Never Give Up! Never Surrender! (Unless you're the New England Patriots)

By: Erik Anton

I could not believe my eyes. With over 5 minutes left on the clock, the New England Patriots threw in the towel. They gave up. They pulled Tom Brady out of the game. Nevermind the fact that they have an offense that put up 59 points in a single game just six short weeks ago. Or the fact that they have a supposed genius as their head coach. When faced with a seemingly impossible obstacle, the Patriots decided to just quit playing. Why was this? The Patriots sure have the offense capable of scoring. Their going for it on 4^th down two weeks ago deep in their own territory as well as going for it on 4^th down early several times last night sure proved they have the arrogance needed to surpass such a deficit. I think the answer is very simple: they did not have Peyton Manning.

I am sure nobody has forgotten the Colts huge comeback win over Tampa Bay in October of 2003 on Monday Night Football. Down 35-14 with just about four minutes left on the clock, the Colts did the impossible. They scored 21 unanswered points, sent the game into overtime, and won on the leg of Mike Vanderjagt. When the impossible was put in front of him, Peyton Manning made the impossible possible

Everybody in the wide world of sports loves to debate whether Peyton Manning is better or if Tom Brady is better. In my opinion, last night sure added points in Peyton’s favor. His leadership has led the Colts to their present 11-0 record, even after trailing late in several games. That is what championship teams do. When the time on the clock is your worst enemy, you grab the clock by its throat and choke out every possible second. You don’t just throw your hands up in the air and say “I quit!”.

What does this say about the Patriots? Unless you count the game in London where they were billed as the “visiting” team and defeated Tampa Bay, New England is winless on the road this season. They have a coach arrogant enough to try to convert a 4^th and 2 deep in his own territory in Indianapolis, but without the courage to try to pull a “Peyton Manning” and force a comeback while down big on the road. Is this because coach Belichick was overwhelmed? Did the genius coach have a problem placed in front of him that he couldn’t solve? Or is it because he didn’t have the confidence in Brady and his high scoring offense and their ability to score hard and fast?

Needless to say if Manning and company were faced with the very same thing, Peyton would have not been pulled out of the game. In fact they would have had to drag him kicking and screaming off the field if they even tried to pull him. Furthermore, just two weeks ago they were faced with a 34-21 deficit with 4:12 left in regulation against these very same New England Patriots. Manning put his game face on, rallied his troops, and led them on two scoring drives, throwing the game winning touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne with 0:13 left.

Of course in the end, this is all just my opinion. The Brady/Manning debate will go on until the end of time and both quarterbacks will undoubtedly go into the Hall of Fame. But one thing can be said for sure: Peyton Manning will fight you tooth and nail and MAKE you beat him. Regardless of how much time is left on the clock, Manning will come out swinging. He won’t just give up because things aren’t going his way.

The Colts are 11-0 and have already clinched their division. A first round bye is next, followed by locking up home field advantage. The Patriots are 7-4, and winless on the road (unless you want to be a semanticist and count the victory in London). They are going on the road to play Miami this weekend. The Dolphins are sitting at 5-6, only 2 games behind the Patriots in the AFC East. Expect Miami to come out fighting. With the way both teams are playing, it is not too farfetched to think that Miami may end up winning the AFC East this season. The Patriots need to find themselves and FAST. There is not much time left in the season.

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Photo from Boston Herald. http://www.bostonherald.com