AFC NOTES
FOXBORO – The light snowfall and cold temperatures didn’t bode well for Indianapolis, which came in with seven straight losses here.
Despite being 18-9 on the road in coach Tony Dungy’s three-year tenure, all nine of those losses came outdoors. The Colts were 9-1 indoors this season and 4-3 outdoors, while the Pats were 7-0 all-time in snowy games in Foxboro, and 20-2 since 1993 when kickoff temperatures are 35 or colder. Yesterday was 25 degrees at game time. The Colts never generated an offense and lost 20-3.
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Patriots WR David Givens‘ five-yard touchdown reception from Tom Brady with 1:30 left in the third quarter was his third postseason TD catch. That tied him with Stanley Morgan for the Patriots’ all-time lead.
As usual, Troy Brown did everything for New England, playing on every side of the ball. He returned a punt 20 yards to the Indianapolis 44-yard line in the first quarter. And he reached to bat away a pass attempt to slot receiver Brandon Stokley on third-and-9 with five minutes left in the quarter.
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DE Richard Seymour, a gametime decision, was left inactive by the Patriots with a sprained knee ligament. Jarvis Green started in place of Seymour . . . The Colts waived guard Trevor Hutton and signed defensive tackle Jason Stewart, a 6-1, 285-pound first-year player from Fresno State . . . Bob Sanders started for Colts safety Mike Doss, and, in an ace set, tight end Dallas Clark started for running back James Mungro.
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Pats fullback Patrick Pass was injured blocking for Corey Dillon on a negative-two yard carry just 6:18 into the game, but he returned to play and even caught a key 13-yard pass on the Patriots’ third-quarter TD drive.
The hit of the day: Asante Samuel lighting Brandon Stokley up on a quick slant. The Colts wideout popped right up after holding on for a five-yard catch on third-and-5 . . . The catch of the day was TE Daniel Graham‘s fully-extended, leaping grab for a 10-yard reception, despite LB David Thornton hanging all over him and being flagged for it.
