
Patriots have the horses
Next stop, Indianapolis. Colts vs. Patriots. The team with horseshoes on their helmets against the team with the horseshoes . . . that always seem to be stashed away for emergency purposes.
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DAN SHAUGHNESSY
Patriots have the horsesNext stop, Indianapolis. Colts vs. Patriots. The team with horseshoes on their helmets against the team with the horseshoes . . . that always seem to be stashed away for emergency purposes.
As New England's bullet-train bandwagon fires up for a trip to Middle America, citizens of Patriot Nation are a little nervous about the way the fellas have been playing. It seems silly to have any quarrel with a seven-game winning streak and a franchise-best 9-2 record, but there is fear that someday soon the Patriots may run out of miracles. Then again, why worry? Maybe Tom Brady really is the Joe Montana of the new century, destined to take over down the stretch, run surgical two-minute drills, and always win a game that goes to overtime. We know this much: New England's defense is Bob Seger Like-A-Rock solid. They may not be the 1985 Bears, but have you noticed that they make every quarterback look bad? Did you see what Quincy Carter did to the Panthers Sunday? The guy who couldn't shoot straight in Foxborough lit up Carolina with 29 completions for 254 yards. Tony Banks completed only 10 passes for 93 yards in five quarters of football against New England Sunday. Need we remind you what the great Donovan McNabb looked like against the Bill Belichick-Romeo Crennel schemes? This week's game has large playoff implications and might be worthy of the over-hype that preceded the Bill-fest in Foxborough nine days ago. A win at the RCA Dome would be like two wins because if the Patriots wind up tied with the Colts, they would win the head-to-head tie-breaker. This is no small edge given that Kansas City is the only conference team currently ahead of the Patriots (New England beat the 9-2 Titans). The game at Indianapolis will be the last one this year in which the Patriots are underdogs. If they win Sunday, they really could be looking at 14-2. . . .
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is dshaughnessy@globe.com. © Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
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