Projo Pats Blog

All this week on the projo PatsBlog, Jim Donaldson will be reliving the 13 games played by the Colts and the Patriots this decade, when the two former AFC East doormats became the hottest rivalry in the NFL. We'll also present archival photos of the games. We continue with a look at the two games between the teams in 2001, the year Tom Brady made his NFL debut and carried the Patriots to their first Super Bowl championship.

The Pats had lost not only their first two games in 2001, but also their franchise quarterback, Drew Bledsoe, when the undefeated Colts came to Foxboro averaging 43.5 points a game.

Bledsoe had been injured the week before, in a 10-3 loss to the Jets, when linebacker Mo Lewis drilled him in the chest as he was trying to get out of bounds.

So the Pats had to turn to young Tom Brady, who'd been a sixth-round draft choice the previous year.

As it turned out, it was Colts' QB Peyton Manning who looked as if he was making his first NFL start.

Confused by the coverages designed by Bill Belichick, Manning had two interceptions returned for touchdowns -- one by Otis Smith, the other by Ty Law -- and wound up a loser for the fourth time in as many trips to New England.

"They only rushed three, and dropped 15," Manning said.

At least it seemed that way to him.

"They make you throw short, quick passes," he said. "When you get behind, those don't do you much good. I started to press a little bit, tried to force some passes, and got burned."

With the New England defense holding the Colts scoreless until late in the third quarter, the Patriots didn't have to ask Brady to do too much.

Led by Antowain Smith's 94 rushing yards, on 27 carries, the Pats racked up 177 yards on the ground while jumping out to a 23-0 lead enroute to a 44-13 romp, as Brady completed 13 of 23 passes, for 168 yards. He had no TD passes, but no interceptions, either.

"I thought Tom did a real solid job for the first time out." Belichick said.

Brady was much more than simply "solid" the second time the Pats and Colts played that season, three weeks later in Indianapolis.

He threw for three touchdowns -- including a 91-yarder to David Patten -- in the rematch, completing 16 of 20 passes, as the Pats posted a sweep with an another easy victory, 38-17.

Brady was overshadowed, however, by Patten, who ran 29 yards on a reverse for a touchdown on New England's first play of the game, and later, after taking a pass from Brady behind the line of scrimmage, heaved a bomb downfield to Troy Brown, who hauled it in and went 60 yards for a touchdown.

The little receiver thus became the first NFL player since the legendary Walter Payton in 1979 to run for a touchdown, throw for a touchdown, and make a TD reception in the same game.

No wonder Colts coach Jim Mora was caught by the network television cameras along the sideline asking angrily: "What the (heck) is going on here?"

 Tags  Patriots vs. Colts

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