Things I Have Learned... from Pats v Colts

This is a new weekly segment entitled: Things I Have Learned... I will give some insight from a game during the previous week.

The Counselor is IN:

1) New England is the best team in the NFL ... for now. Most people will be quick to state that this is a no brainer. I had been holding out to name the best team until one of these juggernauts lost. Now we know who the best is. This could change with 8 more weeks left in the season. By the end of week 17 it could be the Patriots or the Colts, or the Cowboys, or the Packers, or the Giants, or the Lions, or any number of teams. It will not be the Rams or the Dolphins.

2) A good running game can help equalize the Patriots. The Colts ran the ball well in the first half and made the Patriots defense look slow. Addai not only ran well but also caught the ball out of the backfield well. The Cowboys also did this to an extent but did not utilize it as well.

3) Tom Brady does not perform well when being hit in the mouth. When the Colts Defense was able to pressure Brady, he did make mistakes and appeared to be unsure of himself on a few plays after being hit hard.

4) Randy Moss is a monster of a receiver and could catch the ball with one hand while being tortured by Jack Bauer (24 reference). Even when Brady made bad passes, Moss was there to bail him out. Moss is back and was by far the best off season pickup by any team.

5) The Colts miss Harrison. Marvin may be getting up there in age but the Colts need him back. The Patriots were able to limit Wayne and Clark because there was no Harrison for them to worry about. I honestly believe this game would have ended very differently if Harrison had been healthy because the Patriots could not have covered all three of these receivers.

6) How false the misconception is that "No one can slow down the Patriots!" They only scored 24 points this week. The Patriots are a great team. But they can be slowed down. Teams will need to examine what the Colts did not Offense and Defense to copy the formula on slowing down this recorded paced offense.

7) Patriots still need a running game. Maroney is still coming back from injury and he looked fairly good when he got the ball. This team does not seem concerned with developing its running game. Cold weather is coming and a running games helps win game in December and January. If they do not start developing a running game now, they may have attempt winning in a cold climate with passing only. This is the same problem that the Packers have.

Those are a few things I learned from the Pats v Colts game.

The Counselor is OUT: