Colts Vs Patriots: Beyond The Box Score

Nov 16, 2014; Indianapolis, IN, USA; New England Patriots running back Jonas Gray (35) is tackled by Indianapolis Colts cornerback Greg Toler (28) at Lucas Oil Stadium. New England defeated Indianapolis 42-20. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

The Indianapolis Colts (6-4) were embarrassed at home to a dominant New England Patriots (8-2) team.

At times, Indy looked absolutely out of sync against the Patriots, allowing a virtual no-name running back Jonas Gray. Indianapolis allowed Gray to become the first rusher since 1921 to grab four touchdowns in a game after entering the game with no previous touchdowns. Tom Brady had his way with the Colts’ defense, Rob Gronkowski was Rob Gronkowski and the Indianapolis offense was unable to get things going to make it a tight matchup.

Here’s the main things I saw in Sunday night’s matchup:

What rushing attack?:

The Colts have boasted one of the most balanced offenses in the NFL this season by featuring an exquisite passing attack bolstered by a positive run game. The passing attack was in full force on Sunday night, but the running game did not help out. Trent Richardson had no yards on his seven carries while Ahmad Bradshaw only managed four yards on seven carries of this own. The offensive line got no push against a simply dominant Patriots defensive line. The interior of this Colts’ line was abysmal all night and could get no push anywhere in the run game. If the Colts want to find success in the run game, the running backs need to find a place to go. No holes or seams existed in Indy on Sunday and the box score reflected it.

Get New England off the field:

The box score doesn’t quite reflect it but Tom Brady was really good against the Colts. When he wasn’t throwing some errant downfield passes that were picked off by Mike Adams, he was leading the offense efficiently all evening. New England punted the ball just once all evening due to Indy’s inefficiency to stop the attack. New England was 9/12 on third down (75 percent) and would not be taken off the field. The Colts are strongly a first/second down team but failed all night to stop the Patriots on third down.

Not Andrew Luck’s fault:

Despite what he’ll tell you over and over, this game was in no way the fault of Andrew Luck. He performed decently well for the entire performance, finding running spots when needed and finding open receivers downfield. He did miss a couple opportunities late in the game to make the game much closer but was definitely not at fault for any mark in the loss column. Even the best quarterbacks in the league can’t fully make up for their defense’s inability to stop anything.

Mike Adams, a lone bright spot:

Thank God for Mike Adams. Brought in as a possible relief guy just in case the Colts needed him, Adams has shown that he still has plenty of fight in him and it was in full display Sunday night. Adams finished with a team high 11 tackles (not always good when your safety is your leader in tackles) and two interceptions on the evening. His interceptions were aided by the healthy pass rush from Erik Walden and Bjoern Werner but he’s making plays on the ball. He’s been the only bright spot on a defense that doesn’t have many bright spots.