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| ARI at TB | BAL at PIT | CAR at TEN | CIN at BUF | DAL at PHI | DEN at DET | GB at KC | HOU at OAK |
| JAX at NO | NE at IND | SD at MIN | SEA at CLE | SF at ATL | WAS at NYJ | ||
Week 9 Game Recap: New England Patriots 24, Indianapolis Colts 20
What you need to know
| New England Patriots |
Tom Brady struggled in the first half, with just 59 yards, one touchdown and one interception. As a result, his club was down 13-7 at halftime against a fired up Colts defense. Brady came out firing in the second half, leading his club to a field goal scoring drive in the third quarter and completing the comeback with two touchdown tosses in the fourth quarter.
RB Laurence Maroney led New England in rushing, with 59 yards on 15 attempts, and struggled to find much running room against the Colts front seven. QB Tom Brady actually had the club's longest run of the day, with a 19 yard scramble.
WR Randy Moss had a huge game for the Patriots, finishing with nine receptions for 145 yards and a four yard touchdown reception. That score accounted for New England's only first half points as they trailed at intermission. Wes Welker added a three yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter the closed the gap to 20-17, and RB Kevin Faulk caught the game winning touchdown on a 13 yard reception from Brady.
The Patriots were able to contain the Colts passing game, giving up just 210 net passing yards for the game and limiting any big play opportunities the Indianapolis wideouts had downfield. Their defense played well enough to keep the game close, and give their offense an opportunity to win it in the end. New England forced two turnovers in the game, the biggest one coming on the Colts final drive of the game, where DE Jarvis Green sacked Peyton Manning, forcing a fumble that was picked up by LB Roosevelt Colvin, sealing the deal for the Patriots.
| Indianapolis Colts |
Peyton Manning was without one of his favorite weapons in WR Marvin Harrison, and as a result, their offense suffered a little bit against a tough New England defense. Manning led three scoring drives in the first half, two of which ended in field goals, giving the Colts a 13-7 halftime lead. They could only manage one second half score, on a one yard touchdown plunge from Manning, and their defense could not slow down a focused Patriots offense enough to finish the game.
RB Joseph Addai was tremendous, rushing the ball 26 times for 112 yards on the ground and adding 114 yards on five receptions in the passing game that included an impressive 73 yard catch and run for a score.
Reggie Wayne led the wideouts with five receptions for 62 yards, but saw double coverage for most of the game with Harrison inactive and WR Anthony Gonzalez leaving the game in the first half with an injury.
Indianapolis was able to hold the Patriots offense down in the first half, giving up just seven points, but could not find any answers to repeat that success in the second half. New England put the game on the back of QB Tom Brady, and the Colts defense could not make enough big plays in the end to close out the game. DL Robert Mathis finished with two sacks and DB Antoine Bethea and LB Gary Brackett each added interceptions to lead the Indianapolis defense.
What you ought to know
| QB Tom Brady, Pass: 21 - 32 - 255 - 3 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 5 - 14 - 0 |
Brady struggled a bit in the first half, where he was eight of 12 for 59 yards with one touchdown and one interception. However, he picked it up in the second half, leading the club on two scoring drives that resulted in Brady touchdowns and another ending with a successful field goal to lead the Patriots comeback. Brady also added 14 yards on five attempts on the ground and had a long run of 19 yards. His first touchdown came on a four yard connection with WR Randy Moss and his two fourth quarter touchdowns were caught by WR Wes Welker and RB Kevin Faulk.
| RB Laurence Maroney, Rush: 15 - 59 - 0 (1 targets) |
Maroney carried the load on the ground for the Patriots, rushing 15 times for 59 yards. Running lanes were tough to come by, with Maroney rushing for just 3.9 yards per carry and a long run of just nine yards for the game. He was targeted one time in the passing game, but failed to record a reception.
| RB Kevin Faulk, Rush: 7 - 29 - 0, Rec: 3 - 20 - 1 (5 targets) |
Faulk chipped in with seven rushes for 29 yards on the ground, and added three receptions for 20 yards through the air, including a 13 yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter that proved to be the game winner.
| RB Sammy Morris |
Morris was placed on injured reserve earlier in the week and is out for the remainder of the season.
| WR Randy Moss, Rec: 9 - 145 - 1 (16 targets) |
Moss was targeted early and often by Brady, getting 16 targets to lead the team and finishing with nine receptions for 145 yards and a four yard touchdown. At times, he looked like he could not be covered, and Moss also had one impressive one handed reception in traffic. Six of his receptions resulted in first downs and Moss was targeted frequently in the red zone. One red zone target ended up being taken back for penalty, where Moss was called for offensive pass interference.
| WR Wes Welker, Rec: 5 - 38 - 1 (6 targets) |
Welker totaled five receptions for 38 yards, including a three yard touchdown in the passing game and also made nice contributions on special teams in the return game. He continued to be a reliable option for both Brady and fantasy owners.
| WR Donte Stallworth, Rec: 2 - 42 - 0 (4 targets) |
Stallworth was targeted four times in the game, catching two passes for 42 yards. One pass thrown his way was picked off by the Colts, but Stallworth did add a 33 yard reception that helped set up a New England touchdown.
| TE Ben Watson, Rec: 2 - 10 - 0 (3 targets) |
Watson's status for the game was up in the air, but he played through the injury and caught two of the three passes thrown his way for ten yards.
| PK Stephen Gostkowski 1 - 1 FG, 3 - 3 XP, 6 points |
Gostkowski made good from 34 yards out on his only field goal attempt of the game and added three extra points, finishing with six points in the game.
| NE Rush Defense |
The Patriots gave up 119 yards on the ground and one rushing score, but for the most part, did their job in containing the Colts rushing attack. While RB Joseph Addai reached the century mark, they held Indianapolis to 3.8 yards per carry for the game.
LB Mike Vrabel led the defense with five solo tackles and one sack.
| NE Pass Defense |
New England committed two costly pass interference calls in the first half, but their defense responded, holding the Colts to field goals on both occasions. They did miss a few tackles on the Addai touchdown reception, but aside from that, they did an admirable job getting pressure on Peyton Manning and holding the Indianapolis receivers in check.
LB Roosevelt Colvin chipped in with a sack and DE Jarvis Green added a sack and forced fumble that New England was able to recover, sealing the victory. DB Rodney Harrison had the lone interception for the Patriots.
| QB Peyton Manning, Pass: 16 - 27 - 225 - 1 TD / 1 INT, Rush: 1 - 1 - 1 |
Manning had an up and down game against the Patriots. His first half was vintage Peyton Manning. He was nine of 15 for 145 yards, including the 73 yard touchdown pass to RB Joseph Addai. That was enough to give the Colts the lead at halftime, 13-7. The second half was a different story for Manning and the Colts, who managed just seven points for the half, mainly a result of turnovers. The score came on a Manning quarterback sneak, but his two second half turnovers certainly hurt the Colts chances of putting away the Patriots, who trailed 20-10 following the Manning touchdown. He was pressured constantly by the Patriots, who not only forced the two turnovers, but also added three sacks and held the Colts to five of 12 on third down conversions. Manning's fumble on the team's final drive ended up being their last possession of the game.
| RB Joseph Addai, Rush: 26 - 112 - 0, Rec: 5 - 114 - 1 (6 targets) |
Addai was electric against the Patriots. He showed tremendous burst and wiggle on his way to 112 yards on 26 rushes, making New England defenders miss with great footwork. When Addai wasn't busy running the ball, he was busy catching it out of the backfield. He was targeted six times, catching five passes for 114 yards and a 73 yard touchdown. On that play, in particular, he made numerous Patriots defenders look silly and blew past the defense on his way to the end zone.
| RB Kenton Keith, Rush: 4 - 6 - 0 |
Keith spelled Addai on occasion for the Colts, rushing the ball four times for six yards. He was not a factor in the passing game and his productivity seems to be a thing of the past due to the increasing productivity of RB Joseph Addai.
| WR Reggie Wayne, Rec: 5 - 62 - 0 (9 targets) |
Wayne was Manning's favorite target against the Patriots, getting nine targets to lead the team. He was able to haul in five receptions for 62 yards, but could have had a much bigger game as he had a costly drop. Wayne drew a pass interference call that resulted in a 40 yard gain on the penalty and had another reception that he took to the one yard line, just missing out on a score.
| WR Aaron Moorehead, Rec: 2 - 13 - 0 (5 targets) |
Moorehead received some extra playing time with Harrison out due to injury and WR Anthony Gonzalez leaving the game early with an injury of his own. Moorehead received five targets, catching two passes for 13 yards.
| WR Anthony Gonzalez, Rec: 1 - 13 - 0 (3 targets) |
Gonzalez got the start with the injury to WR Marvin Harrison, but unfortunately was injured on the first play of the game, dislocating his left thumb. His status for next week is unknown at this point.
| WR Marvin Harrison |
Harrison was inactive for the game due to a knee injury. The Colts definitely missed his presence in the lineup.
| TE Dallas Clark, Rec: 2 - 15 - 0 (4 targets) |
Clark was targeted four times, catching two passes for 15 yards. The Patriots made it a point to find Clark downfield all game long, and his production was clearly hurt by the absence of WR Marvin Harrison. On his second reception, Clark made a nice catch right at the sideline for a first down with two defenders draping him.
| PK Adam Vinatieri 2 - 3 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points |
Vinatieri missed a 50 yard field goal attempt early in the game, but bounced back to connect from 21 and 25 yards out. He also added two extra points to finish with eight points for the game.
| IND Rush Defense |
Indianapolis played well against the run, holding the Patriots to 3.8 yards per carry and giving up a long run of just 19 yards on a run by QB Tom Brady. The Patriots were having some success on the ground in the first half, but looked to pass more in the second half as they attempted their comeback.
LB Gary Brackett led the defense with six solo tackles, one assist and one interception and DB Marlin Jackson added six solo tackles and three assists for the Colts.
| IND Pass Defense |
The Colts gave up one passing score in the first half, and did a nice job getting pressure on QB Tom Brady, forcing one turnover and adding a first half sack. However, the Patriots made adjustments at the half and came out with a passing game plan in the second half that led to two scores. They had no answer for WR Randy Moss, who tore them apart for nine receptions and 145 yards and could not stop New England late in the game when they knew the pass was coming.
DB Antoine Bethea added an interception to go along with the pick by LB Gary Brackett and DL Robert Mathis added two sacks to lead the Indianapolis defense.
