Patriots Vs. Colts Preview

It is finally here the week everyone has been looking forward to. The Patriots will be taking on the Colts Sunday night in Indianapolis. I have had this game circled sense the schedule has come out and I cannot wait for it to happen. Belichick when asked about the colts and the challenges they present had this to say: “Good. Obviously, they won their last three games, two without [Andrew] Luck. Good run defense, good specialists, explosive offense, so we’ve got a lot to get ready for.”

Malcom Brown has become more and more part of the team everyday Belichick was asked about his progress and he had this to say: “Malcom works hard and he’s a smart guy. He understands what we want him to do. It’s just a big learning curve like it is for every rookie coming into the National Football League, playing against players that are more comparable athletically than what there was in college and seeing the different schemes and dealing with experienced players that when you’re an inexperienced player, that’s an adjustment. But he’s done well with that and I think the last couple weeks have been good. Hopefully he can continue to move in that direction. I thought he played probably his best game against Dallas. I think there is a lot more than that, but we’re headed in the right direction if he keeps working hard and applying himself on the practice field and in film study. He can continue to improve.”

One guy the Patriots will have to look out for is T.Y. Hilton, he is an animal out on the field and covering his will not be easy. But in the last three Colts vs. Patriots games the Pats have managed to shut him down. Belichick had this to say about T.Y. Hilton “He hits you at all three levels of the defense. He’s a deep threat, he runs great intermediate routes and he’s very dynamic with the ball in his hand, so underneath routes, catch-and-run plays. That’s really true of all those guys though – [Donte] Moncrief, [Phillip] Dorsett, [Andre] Johnson – they’re all very explosive.  Fleener is another guy who can attack all three levels of the field, so it’s overall a hard group to defend. But Hilton is definitely a problem, no matter what he does. It’s not just one thing you’ve got to stop with him. He’s just as dangerous on the deep balls as he is on the comebacks, in cuts, crossing routes, over routes, as he is on slip screens and slants that he can break a tackle and take those out of there, too. They move him around. Sometimes he’s in the slot. Usually he’s outside, but they do play him in the slot, so it’s a little bit of a challenge to find him. You don’t know exactly where he’s going to be. They do that with all those guys, but again that’s part of the game plan element that they have in their offense.”

But the Press conference was not all serious as there were 2 different questions that Bill gave one of his unique answers too. The first one being “I know you can’t concern yourself with the mentality of Patriots fans, but has anyone pulled you aside at the grocery store and urged you to kick Indy’s butt?” to which Belichick answered “haven’t been to the grocery store in a couple years.” To which the media member said “Are you hearing from friends, family, neighbors?” and Belichick answered “Have I heard from my family and friends? Yeah, sure.”

So it is all business as usual down at Gillette as the Patriots prepare for one of the biggest games of the year.