RANDOM OBSERVATIONS : PATS @ COLTS, FIRST HALF EDITION

by Davey, Blown Coverage

Colts vs. Pats. Dungy vs. Belichick. Manning vs. Brady. Good vs. Pure, pure evil. The angles and the subplots have been beaten to death so I'm not going to even to get into those. But there's one thing about this game that just punches me in the kidney.

The Colts went into Jacksonville two weeks ago and just throttled the Jags. They then went into Carolina and even though they came out sluggish, they beat a division leader 31-7 on the road. And they are still a 5.5 point underdog at home today. That's how ridiculous this Pats team is.

For the first time in my life I'll be rooting for the Colts today and but they will be without Marvin Harrison so that's not going to make it any easier. For fantasy purposes I got Maroney, Stallworth and Reggie Wayne. As for the pick, I somehow picked Indy but I also picked Denver, Cincy and San Diego today so that shows you how much I know. The universe hangs in the balance...so let's get this bad boy going.

• Indy starts with the ball and one the first play of the game, Peyton Manning finds rookie Anthony Gonzalez for a first down and that is probably more than his Ohio State teammate Ted Ginn has done so far this entire season. Ah, I kid 'cuz I care...

• The Colts are still driving as Peyton tries to connect with Dallas Clark but Rodney Harrison breaks it up and reacts as if he found a cure for H.I.V. I'm really not much of a Rodney Harrison fan and this just makes him lose more points in my book.

• And that drive amounts to nothing. The Pats hold and force Indy to try a long field goal but Adam Vinatieri is actually human and misses it. The Lions completely dominated a team, the Vikings beat the Chargers even though they started Tarvaris Jackson and Vinatieri misses a field goal. That's the type of day it has been so far in the NFL.

• First New England possession and they go 3-and-out. That's probably the first time that has happened all season.

• The Colts are moving the ball on this New England defense. They started back on their own 9 yard line but Joseph Addai ran the ball impressively as Indy slowly made its way into the redzone. They settle for a short 21-yard field goal and Indy leads 3-0. The Patriots are looking around and wondering what is going on as they are obviously confused and not familiar with this losing thing.

• Dwight Freeney is making his presence felt so far today. He's getting pressure on Brady but The Golden One is still managing to complete his passes. I wonder if Brady has ever failed at anything in his life...

• Touchdown Randy Moss. The Pats were kept scoreless in the first quarter but they answer right back here. Brady lobs one to Moss in the endzone and Moss as usual comes down with it and New England leads 7-3. Brady will break the single season record by week 12 if he keeps this up.

• Manning goes deep to Reggie Wayne but Ellis Hobbs gets called for pass interference and for the second time, the Colts get in the redzone after a pass interference call. Here's where Marvin Harrison would make a big difference.

• Yeah, Harrison is being missed right here. The Pats hold again and force Indy into their 3rd field goal attempt and Vinatieri hits a 25-yarder this time. New England leads 7-6 and you have to give them credit for holding Indy on those last two drives. And yes, it really hurt me to type that last sentence.

• Wow. My eyes might be deceiving me but it looks like Tom Brady has just thrown an interception. Brady threw a bomb downfield to Donte' Stallworth but it hung up there a bit and Antoine Bethea came down with it. I feel like I need to remember this so that I can tell my grandkids about it one day.

• HOLY CRAP. Peyton Manning throws a little pass to Joseph Addai and Addai turns it into a 73-yard touchdown. Addai just made a play that I only thought was possible by L.T., Adrian Peterson and maybe Ronnie Brown. I want Addai to father my children right now. Colts lead 13-7 and we're going to halftime.