FOXBOROUGH — Everything you need to know from the Patriots’ victory over the Colts in quickie form, with BSJ insight and analysis:
HEADLINES
Tale of two halves: By halftime, this one seemed to be a laugher. The thinking? Everyone could get to bed early to rest up for Red Sox-Yankees Friday night. The Patriots led 24-3 after two quarters, and were completely dominating the overmatched and undermanned Colts. New England nearly lapped Indy in every statistical category: Total yards, 248-141; First downs, 17-8; Passing yards 203-106; Third-down conversion percentage, 57-33. But in the second half, the Patriots gave up 298 total yards, Tom Brady was picked twice when his receivers gifted balls to the Colts, and Indianapolis made it a game, cutting the New England edge to 24-17 early in the third. A Josh Gordon touchdown, an interception of Andrew Luck when his receiver dropped it, and a Sony Michel scoring scamper later, it was 38-17 and, finally, over. But, man, that was a lot tougher than it should have been. "It was far from perfect, but we certainly played well enough that we deserved to win, so that's good," Bill Belichick said. "It's good to get this one behind us and turn our sights to Kansas City.
Edelman returns and looks great: Well, there wasn't a ton of rust on Julian Edelman (except one wide-open drop on an early third down, but he did that from time to time before his injury) as he returned to action after his suspension with seven catches on nine targets and 57 yards. There weren't any overly flashy plays, just Edelman doing what he does. But it's was glaring how much his ability was missed by this offense and Brady. Just having that quick outlet on crucial downs is huge. Most impressive: Edelman's quicks seemed to be as good as they were pre-injury, and much better than he was in camp or the preseason. "We wanted to get him involved, and he made some great plays," said Brady. "It was just good to have him out there. You know, I’m sure we all want it to be perfect every time we go out, but I was really happy to be out there with him. He’s a great player, and obviously, the more great players you have out there, the better we’re going to move the ball and score points."
Defense allows 298 yards in the second half: It's probably going to be a big topic of discussion this week heading into the Chiefs' game (and the subject of my column coming up), but it has to be a disappointment that after playing so well against the Dolphins, the Patriots allowed the Colts to go up and down the field in the second half without their best receiver (T.Y. Hilton), left tackle (Anthony Castonzo) and second-best tight end (Jack Doyle).
TURNING POINT
After the Colts cut the Patriots' lead to 24-17 early in the third quarter, New England answered with Gordon's first touchdown as a Patriot. On the next possession, Zach Pascal dropped a pass from Luck, Jonathan Jones plucked it out of the air and returned it 28 yards to the Indianapolis 34-yard line. One play later, Sony Michel scored and it was, finally, over.
SECOND GUESS
I'm sure the Patriots wanted to get him a few live reps, but watching Edelman return two punts in his return was hold-your-breath time. Do they really need to expose him to that? They can't find anyone else to return punts?
THREE UP
James White: In the first half alone, he caught nine passes on 11 targets for 74 yards and a touchdown. The Patriots' offense runs on Dunk... White.
Patrick Chung: Was all over the field with 11 tackles, a half-sack and an interception.
Tom Brady: Wasn't perfect, and the fact the undermanned Colts played a lot of zone coverage certainly helped, but he still completed 36 (I'm giving him two more because both Chris Hogan and Rob Gronkowski dropped/caused interceptions) for 341 yards and three touchdowns. And he had his 500th career touchdown pass.
THREE DOWN
Devin McCourty: Had a great strip/fumble recovery, but he was abused in coverage by both Eric Ebron and Eric Swoope for 2.5 touchdowns and plenty of yards. Was a step behind each time.
Chris Hogan: Threatening to be overtaken by both Phillip Dorsett and Gordon, Hogan had a drop for an interception and had just three catches for 34 yards. Think he was the last of the targets to get a pass, too.
Pass rush: New England only had one sack and, officially, five other quarterback hits. Way too much time for Luck to throw in the second half.
Dishonorable mention
Colts secondary and linebackers: For this ridiculous celebration when they were down by two scores. For those of you scoring at home, Matthias Farley (41), helped to give up Josh Gordon's touchdown, and was stiff-armed by Sony Michel on his way into the end zone.
INJURIES
Malcom Brown (knee): Left with what looked like to be a serious knee injury, but was later on the sideline in a big brace and announced as probable to return. He was later downgraded. Dr. Jessica Flynn thinks an MCL sprain and being out 4-to-6 weeks is not out of the question.
Phillip Dorsett (unknown): Went to the blue tent, but stayed in the game.
John Simon (shoulder): Did not return to the game.
TWO TAKES BEDARD WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER
Josh Gordon has unlimited potential in this offense, but that TD wasn't an example of that: Most people are surely going to lose their minds about Gordon's touchdown, and some might even invoke Randy Moss. Please, don't insult a Hall of Famer. Was the touchdown a good one? Yes. It is possibly a hint of more things to come? Yes. But that was an NFL starter playing against backups — Colts backups, at that. It was basically the Patriots equivalent of Keion Crossen and Nate Ebner in coverage, and the players didn't even locate or make a play on the ball. Don't go nuts over that play.
Thank goodness the Patriots have 10 days to get ready for the Chiefs: If the game ended at halftime, I would have said, "Bring on the Chiefs, the Patriots are ready." After giving up 298 yards in the second half to Luck and the Colts' JV offense, I don't know what to think, aside from the fact the scoreboard operators better get ready for a lot of number flipping come next Sunday night. The Patriots have a lot of work to do to get ready for a Chiefs' offense that ran them off the field in last year's season opener — and that was with Alex Smith. Pat Mahomes is a huge upgrade.