in the NFL). Then, in response to all of the allegations, they started pulverizing their opponents, often running up the score on teams already beaten up. Many even dare to say that if quarterback Tom Brady beats Peyton Manning’s season TD pass record, his mark will come with an asterisk. After all, Manning never threw two more TD passes in a fourth quarter when the Indianapolis Colts already held a lead more than 30 points… I guess all of this is supposed to show how big this game was shaping up to be. And it was all of what we expected, and then some – a closely fought, hard-hitting game with brilliant moves and maddening mistakes from both sides. In the end it came down to one magnificent Brady drive and one dreadful Manning turnover. The Pats won the game 24-20 after being down 20-10 with nine minutes to go in the final quarter. It was football at its best. Yet this piece is not dedicated to describing the excitement of the game, it will not reflect heavily and enthusiastically about how Randy Moss made an unbelievable one-handed swoop catch while being bumped around by two defenders. No sir! What I want to point out is this – the Pats won the game, but they have lost so much more. Before this contest I was telling everybody how the Patriots had way more to lose than the Colts. I actually believe this was a best-case scenario for Indianapolis They were an under-the-radar Super Bowl champ for much of this season so far; they were the unnoticed, unbeaten team. Everyone in the league was watching and gunning for the Patriots, who were handing teams 20-, 30-, 40-point blowouts. The Colts are simply one of the two best teams in the NFL. The Pats? Let’s just say the main question surrounding them before this game was, can anybody keep them under 34 points? Then came this 24-20 gem, which had the Colts defense tearing the Pats apart for much of the game. They showed that this Patriots team can indeed be rattled. Brady can be rushed into bad throws and they can be kept under 30 points if need be. The Colts actually proved that no superb extra blitzing is necessary for breaking the Patriots offensive line. If nothing else, the closeness of the score and the toughness of their defense actually made the point that the Colts lost only because their top receiver, Marvin Harrison, was out with a gimpy knee. The Pats? They had a full roster, and yet they looked downright lost at times. Did we learn anything then? Of course we did… the Colts are no longer unbeaten, whilst the Pats no longer look unbeatable. Have the Colts lost their shot at repeating last year’s championship run? Of course not. They might have made it a tougher road, though, as it seems now that the cold and unforgiving Foxboro is where the AFC championship will be decided, but Manning has already won there twice (and in terrible weather too). As for all of the talk about New England going undefeated all season, they still have a long way to go. The Colts have a top three defense, but the Pats will face the No.1. and No.2 defensive teams in the home stretch. Plus, the only way they go undefeated is if the Giants lock up both a play-off berth AND home field advantage throughout by week 17. If either is still up for grabs in the last week they’ll field their best team, whilst I do not think there is a grudge big enough on this earth to keep Bill Belichick from benching his stars for that contest as they would be guaranteed tops in the AFC by then. I really do not get the “unbeaten fanclub” anyways – the goal is to win a Super Bowl, not to win 19 games in a row…
It can be taxing to support Formula One's new driving sensation, but at least the opinionated Scotsman wears his hear
