Brandon Tate’s rookie season has once again been cut short due to a knee injury. After missing the first six weeks on NFI while recovering from a knee injury that ended his college career, the third-round wideout has been placed on injured reserve with a knee injury suffered in just his second NFL game, last week’s win over Miami.

New England filled Tate’s roster spot by signing practice squader Isaiah Stanback. Stanback spent the early part of his pro career in Dallas transitioning from college QB to NFL wide receiver and returner. When he signed with the Patriots practice squad in September he was used primarily as a quarterback. Bill Belichick has said a number of times that Stanback, despite not being on the roster, has been the team’s No. 3 QB all season.

But in recent weeks Stanback has taken more reps at wide receiver and returning kicks. So his call-up gives New England depth at the positions Tate filled – WR and KR – but also on the depth chart behind Tom Brady. I get it and think it’s a smart move if Stanback can actually contribute as a pass catcher and game-ready returner.

My only question is this – what’s wrong with Terrence Nunn? Why is he consistently passed over for a promotion? He seemed to have a great training camp and good preseason. He should be up to speed in the offense thanks to his summer work and practice squad reps. He seems to have some value on special teams, at least in terms of covering kicks.

Is it simply that other guys provide more versatility? Has his development in the offense not been quick enough? I admit, I’m a big Nunn fan based on his past story and his showing this summer. I’m biased, but I’d like to see him get his chance to shine at some point. But he keeps getting passed over.

What do you think about the move and are you still concerned with the Patriots depth at WR? Let us know with a comment below!

The greatest rivalry in the game today is being renewed Sunday night in Indy. The whole football world will be tuned in to see the most consistent winners over the last decade butt heads as two Hall of Fame quarterbacks meet in another head-to-head battle for bragging rights, records and playoff positioning. It’s only the ninth game of the year, but this game could be as critical as any game all season. You want playoff atmosphere in the regular season – this is it, baby! As Keith Jackson would say, if dad’s out raking leaves tell him to get his butt inside to watch the game. It’s a night game after all, who rakes leaves at night?
However you want to hype it up, go for it. This rivalry rarely disappoints. Getcha popcorn! Prime time battle! No. 12 vs. No. 18. Belichick vs. Polian. Get ready for some football. I can hardly contain myself. This is what the NFL is all about. This is the kind of game we’re all privileged to watch, cover and play in. But to hold us over between now and Sunday’s 8:20 ET kickoff, here’s a Teams-of-the-Decade (Steeler fans, feel free to send in your emails now) edition of the Friday Six-Pack to get you oiled up in advance of the battle at Lucas.

1.  Red zone – Football math is pretty simple, 7 beats 3 every time. Both the Patriots and Colts have struggled a bit in the red zone in recent weeks. That’s the main reason that Indy’s been in close games. It’s funny to say that two of the better offenses in the game need to get better at scoring points and taking advantage of chances, but it’s true right now for these two teams. And given how competitive the games in this series have been, those red zone chances will be key on Sunday night.

2.  Third down – Manning and Brady lead the two best third-down offenses in football over the last eight years. Manning moves the chains in his sleep. Both guys extend drives, and put a ton of pressure on a defense to try and get off the field. In this matchup, the guy who can move the sticks most often will also keep his opponent from doing the same thing. Beyond points, the red zone and third down stats are two of the most important in football. They’ll be extremely pertinent in this matchup.

3.  Fraud alert! – Few people talk about it thanks to the team’s Hall of Fame passers, but Indy’s defense is tops in the league in points allowed and the Patriots are No. 2. The Colts have lost a handful of defensive starters in the last couple weeks. The Patriots are still a much-doubted, new-look group on offense. Which suspect group is more likely to match up well with its star-studded offensive opposition? I think that’ll be the Patriots. This defense in 2009 may lack the vested veterans of the past and not have the resume, but the group has gotten the job done through eight games. That’s a pretty good sampling. I think they’ll make a couple plays in this game that will go a long way toward the outcome of the game. Sure, Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis can make things ugly for an offense, but I have my doubts about the bodies the Colts are throwing together in the secondary. I think those boys are in for a world of hurt from Brady, Randy Moss and Wes Welker.

4.  Role out! – That brings us to our next point. Both teams, beyond their record-breaking stars, are banged up. Does Sebastian Vollmer match up better with Freeney than Jerraud Powers/Jacob Lacey do with Moss/Welker? Can Dan Connolly handle the tough environment on the road in an indoor stadium as he sets the line calls in what could be his first NFL start? Role players will have a, well, role in this game’s outcome. While the stars will get the most love afterwards, those in the shadows will have had a positive/negative effect on their respective teams. The Patriots had a number of guys make their first practice field appearance of the week on Friday (some for the first time in weeks) – Sammy Morris, Julian Edelman, Matt Light, Dan Koppen, Brandon Meriweather, Eric Alexander – so exactly who is going to be available for the game remains very much up in the air. Some role player will make a huge play/mistake that will change this game, mark my words.

5.  Star power! – I heard so much about the Brady/Manning comparison this week that I had to bury it in the fifth slot of the six-pack. Why can’t we just say they’re the two best QBs of the era and two of the best to play the game? Why do we have to denigrate one of these guys just because we favor the other? Thinking Brady is better does not mean you have to think Manning stinks. They’re two of the biggest stars in the game. They’re as consistently great as just about any players in any sport in any era. They make for great rivals to be juxtaposed to the other, and we’re lucky to be watching the rivalry. Which one steps up this Sunday? The answer to that will obviously go a long way toward deciding the game.

6.  Home cooking – The Colts are a very good home team. The Patriots haven’t been too great on the road this season, as Bill Belichick has reminded his players often. Take out the game in London and New England is 0-fer on the road with losses in New York and Denver. Can the Patriots change that trend? Doing so could very well go a long way toward ensuring that any potential playoff meeting between these two takes place in the open air of New England. (Although the Colts would still have to lose at least one other game down the stretch.) Is the home field advantage (taking pumped-in music, turned-up heat and pooped-in food for what you will!) enough for the Colts to continue their big winning streak and keep the Patriots from building even more positive momentum here in the middle of the season? Let’s see how loud that sea of blue is on Sunday night. Their banged up team, and defense, could clearly use the help from the stands.

Prediction:
As the week has worn on (and as I’ve been beaten down by a barrage of Kirsch Words) I’ve gotten more and more confident that the Patriots are going to go on the road and get the job done. I just think they’re the better team right now and have the game-changing matchup in their favor – Brady, Moss and Welker against a group of young defensive backs. New England should move the ball through the air and may also find some room on the ground for Laurence Maroney to have a pretty good day. Defensively I expect to see a lot of sub packages with five, six and more defensive backs. Maybe some schemes with just one or even no defensive linemen playing with their hand on the ground. I see a lot of bodies moving around to flood the passing lanes and try to keep Manning off balance. Then you can mix in some well-timed blitzes from guys like Brandon McGowan and the other safeties. I think Dallas Clark can be taken out with some physical play at the line from either a linebacker (Adalius Thomas?) or a safety (McGowan). The Patriots have harped on playing better on the road and better in the red zone. I think they accomplish both goals in a victory that will be relatively easy and in control for most of the night – New England wins 35-23. New England’s new-look defense makes some plays to help out the offense and earn its stripes against the challenge of Peyton Manning and Co.

What do you think? Are the Patriots positioned well to knock the Colts from the ranks of the unbeatens? What matchup worries you the most? Give us a prediction and leave us a comment below?

A posting by our friends on the message boards over at PatsFans.com led me to a very interesting comment from Colts President Bill Polian regarding Patriots second-year linebacker Jerod Mayo. This quote comes from a longer Q-and-A transcript with Polian on Colts.com dated Nov. 10.

Q: Defensively?
A: They’re good. They’re really very good. They have young players in the secondary, but the front is every bit as good as it used to be. Their nose tackle (Vince Wilfork) is having a great year. They felt good enough about their front to be able to trade (defensive end Richard) Seymour. Jerod Mayo is one of the emerging stars in this league. He is, if not already, very soon to replace Ray (Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens) as the bell weather linebacker, the poster boy linebacker, in this league, and deservedly so. They’re every bit as good as they were. The time to get them was early. Buffalo did not. They had a chance to put them away and didn’t. They have been playing pretty darned good football ever since. They lost in overtime to Denver, but they’re a good football team and an odds-on favorite to with that division.

That’s pretty high praise from one of the best personnel men in the game over the last 20-plus years. Love him or hate him, Polian knows NFL talent as well as just about any man in the game. For him to say that Mayo is soon to be the measuring stick at linebacker in the league says a lot about the young playmaker’s talent and still-emerging potential.

What do you think of the comment? Can Mayo really be the next Lewis, a true Hall of Fame talent? Let us know with a comment below.

The Colts are the best offense in football in 2009 on third down, converting 51-percent of the time.

But that’s nothing new for Peyton Manning and Co. as Indy is actually the best offense on third down dating back to 2002. The Colts have converted 47.8 percent of the time on the NFL’s money down since 2002, well ahead of the Saints and Patriots who’ve moved the chains at 43.0 percent.

The numbers have been most impressive in the last few years. Above 50-percent for the second straight year and third time in four years, Indy set an NFL record at 56.1 percent in 2006.

Beyond the obvious – Manning – what makes the Colts so good on third down and so difficult to defend? According to the players, maybe we don’t need to go beyond the obvious. It’s most directly related simply to Manning and his personnel – not tricks, schemes or anything of that nature. You see it, but more often than not on third down you can’t stop it.

The Patriots are allowing a 39.0-percent third down conversion rate this season, ranking 20th in the league.

“They have explosive receivers, a good running back and a Hall of Fame quarterback,” Adalius Thomas said. “He reads the coverage very well. If you show him something…I’m mean he’s very good at what he does. That’s what their offense is, they take what you give them. They recognize it and they get into the best thing that they can do.”

The red zone and third down will likely be the keys for the Patriots this Sunday in Indy. The challenge at hand is obvious. But that doesn’t make it any easier to succeed.

–Other numbers–

This is clearly a week in which both teams put out press releases packed with some ridiculously impressive numbers. Here are a few picked up on while flipping through the notes:

14 – The number of consecutive games that Tom Brady has won when throwing for 300 yards or more. It’s the second best streak all time trailing Johnny Unitas’ 16 straight from 1961-1969. But fourth place on the list is another active streak, one belonging to Peyton Manning who’s won 12 straight games (including seven this season) when throwing for 300 yards. Manning has thrown for 300 yards in just four of 14 career meetings with the Patriots, including November wins in Foxborough in 2005 and 2006.

45-15 – The NFL’s best road winning percentage since 2002, a mark belonging to the Colts. The Patriots are second at 43-16.

49-12 – The NFL’s best home winning percentage since 2002, a mark belonging to the Patriots. The Colts are second at 48-12.

32-12 – The NFL’s best November record since 1999, held by the Colts. Second place is Tampa at 26-14 (not for long!). The Patriots are third at 26-15.

+72 – The Colts NFL-best turnover margin dating back to 2004 (99 giveaways compared to 171 takeaways). The Patriots have the fourth-best turnover margin since 2004 at +36, half as good as the Colts mark.

Which number, streak or record have you come across in the Patriots/Colts series that’s most interesting to you? Let us know with a comment below!

NBC had a conference call yesterday in advance of its Sunday night broadcast of the game between the Patriots and Colts. The network’s analysts — including former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison, former Colts coach Tony Dungy, producer Fred Gaudelli and play-by-play man Al Michaels — gave their thoughts and some interesting notes on them. The transcript below comes courtesy of NBC.
HARRISON ON COVERING THIS GAME AS AN ANALYST: “Now that I’m covering it from a media standpoint, it gets me even more excited because now I get a chance to…sit back and relax and enjoy the game and not have to really worry about being nervous or having that anxiety facing those guys.”

MICHAELS ON THE RIVALRY: “This is the fifth time in six years that our crew has had a chance to do this game (third time on SNF, twice on MNF) and this game has been either the most anticipated or one of the most anticipated of the season. It’s one of those games when the schedule comes out and you see it you just hope each team gets out to a pretty good start and they have.  Without question, this is the rivalry of the decade.”

DUNGY ON THE RIVALRY: “From a coaching standpoint, it’s a tremendous matchup. When you play against a team like (New England), it’s such a big challenge.  It brings out the best in you and elevates your game. It’s just a tremendous rivalry.  The respect for each other is there and it’s been a great game and one I’m looking forward to seeing for the first time from a different perspective.”
 
HARRISON ON THE RIVALRY: “I’ve played in this rivalry many times. You get really excited about facing the biggest challenge of the year, which is always going to be the Indianapolis Colts.  Just being a part of one of the greatest rivalries in football really gets you excited. I know both of these teams have a mutual respect for one another, but I also know they have a distinct dislike for one another. It’ll be exciting and hopefully the Patriots can go out and kick some butt.”

MICHAELS ON COMPARING THIS RIVALRY: “This one is as good as anything I can remember. This is very similar to Dallas and San Francisco in the 90’s.”

GAUDELLI ON THE QUARTERBACK MATCHUP: “Without a doubt, besides the fact that they are two great teams, the headline of this game…is the two quarterbacks, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Al (Michaels) and I were talking over the last week, and in any decade was there one single quarterback matchup where you can clearly say these are the two best guys? While there were a lot of great matchups in the ’90’s, ’80’s and ’70’s, we couldn’t really delineate two quarterbacks where you could say, ‘these were absolutely the two best guys.’ In this decade, I don’t think there is any question, and you can put them in any order you want — Tom Brady-Peyton Manning, Peyton Manning-Tom Brady — these are the two best quarterbacks of this decade.  They are what make this game really special on Sunday night.”

ON THE BETTER QUARTERBACK:
HARRISON: “Peyton Manning is the best pure quarterback in the National Football League but Tom Brady is my quarterback with a minute left and we’re down four points and we need a touchdown because he’s done it. Three Super Bowl rings, Super Bowl MVP, a guy whose preparation goes above and beyond anyone in that facility. It’s not very often that you find Tom Brady not prepared or ready to go. He’s my guy with a minute left.”
 
DUNGY: “I’ve been with Peyton Manning for seven years, I’ve seen him prepare and I’ve seen what he does and how he’s lead our team. There is no other quarterback that I would want, and I might see it differently if I had been with Tom Brady for seven years, but that’s the experience I had and I can’t imagine anybody running the offense and doing as much as Peyton does for the Colts.”

ON THE PATRIOTS DEFENSE TRYING TO CONFUSE MANNING:
HARRISON: “The thing that Bill (Belichick) gave us to do was to create a lot of freedom by trying to disguise the coverage. I lined up at cornerback and Ty Law lined up at safety at times which really seemed to confuse Peyton.”
 
DUNGY: “That was one of the few things that New England did that we hadn’t seen before. That was very unusual with Rodney playing corner. Usually you come into a game with New England showing a lot of blitzes, five-man pressures and then in our game they decide to rush three and drop eight or vice versa. The thing from the Colts standpoint that we’ve always admired about the Patriots is they’ve been able to have a different game plan, even for a half sometimes. You have to be ready to adjust when you play New England.”

DUNGY ON COACH CALDWELL: “He’s a little more emotional, a little more fiery…It was important to the team to transition well and not take a step backwards and that’s why everyone in our organization felt that Jim would be the best man for the job.”

DUNGY ON CALDWELL AS A FIRST YEAR COACH AGAINST BELICHICK:
“Jim obviously has the benefit; he’s not like most first year coaches. He’s been there for seven years. He’s seen it. He’s provided a lot of the game planning, especially offensively, for those however many games were played. It’s not like the new guy coming in. He’s very aware of everything that’s taken place in the last seven years. I really don’t look at this like the first year coach in the normal sense.”

HARRISON THE COLTS SECONDARY: “I look at a Colts secondary that’s in trouble. You lose Bob Sanders, which is not a big surprise for those guys because he’s missed a lot of time, but losing Marlon Jackson and Calvin Hayden. Two losses for them, especially Marlon Jackson. He’s a guy who shows up a lot in the run game. Very physical, very aggressive cornerback who can play corner, safety, nickel back, dime back, cover a tight end, a guy that’s very versatile. If you’re Tom Brady and the Patriots you’ve got to look to really exploit that secondary.”

DUNGY ON MICHAEL VICK IN BUFFALO: “That was my personal opinion. I didn’t have anything to base it on. No conversations with anyone else. There are a number of teams that are going to be looking for quarterbacks at the end of the year and, looking at their quarterback situation, I think Buffalo is one of those that’s a very good team with a lot of skill positions guys.  Any quarterback would want to play with Lee Evans and T.O. and (Marshawn) Lynch and some of the guys they have there. They haven’t gotten consistent quarterbacks playing the last three or four years. That’s probably been their Achilles heel, so I think it could be an intriguing situation.”