The Indianapolis Colts were keeping up with the New England Patriots during Sunday night’s primetime game in Indianapolis, until a certain play call left football fans scratching their heads as to why the play was executed in the first place.
With 1:14 left in the third quarter, the Colts were on fourth-and-three on their own 37-yard line about to punt to the Patriots. Bizarre events started to occur when they started to change their formation on the line of scrimmage to shift all the way to the right with only wide receiver Griff Whalen and safety Colt Anderson on the ball. With five Patriot defenders on the ball, there was nothing Anderson could really do with one blocker in Whalen and resulted in a botched fake punt attempt that had the Patriots tackle Anderson and have the ball deep in Colts territory.
Head coach Chuck Pagano took full responsibility after the game and explained to the media what exactly the play call and intention was in having the Patriots go offsides so the Colts could have a first down because of the penalty. “The whole idea there was on fourth-and-3 or less, we shift to an alignment to where we could catch them misaligned,” Pagano said. “They tried to sub some people in. Catch them with more men on the field — 12 men on the field. And if you get a certain look, you have three (or) two yards to make a play. We shifted over and I didn’t do a good enough job coaching it during the week. Alignment wise, we weren’t lined up correctly and we had a communication breakdown between the quarterback and snapper. That’s on me.”
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With this loss, the Colts are now 0-5 against the Patriots while quarterback Andrew Luck has started. It seems the Colts will need a better trick next time if they are to defeat the Patriots, who are still undefeated for the season at 5-0.
Photo: INDIANAPOLIS, IN – OCTOBER 18: LeGarrette Blount #29 of the New England Patriots runs for a touch down against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on October 18, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
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