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NFL
Making their point
AFC -- Patriots 20 Colts 3: New England stops Indianopolis offense to shift attention to the Super Bowl champs.
By JOANNE KORTH
Published January 17, 2005
FOXBORO, Mass. - For the past week, all anyone seemed to talk about was record-setting quarterback Peyton Manning and the Colts' high-powered offense. Well, the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots had something to say Sunday.
Hey, remember us?
New England stymied the NFL's top-scoring team and flexed some offensive muscle of its own in a dominating 20-3 victory against Indianapolis in an AFC division playoff game at Gillette Stadium.
Sure, the Patriots were the higher seed and a slight favorite, but they didn't feel that way based on the attention paid to their opponent.
"Everybody doubted us from here to Japan," said Asante Samuel, a second-year cornerback from Central Florida. "It's always motivation when you're the underdog. Nobody picked us to win, but we did."
The Patriots won their 20th straight home game and seventh straight home playoff game to reach the AFC Championship Game for the third time in four years.
But to reach the Super Bowl in Jacksonville, they will have to knock off the top-seeded Steelers on the road. Pittsburgh, which has won 15 straight, ended New England's NFL-record 21-game win streak with a 34-20 victory Oct.31 at Heinz Field.
Of course, few expected New England's injury-riddled secondary to handle the Colts, whose 32.7-point scoring average led the league. Manning set NFL records for touchdown passes (49) and quarterback rating (121.1) this season while the Patriots used a converted receiver and a linebacker in a makeshift secondary.
A week ago, Manning threw for more than 450 yards and four touchdowns in a wild-card victory against the Broncos, the league's fourth-ranked defense. But that was at home, in the climate-controlled comfort of the RCA Dome. Suffice to say, nothing about the blustery conditions in Foxboro made Manning feel at home.
With snow swirling and temperatures in the 20s, Manning was 27-of-42 for 238 yards, his longest completion an 18-yarder to Marvin Harrison. Running back Edgerrin James was held to 39 yards on 14 carries as the Colts were held to the fewest points since a 41-0 loss to the Jets in a playoff game on Jan.4, 2003.
"I don't know if there is necessarily anything they were doing," said Manning, who fell to 2-10 against the Patriots (1-7 since Bill Belichick took over as coach), including consecutive playoff losses.
"I don't know if our rhythm was necessarily taken away. They did a good job of tackling and didn't give up many big plays. They just played better than we did."
At times, the Patriots used only two defensive linemen - sometimes none - as linebackers Tedy Bruschi, Willie McGinest and Mike Vrabel did everything from rush the passer to drop back in coverage. The point of Belichick's defensive plan was to keep Manning guessing.
"It was an awesome performance," said Belichick, who improved to 8-1 in the playoffs, 7-0 with the Patriots. "We played our best 30 minutes of football in the second half."
Just as important to slowing the Colts offense was New England's ability to control the ball. Quarterback Tom Brady, the overlooked two-time Super Bowl MVP, directed clock-eating scoring drives of 14, 15 and 16 plays that relegated Manning to antsy spectator.
Running back Corey Dillon, in his first playoff game, carried 23 times for 144 yards, the second-highest total in Patriots' playoff history, as New England rang up 210 yards on the ground.
Leading 13-3, New England delivered the knockout blow with a 94-yard touchdown drive capped by Brady's 1-yard run for a 17-point lead with 7:10 left.
"That was a huge drive," said Brady, who is 6-0 against the Colts and has never lost a playoff game.
The Patriots got field goals of 24 and 31 yards from Adam Vinatieri to take a 6-0 lead with 7:56 left in the second quarter.
In the two-minute offense, the Colts drove to the Patriots 8-yard line, but Manning threw incomplete in the end zone on third down and they settled for a Mike Vanderjagt field goal that made it 6-3 at halftime.
But turnovers hurt the Colts as receiver Reggie Wayne and running back Dominic Rhodes fumbled.
The patchwork secondary shone for New England. Solid coverage and tackling kept the Colts from picking up yards after the catch, a trademark of their high-octane offense. Seldom were the Colts able to stretch the field.
"We tried to go after them," Colts coach Tony Dungy said. "It's not like we said, "Oh, okay, we are not going to try to go get them.' They did a good job and outplayed us with the guys that played."
Ind NEFirst downs 18 21
Total Net Yards 276 325
Rushes-yards 15-46 39-210
Passing 230 115
Punt Returns 0-0 2-28
Kickoff Returns 4-58 1-15
Interceptions Ret. 0-0 1-9
Comp-Att-Int 27-42-1 18-27-0
Sacked-Yards Lost 1-8 3-29
Punts 6-40.7 5-39.0
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 0-0
Penalties-Yards 4-44 5-35
Time of Possession 22:17 37:43
[Last modified January 17, 2005, 05:07:09]
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