Game Story Assignment --- Mark Schieber

The New England Patriots continued their dominance over Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday by beating them in their Divisional Round Playoff match up 20-3. The normally explosive Colts offense was frustrated early and often by the under manned Patriots defense. This sustained a record that Peyton Manning would like to forget; he still has never won a game in New England.

In the early parts of the game, a surprising defensive struggle was going on between the two teams. The Patriots put the first points on the board when Adam Vinatieri kicked a 24 yard field goal in the second quarter to give the Patriots a 3-0 lead. On their ensuing possession the Patriots found themselves in another familiar position. Vinatieri was successful on a 31 yard field goal which put the Patriots up 6-0. A late 12 play drive in the second quarter put the Colts in a position to cut their deficit in half as kicker Mike Vanderjagt made a 23 yard field goal to make the score at halftime Patriots 6 Colts 3.

In the third quarter, the Colts offense continued to struggle against the Patriots defense who were missing two of their starting cornerbacks, yet they did not miss a beat. The turning point of the game came in the third quarter when Patriots quarterback Tom Brady hooked up with David Givens for a five yard touchdown pass completing a 15 play, 9:46 drive that kept the Colts offense off the field.

Trailing 13-3 in the fourth quarter, the Colts went three and out on their first possession of the quarter which allowed the Patriots an opportunity to close out the game that they gladly accepted. Led by the effort of running back Corey Dillon, the Patriots marched down the field 94 yards in 7: 24 and scored a touchdown on a Tom Brady run from the one yard line. By taking some much time off the clock the Patriots left the Colts too little time to make a comeback, securing a 20-3 victory and a trip to the AFC Championship Game next Sunday in Pittsburgh.

Controlling Peyton Manning and the Colts offense this year has been almost an unachievable chore to most teams. However, by applying constant pressure the Patriots forced Manning to make bad throws and sacked him three times. Also, dropped balls and fumbles plagued the Colts receivers which gave the Patriots excellent field position to score points. The dependable running of Patriots running back Corey Dillon, who rushed for 144 yards in his playoff debut, allowed the Patriots to complete time consuming drives and keep the normally lethal Colts offense off of the field. With this win, the Patriots advanced to their third AFC Championship Game in four years, this time to face the Pittsburgh Steelers. Back on October 31st, the Steelers beat the Patriots 34-20, ending the Patriots record breaking 21 game winning streak.