Game Preview - Week 9: New England Patriots at Indianapolis Colts

Indianapolis: Marvin Harrison could've played last week but sat out against the Panthers to give his bruised knee right knee another week of rest before this week's game of the century against the Pats. SuperBowl 41 ½ will be played in Indianapolis where the Colts have dominated teams this season winning by an average of 22 points. The turf fits their style well and should help them keep up the Patriots scoring machine. Expect Joseph Addai and Kenton Keith to receive as much work as possible to keep Brady off the field but points will come from Manning's arm. Reggie Wayne is the clear cut number one receiver on this team due to Harrison's nagging injury but I expect both will be in the spotlight this week and don't be surprised if Harrison gets his first 100-yd game of the season. It won't be enough for a Colts victory, but it will be fun to watch!

Start: QB Peyton Manning, RB Joseph Addai, WR Marvin Harrison, WR Reggie Wayne, K Adam Vinatieri
Consider: TE Dallas Clark
Sit: WR Anthony Gonzalez, RB Kenton Keith

New England: I've bought into the hype. I'm actually a little upset I will be attending the Chiefs game this week (1:00 PM EST start) because I will miss the first half of this showdown as I battle my way out of the Arrowhead parking lot. The DVR will be in record mode however and I look forward to watching Brady face one of the better pass defenses in the league. Granted they haven't played stellar QB competition to date but I'm anxious to see if Dwight Freeney, on turf, can do something nobody else has done this season… get pressure on Brady and force him into poor throws and bad decisions. The Colts have also been good against the run so don't expect eye-popping numbers from Maroney. Despite the solid defenses on display I do expect this to be a high-scoring game and while I'd love to pick the Colts here, you just can't argue with what New England has done through 8 weeks. Until somebody stops them or at least slows them down, they are the pick in a game that will likely be for homefield advantage in the AFC.

Start: QB Tom Brady, WR Randy Moss, WR Wes Welker, WR Donte Stallworth
Consider: RB Laurence Maroney, Patriots D/ST
Sit: TE Ben Watson, RB Sammy Morris

Krueger's Rankings/Projections

New England Patriots
Rank	Player	Projections
QB 1	Tom Brady	Pass: 335, 3 Rush: 5, 0
RB 15	Laurence Maroney	Rush: 70, 1 Rec: 1-10, 0
RB 38	Kevin Faulk	Rush: 10, 0 Rec: 2-20, 0
WR 1	Randy Moss	Rec: 9-120, 1
WR 12	Wes Welker	Rec: 7-80, 1
WR 16	Donte' Stallworth	Rec: 6-80, 1
TE 19	Kyle Brady	Rec: 2-20, 0

Indianapolis Colts
Rank	Player	Projections
QB 2	Peyton Manning	Pass: 275, 3 Rush: 0, 0
RB 4	Joseph Addai	Rush: 85, 1 Rec: 4-30, 0
RB 42	Kenton Keith	Rush: 15, 0 Rec: 1-10, 0
WR 3	Reggie Wayne	Rec: 9-110, 1
WR 55	Anthony Gonzalez	Rec: 4-50, 0
WR 60	Marvin Harrison	Rec: 3-35, 0
TE 5	Dallas Clark	Rec: 4-45, 1

View all Week 9 Rankings or Projections

Past Results and Remaining Schedule

New England Patriots
Week	Date	Opp	H/A	Score	Dif
1	2007-09-09	NYJ	A	W 38-14	+24
2	2007-09-16	SD	H	W 38-14	+24
3	2007-09-23	BUF	H	W 38-7	+31
4	2007-10-01	CIN	A	W 34-13	+21
5	2007-10-07	CLE	H	W 34-17	+17
6	2007-10-14	DAL	A	W 48-27	+21
7	2007-10-21	MIA	A	W 49-28	+21
8	2007-10-28	WAS	H	W 52-7	+45
9	2007-11-04	IND	A	W 24-20	+4
10		Bye
11	2007-11-18	BUF	A
12	2007-11-25	PHI	H
13	2007-12-03	BAL	A
14	2007-12-09	PIT	H
15	2007-12-16	NYJ	H
16	2007-12-23	MIA	H
17	2007-12-29	NYG	A

Indianapolis Colts
Week	Date	Opp	H/A	Score	Dif
1	2007-09-06	NO	H	W 41-10	+31
2	2007-09-16	TEN	A	W 22-20	+2
3	2007-09-23	HOU	A	W 30-24	+6
4	2007-09-30	DEN	H	W 38-20	+18
5	2007-10-07	TB	H	W 33-14	+19
6		Bye
7	2007-10-22	JAC	A	W 29-7	+22
8	2007-10-28	CAR	A	W 31-7	+24
9	2007-11-04	NE	H	L 20-24	-4
10	2007-11-11	SD	A
11	2007-11-18	KC	H
12	2007-11-22	ATL	A
13	2007-12-02	JAC	H
14	2007-12-09	BAL	A
15	2007-12-16	OAK	A
16	2007-12-23	HOU	H
17	2007-12-30	TEN	H

Offense Stats Comparison

	NE Offense	IND Offense	NFL Average
Points for	42.3	31.3	21.3
Rushing yards	139.0	139.7	111.1
Rushing yards per attempt	4.25	4.31	4.09
Completion %	72.0%	66.0%	62.0%
Passing yards	316.5	253.0	215.6
Passing yards per completion	12.14	11.42	10.57
Passing yards per attempt	8.74	7.54	6.55
Interceptions	0.3	0.3	1.0
Fumbles lost	0.5	0.0	0.7
Sacked	0.8	0.3	2.1

Note: Team statistics are shown as the average per game through Weeks 3 to 8 of the 2007 season after deducting the best and worst value from the data set. The exception is yards per rush attempt, completion %, yards per pass completion, yards per pass attempt and the NFL averages, which are each calculated based on totals through Weeks 3 to 8 with no adjustment.

Defense Stats Comparison

	NE Defense	IND Defense	NFL Average
Points against	16.0	13.7	21.3
Rushing yards	89.0	88.3	111.1
Rushing yards per attempt	4.69	4.04	4.09
Completion %	57.9%	65.4%	62.0%
Passing yards	198.0	158.7	215.6
Passing yards per completion	9.71	7.54	10.57
Passing yards per attempt	5.62	4.93	6.55
INT return	1.3	1.3	1.0
Fumble recoveries	0.8	0.7	0.7
Sacks	2.5	1.7	2.1

Weather

Dome stadium

Team vs. Team History

New England Patriots vs. Indianapolis Colts
Season	Week	Date	Vis	Home	Score	Winner
2000	6	2000-10-08	IND	NE	16-24	NE
2000	8	2000-10-22	NE	IND	23-30	IND
2001	3	2001-09-30	IND	NE	13-44	NE
2001	6	2001-10-21	NE	IND	38-17	NE
2003	13	2003-11-30	NE	IND	38-34	NE
2004	1	2004-09-09	IND	NE	24-27	NE
2004	DP	2005-01-16	IND	NE	3-20	NE
2005	9	2005-11-07	IND	NE	40-21	IND
2006	9	2006-11-05	IND	NE	27-20	IND
2006	CF	2007-01-21	NE	IND	34-38	IND

Note: Only playoff games from the 2004 to 2006 seasons are included in the team vs. team history. Playoff games from seasons prior to 2004 are not currently included in the database.

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