FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Before the bye week, the New England Patriots got a chance to prove their mettle as a home underdog against Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos. The 43-21 dismissal of Denver sent coach Bill Belichick’s team (7-2) into the off week with a five-game winning streak and the unofficial top team in NFL power rankings everywhere.
After some self-scouting and R&R, the Patriots get a chance to keep the momentum rolling against the guy who took over for Manning with the Colts, traveling to Indianapolis as an underdog to take on Andrew Luck and his passing prowess.
The game is set for 8:30 p.m. Sunday.
Luck has 3,085 yards and 26 touchdowns in nine games. Though his arsenal of targets isn’t quite as well-known or talented as Manning’s, the Colts have a playmaker in T.Y. Hilton, a respected veteran in Reggie Wayne and a couple tight ends to lean on. Luck has six different targets with two or more touchdown catches.
It’s another challenge for a new-look New England pass defense that has plenty of confidence that it’s up to the task at hand each week. Though the group allowed Manning to toss for 438 yards in the blowout loss, Darrelle Revis and Co. are comfortable with the way they’ve matched up with opposing attacks to date.
“We’ve been doing good. I don’t know all the stats. I don’t really even look at them,” Revis said, not even aware the team hadn’t allowed a single 40-yard play until the Broncos game. “We just try to do what coaches ask us to do. We’ve been doing a fairly good job. We just have to continue to keep pushing at it, keep on working at it and eventually there is room for us to get better as the season gets down the road.”
The trip to Indianapolis is a chance to prove that. Clearly the Colts can move the ball through the air. Clearly they’re going to meet up with a Patriots secondary that has brought a physical approach with Revis and fellow first-year New Englander Brandon Browner in the lineup.
“That word gets floated around a lot, to have swagger. I don’t know what to call it,” Revis acknowledged. “We come to do our job. We play hard-nosed football. And we play aggressive. That’s what we want to showcase out there every time we have a chance to go out there and play.”
At times this season that aggressive, physical style has led to a flurry of flags on Browner and the rest of the secondary. But even in this era with a point of emphasis on illegal contact and holding in the secondary, New England isn’t going to be shy in the back end.
“We have to play. We’re still going to play aggressive,” Revis said, regardless of what the officials are calling. “We’re still going to be in your face. And we’re still going to jam you and do the things that we do. Because we feel that being physical brings us success.”
It certainly brought success against Manning and the Broncos, allowing the Patriots to pull off the upset. Two weeks later, the battle is against Manning’s replacement in Indianapolis. Luck is one of the premier passers in the game with an offense that has scored 30 or more points in three of the last four games.
“Extremely intelligent quarterback, it’s a huge challenge for us,” Patriots defensive coordinator Matt Patricia concluded of Luck and the Colts.