When the Patriots and Colts meet, it's usually a pretty big deal where the national media shoves the game down our collective throats until we can't possibly take it anymore. Not really the case for tonight's game, probably because the Patriots, while still winning, haven't been the dominant force we've grown to hate, while the Colts are one Sage Rosenfels fourth quarter meltdown away from being 2-5.It's still a big game, of course, seeing as how the Patriots are in a fight for the top spot in the AFC East, while the Colts, already all but eliminated from AFC South contention, could put a major dent in their wild card hopes with a loss.
Earlier this week Ryan Wilson told us how the Colts would be getting a boost as Joseph Addai and Bob Sanders were likely to suit up. That's good. But a few days later we learned that cornerback Marlin Jackson ended his season when he shredded his knee in practice. That's bad. Of course, this is the NFL and the Colts aren't the only team dealing with injuries. Take the Patriots, for example.
Running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis will be making the start for New England, due to injuries suffered by Lamont Jordan and Sammy Morris, not to mention the season-ending shoulder injury suffered by former first-round pick Laurence Maroney.
The other big factor that always takes up a chunk of these games is the always fun debate of, who is better: Tom Brady or Peyton Manning? While that debate could still go on, it won't have any effect on tonight's game because, you know, Brady isn't playing.
What could be debated, I suppose, is the question: has Matt Cassel really been better than Peyton Manning this year?
Statistically speaking, yes. Cassel enters the game with an 84.6 passer rating (Manning 79.0), while completing 65% of his passes (to Manning's 61%) and averaging 6.8 yards per attempt (to Manning's 6.6).
It's all kind of hard to believe. Cassel has his moments were he looks decent, then he has those games like he had in San Diego where he can't get out of his own way.
