So, the AFC Championship game will be the Colts versus the Patriots in Indianapolis. Bill Belichick reminds me of the Cobra Kai’s evil dojo master in The Karate Kid. (“Sweep the leg, Johnny”) Hopefully Tony Dungy will be able to make like Mr. Miyagi and tweak him on the nose. Hopefully Peyton Manning will not suffer a knee injury from an illegal hit or try the “Crane Technique” to finish off the Pats at the end.
This will be only the second time the Patriots have played in Indianapolis since the Colts moved to the AFC South in 2002. The Colts lost that game in 2003, thanks in large part to Patriots player Willie McGinest faking an injury that allowed the Patriots to put a new defensive package on the field — McGinest was instrumental in stopping that final drive of the Colts before he sprinted off to the Colts logo to celebrate without the slightest evidence of the debilitating leg injury that had been so grievous just two plays before that he had to writhe around on the field and stop play. (This year, I suggest we have an “injury team” that acts like a ball boy in a tennis match, swooping in to scoop “injured” Patriots off the field before they can stop play.)
Meanwhile, since 2002 while the Patriots have played in Indy only once, the Colts have played in Foxboro 5 times, compiling a record of 2-3 in New England. CJ at “Charlie Weiss Ate My Baby” suggests that we send the Patriots head office directions from Mapquest to make sure they know how to get here. Big Blue Shoe at Stampede Blue knew this was coming and advises us to relish it. In fact, Big Blue Shoe made a prediction before the playoffs that was entirely unlikely and (so far) dead on accurate:
The Colts will beat the Chiefs, and then they will play their next playoff game in Baltimore for the first time since the Baltimore fans abandoned the Colts, thus prompting them for Indy. The Colts will then beat the Ravens, and then square off in the AFC Championship game against… the Patriots. Yes folks. The Patriots will beat the heavily favored San Diego Chargers, and they will face the Colts in the AFC Championship Game in Indianapolis. The Colts will beat New England (again), and thus make the Super Bowl. A road through the AFC like this is storybook: Beleaguered run defense against Larry Johnson; Colts in Baltimore for the playoffs; Colts against Patriots in AFC Championship Game. In one swoop, all playoff demons get exorcized.
(According to the prediction, the Saints will win the NFC Championship, to bring in the Archie Manning angle.)
But, first things first: the Patriots. Kerry Byrne, writing a column that appeared at MSNBC.com knows Belichick’s secret. It’s not his imaginative defensive schemes, though they help. Nope, it’s simply a liking for unnecessary roughness, blatant brutality – he instructs his players to hit the opposition really, really hard whether they have the ball or not. So, the lesson is simple, we have to hit them harder than they hit us. (And, of course, don’t believe they’re injured just because they pretend to be.)
Go Colts!
O.k. Now I’m nervous, Cris Carter at Yahoo Sports has picked the Colts to beat the Patriots.
Let’s look at Cris’s track record so far:
Wild Card weekend:
KC over Colts – wrong
Seattle over Dallas – right
Patriots over Jets – right
Philly over Giants – right.
Result: 3 out of 4.
Divisional weekend:
Ravens over Colts – wrong
Saints over Philly – right
Chicago over Seattle – right
Chargers over Patriots – wrong
Result: 2 out of 4.
So, he’s gotten 5 out of 8 correct, but blown both of the Colts games and 1/2 of the Patriots games. What the heck, he could be right picking the Colts over the Pats.
I am in a playoff pool where I went with my heart and to pick the Colts over the Saints in the Super Bowl. Every pick has been right thus far.
Charlie Weis ate my baby is a genius blog title.
Yeah, I remember the courage of Willie McGinnest in that game. Injury so horrible he couldn’t get up. Finally, he stood and started walking to the sideline. But something he saw on the sideline must have reminded him of his knee pain, because he then crumpled back onto the ground AGAIN. To rise up after that, and deliver a hit just a minute later on a Pro-Bowl caliber NFL running back, and THEN sprint down the field… amazing. Jesus must be a Patriots fan.
That really was a Daytime Emmy-worthy performance.
thanks for the link to CWAMB, Doug. We’re trying to get the name out there more.
torpor: yeah, the name came up in an IM with CJ (the author whose post Doug linked to). I decided to go ahead and register it and get some friends involved in writing for it. Glad you like it :)
Man. Doug you are crying like a little Baby.. Accusing the Pats of cheating,, well I supose you will have a list of reasons The Colts lost after Sunday.. Let me give the colts a reason they lost this sunday. reason 1 (Tom Brady)SEE YOU AND THE COLTS NEXT YEAR
Nope. We already know what the ground rules are. There are none. So, if we lose and we haven’t done everything up to and including going all WWE on you by distracting the refs with pretty girls while we pummel Patriots players with folding chairs, it’s our own fault.