Indianapolis Colts The Beginning of New England Patriots’ Biggest Test

By Peter Rogers @petahrahgas on November 13, 2014

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I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking “The New England Patriots are currently 7-2, coming off of spanking the Denver Broncos and their bye, and it’s November. The Patriots can do anything! They’re rolling and will win out to the playoffs.”

While the Patriots are indeed in a strong position (is there anything Tom Brady and this team can’t do?), let’s not go predicting win outs and such. Sunday night’s game against the Indianapolis Colts signals the beginning of one of the roughest schedules in the NFL.

The Pats start with the 6-3 Colts, then come home for the Detroit Lions (seated at 7-2 and first in the NFC North), then go to the 6-3 Green Bay Packers< (Super Bowl preview), and finishing at the 5-4 San Diego Chargers who, despite looking horrible recently, are still a scary team.

Lucky for the Pats, following that brutal stretch they then take on the AFC East in a nice way to finish up the season.

While Peyton Manning and the Broncos offense was a good test for the Patriots’ pass defense, Manning isn’t quite Andrew Luck when it comes to slinging the football downfield. Luck can actually drive the ball deep down the field as opposed to Manning’s now patented wobbling duck throws. The Colts boast the No. 1 offense in the NFL and Luck is firmly in the driver seat, so far throwing for over 3,000 yards and 26 touchdowns to only nine interceptions. This team will seriously test the Patriots’ secondary.

And it doesn’t stop with the Colts. The Patriots then have Matthew Stafford and the now healthy Calvin Johnson to worry about, along with Golden Tate who is reminding Seattle Seahawks on a weekly basis how foolish they were to let him walk. And I’m not even going to mention the Lions’ defense that’s ranked No. 1 in the NFL and has been eating quarterbacks alive.

Then there’s Aaron Rodgers with his buddies Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb along with the golden locks of Clay Matthews. And the Patriots finish with Philip Rivers and all his cronies. Oh and let’s not forget that this whole time the Broncos will be breathing down the Patriots’ necks, set to claim home field advantage throughout the playoffs if the Patriots so much as lose a game.

Basically, the Patriots have their biggest test still waiting ahead of them.

The Patriots have shown that they can play Super Bowl caliber football, but it’s one thing to play good football for a game – it’s a totally other thing to play it for four weeks in a row. But this stretch will battle test this Patriots team and if they can come out of it injury free and with at most one loss, it will pay off huge come playoff time.

This is the Patriots’ big test, but if they pass it, then it’s seriously time to start buying tickets for Arizona.

Peter Rogers is a New England Patriots writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @petahrahgas, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google