Press Coverage Week 10 | A link-heavy look around the Indianapolis Colts blogosphere (part one). . . - Indianapolis Indianapolis Colts

Indianapolis Colts TE Dallas Clark (Tom Strattman/AP Photo)

A link-heavy look at the week that was in the Indianapolis Colts' blogosphere as the Colts (8-0) prepare to play the New England Patriots (6-2) at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind., Sunday at 8 p.m. . . . PART ONE OF TWO PARTS. PART TWO HERE.

More than the game . . .

"As great as the Tom Brady-Peyton Manning matchups have been through the years, the aftermath of these meetings has been compelling as well," John Clayton writes, adding that, "Both organizations learn and transform themselves from these games because they know the odds favor a rematch in the playoffs."

Clayton, longtime NFL writer for ESPN and one of the better information guys around, says there will be plenty going on beyond the battle for playoff seeding and home-field advantage -- and plenty beyond the obvious matchup of quarterbacks.

"Years of trying to defend Manning convinced Patriots coach Bill Belichick to adjust his offense to counter the Colts," Clayton writes. "Belichick decided a few years ago to switch to a pass-heavy offense with Brady. In doing so, he was able to ease the inevitable transition for a defense that was getting older.

"The idea was to control the ball on offense in order to keep his defense off the field."

Clayton also breaks down a few key matchups for Sunday, notably Patriots S Brandon McGowan and Colts TE Dallas Clark. McGowan will be taking over the role held by longtime Patriots S Rodney Harrison. Clayton also links to a solid profile of Clark by ESPN.com's Jeffri Chadiha here.

Clayton's other key matchup: Colts DE Dwight Freeney and Patriots LT Sebastian Vollmer, and I agree Freeney is the defining player of this game.

"Because Freeney is short and plays at such a low level of gravity, he's a matchup nightmare for tall tackles," Clayton writes. "Once he gets under the pads of a tall blocker, Freeney can win the battle with strength or his spin move. Belichick naturally must commit a tight end or running back to help Vollmer against Freeney. . . ."

A Matter of Respect . . .

There hasn't been much bulletin board material this week between the Colts and the Patriots, and Tom James of the Terre Haute Star-Tribune writes that that's because of the mutual respect between the teams.

"I’ve kind of told them that we’ll have double the media we typically have," James quotes Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell as saying. "They’ll be a few boom microphones hanging over you that weren’t there before. And all those kinds of things. I went through and kind of described the atmosphere that we have [in the media room during New England week]."

Sidenote: There was an increase in coverage on Wednesday, with the NFL Network having a crew at the Colts' Westside complex, and with ESPN Boston Globe writer Michael Vega there, too. Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald was in on Wednesday. Vega stayed through Thursday and NFL writer Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times was there Thursday and will be there throughout the week. The great baseball writer Murray Chass recently wrote that the lack of newspapers sending baseball writers to the World Series was a telling sign of the decline of newspapers and the struggling economy, but midweek NFL coverage is a big sign, too. A few years back, a midseason Colts-Patriots matchup would have drawn huge midweek crowds. This week drew a crowd, but not anywhere near the middle of the decade.

All Eleven . . .

Here's a list of the 11 Colts-Patriots matchups since 2001, courtesy of ESPN. Here. There's also an interview with former Patriots WR Troy Brown.

Notable about that list is that the Colts have won four of the last five matchups. This rivalry has turned since 2004, with the Patriots' lone victory since then coming in 2007, when they went 16-0 in the regular season and needed to rally from 20-10 down in the fourth quarter to win in the RCA Dome.

M-V-P . . .

"The man is dialed in," Pete Prisco of CBS Sports writes, pushing Manning for a fourth MVP award in seven seasons. "The Colts are 8-0 despite a medic ward that has been full all season, and it's mostly due to No. 18. He can cure a lot of ills with that right arm."

Prisco's always been a big Manning guy. I don't know that Manning's a lock for MVP, but he's obviously one of two or three players in the conversation.

Where It Began . . .

"The relationship began on Sept. 30, 2001, the same day Tom Brady was introduced to the NFL world as a starting quarterback," Ian Rapaport writes in the Boston Herald, telling the story of when and Brady first met: "A second-year player trying to fill the shoes of Patriots franchise quarterback Drew Bledsoe, Brady was undergoing his pregame warmups in Foxboro when Colts quarterback Peyton Manning crossed the 50-yard line to see him. Already a two-time Pro Bowler, Manning nevertheless introduced himself: “I’m Peyton Manning.”

“And I said, ‘No (expletive),’ ” Brady said yesterday, laughing. “We were both getting warmed up and he was probably on his 100th throw of the day, two hours before the game. It was a pretty quick meeting.”

A lot of good Brady-Manning stuff on the web this week, and I have to admit, I haven't written about the relationship as much as I probably should have. Maybe it's just laziness. It's also been written to death. The Brady-Freeney matchup and Manning-Bill Belichick matchup is far more interesting.

PART TWO. HERE

MAGNIFICENT SEVEN XIV (PART ONE): ON COLTS DE DWIGHT FREENEY AND THE WEEK'S KEY MATCHUP. HERE

MAGNIFICENT SEVEN XIV: ON COLTS TE DALLAS CLARK AND HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL. HERE.

PEYTON MANNING: PATRIOTS IN 2009 AS GOOD AS EVER. HERE.

COLTS 2009 MIDSEASON REPORT: PART ONE. HERE.

COLTS 2009 MIDSEASON REPORT: PART TWO. HERE.

Reviewing Bill Polian’s Weekly radio show:

Part 1: Bob Sanders likely to return. Here

Part 2: “We are always going to want the football” Here

Part 3: Matchup with New England Patriots “One of 16″ Here

Part 4: Jerraud Powers Rookie of the Year? Here

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