Blue Ladies Members are invited to attend a special Member Happy Hour at the Indianapolis Colts Grille. Come join us for complimentary chips and salsa provided by Colts Grille and try the "Blue Ladies Litre" created especially for our members!
INDIANAPOLIS – In order for the Colts to push a winning streak from four to five games, they were going to have to win in an atmosphere that has proven difficult for many teams over the past 11 seasons.
The Colts played at Foxborough Sunday, a venue that has been rough on visiting team on an average of more than four out of five occasions for the past 11 seasons.
Indianapolis braved the elements and scored touchdowns on its first two drives, marches that covered 80 and 84 yards, and with an offensive cast that featured a number of rookie faces.
A veteran New England team countered with big plays to turn the game in its favor. The Patriots scored on a 68-yard punt return and on 59- and 87-yard interception returns to seize control of a game where both teams were striving to reach 7-3.
The Colts battled hard throughout the day, but turnovers and a finely-tuned Patriots offense made it a day that Indianapolis will have to deal with as it approaches the remaining six games.
“This loss doesn’t define us,” said linebacker 
The Colts had yielded only 33 points on takeaways through the first nine games, even though they held a minus-nine ratio in the area. New England tallied 21 points on takeaways, plus added the special teams play in padding its point total.
The Patriots scored eight touchdowns, five offensively, two defensively and one on the specialty units. Sunday’s game marked the first time the Colts had surrendered three scores on returns in the same game since 1980. That game was on November 23 of that season and came in New England when the Patriots returned an interception and two fumbled kickoff returns in a 47-21 victory.
While every loss is a tough matter with which to deal, the club’s four losses this year have tested the players’ resolve.
Five turnovers spelled a 41-21 loss in Chicago in the opener. An 80-yard touchdown pass in the final minute in a 22-17 home loss to Jacksonville happened just seconds after Indianapolis rallied to take the lead. A 35-9 loss at the Jets was fueled by four turnovers and missed opportunities in the red zone.
At New England, Indianapolis had 448 net yards, but gave up 446. New England converted eight-of-12 third downs and had 10 plays that gained at least 15 yards.
There were things that made Colts players shake their heads.
“You try to do that (hit the mental and physical reset button) but no matter what when you lose, it kind of sinks in,” said Angerer. “You deal with it, you learn from it and you get better. You try to flush it out as quickly as you can.”
Though Indianapolis missed a chance to keep up with teams ahead of it in the AFC playoff chase, there remains opportunity ahead, namely Buffalo this Sunday in Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Colts have bounced back three times from tough losses, and Angerer remains firm in his belief that the team has what it takes to do so again.
“Yes, absolutely. We have the right guys in the organization, the right guys on the field in order to get through this and improve,” said Angerer. “This isn’t the end of the world. This isn’t the end of the team. This is not the last time people are going to hear from us.
“There still is a lot of football left. We all have to fix our mistakes. Personally, I made three mistakes out there today. We’ll fix those and we’ll get through this. We will continue to get better, improve and reach our goals.”
NOTES –
INJURIES – Wide receiver
