Winning the Games you are supposed to win is part of being a championship caliber team. That’s why Cleveland, Tennessee, Miami and Jacksonville aren’t championship caliber teams. Guess what, neither is Indianapolis.  Not now, and not next year.  Maybe, just maybe, the year after we can start that conversation.

 Some of the talking heads are swooning over the Colts first round pick and claiming they would trade Tom Brady for him in a heartbeat.  It’s been more Andrew’s luck than Luck’s talent that has the Colts on this winning streak and has Patriot Nation waiting until 4 PM Sunday for kickoff rather than the originally scheduled 1 PM start. The Fab four I mentioned earlier are not exactly juggernauts on either side of the ball. Three of the four ranks at the bottom of the NFL at stopping the run and the Fish have been feasting on opponents with weak running attacks most of the year. And none of them can stop the pass. Not that New England can either. But what can the Pats do that all of the aforementioned cant?

SCORE

Score Fast and Score furious. The Pats lead the league in scoring at a 33 point per game clip.  That number has swollen to 37 points a game over the last three. So here are my Keys to Patriots keeping their winning streak going and sending the Colts back in the barn.

RUN it early, RUN it often, RUN it with purpose. Keeping the Colts D on its heels and out of pass rushing situations is going to be huge Sunday; you see I would rather not see Dwight Freeny and Robert Mathis spend the day in Tom Brady’s Face. Second or third and long situations are just wheat these two pro bowl linebackers dream about at night.

Keep it Short and Sweet: when Tom isn’t handing the ball off to Ridley and Vereen he needs to keep the Colts backers busy chasing Woodhead, Hernandez, and Gronk. Play action is a soft spot the Hoodie needs to exploit and keep the chains moving…Why ?

Because sadly moving the chains is the Patriots best defensive game plan: While I’m not worried about the Colts running game, I am worried about the passing attack.  Reggie Wayne is averaging over a hundred yards and almost eight grabs a game. Rookie Ty Hilton (who I begged Bill to draft GRRRRRRRR) is coming on strong and has an amazing 14.8 yards per catch average. And Donnie Avery is just scary. While the Talib trade helps, it doesn’t solve all the Pats secondary worries. I would just as soon keep the D off the field as much as possible.

Lastly: Tackles and Turnovers - winning the turn over battle is always crucial, but this season it’s saving Belichick’s bacon. The Colts turn the ball over a lot, four times to the Jets and Five to the Bears. Both huge losses. Let’s mix it up and keep Andrews rookie head spinning. And PLEASE - can anyone tackle Anyone? I’m begging you, enough with the bone jarring hits and muscle flexing. Wrap your arms around someone, drag them to the turf and beat your chest over that for a change. Yards after contact are killing this Team. Tackle people….. Or Butchie will come for you.

Sorry Indy - your Luck has run out.

Pats 34 Colts 17