amarshal2 said:
This post is a shit response to a fair point.
Personally, I see the matchup problems, I see a talent disparity, but I also see a coaching staff more focused on hugs than preparation. Luck said it in his post game. "They were more prepared on the details" or something like that. It wasn't just the match ups, Colts had no plan to beat the same thing they saw 2 months ago. Their big adjustment was doubling Gronk.
What's the fair point? That the Colts are soft because they hug?
The Colts had " no plan to beat the same thing they saw 2 months ago" because their weaknesses - schematic, roster, talent, performance - all match up poorly with the Patriots.
To say a team is "soft" is to question their toughness, their metal, their ability to handle adversity, etc. The Colts aren't "soft" because they hug or they can't make adjustments. They aren't "unprepared" because they don't have the ability to matchup against the Patriots scheme.
Cincinnati had the 11th best rushing attack in the NFL this season; the Patriots, 18th. Indy beat Cincy twice, limiting that rushing game (32 yards!). How? The Colts run defense matches up well against the Bengals rushing offense. The stats only tell you so much; to know why you have to watch the games.
This was a 10-point game at half; the Colts have a third year QB and are three seasons removed from having gutted their entire roster down to barebones after years of robbing everyone to pay Peyton. They don't have a deep, talented roster. They aren't a bad team, certainly not as
bad as they look against the Patriots because the matchups are wrong.
We Patriots fans love to cite BB's ability to match up against the opposition, to take away what they want to do best/most (Hilton), and to using the deep roster and "next man up" to defeat opponents. Well?
That's my argument. That it is less the Colts being "soft, pretenders" and more about
how the game is actually played.
The Colts got smoked in the second half. Again. They looked like shit once they stepped in the
QUICKSAND. But they don't suck. They aren't soft because they hug or because their weaknesses are easily exploitable.