Three-sack effort a rush for Green
FOXBOROUGH -- Jarvis Green planned to be heading toward Houston, anyway.
"It's about three hours from my hometown [of Thibodaux, La.]," Green said yesterday after a three-sack performance in the Patriots' 24-14 win over Indianapolis in the AFC Championship game. "So it's going to be great. I already have 27 messages on my phone."
The second-year defensive lineman was among the least likely performers to take on a high-profile role as the Patriots qualified for the Super Bowl Feb. 1 in Houston. Green had 4 1/2 sacks in 32 previous games. He started seven games during the regular season and had not registered an unassisted sack since the Patriots' 31-10 win over Philadelphia Sept. 14.
But Green caught up to Peyton Manning thrice, including two sacks in a seven-play sequence in the final quarter, for a total of 22 yards in losses. And Green's production improved as the game went on, though he acknowledged being in subpar physical condition.
"I talked to [Richard] Seymour a lot and he helped me a lot, about how to play the position, and I have been improving each week," Green said. "I felt pretty good, pretty confident, and at the same time, we know what to expect from their offense. The biggest thing was to get pressure up the middle. I used my speed, played off that. We went with a four-man rush and the bigest thing was to get pressure on them without the blitz. Now, I have to get in better shape, because I was winded in this game."
Green started in five of six games early in the season, but has had only two starts since Nov. 16 and has been on the bench to start the last three games. But Green made an impact on this game late in the first half, sacking Manning for a 9-yard loss on a shotgun formation. Three plays later, the Patriots scored a safety for a 15-0 lead. In the fourth quarter, Green's 7-yard sack on third and 6 was followed by a Ty Law interception. Then, Green's 6-yard sack momentarily stalled the Colts' drive on the way to cutting their deficit to 21-14 with 2:30 remaining.
Though the Patriots were the favorite and had the home-field advantage, Green approached the game with an underdog attitude.
"Every game we feel like that," Green said. "We wanted to show everyone in the NFL, they don't respect us as a team."
The Patriots were far more successful in defensing Manning than they were in a 38-34 regular-season win.
"You could tell he was frustrated," Green said. "He shows a lot of emotion out there, he is always shaking his head and clapping. But that was pumping us up at the same time.
"We had a better game this time, we just tried to improve on how we did in the first game."
Asked about the Colts' resourcefulness in remaining in contention into the final seconds, Green said:
"It was very frustrating, but you have to play 60 minutes and there are going to be some letdowns. We all feed off the big play, and Ty made the big play at the right moment. He made big plays all year."
Green's performance confirmed his status.
"There were a lot of ups and downs for me this season," Green said. "We had some injuries and it was tough for me. I only started about five games, but I understood the situation. I had a lot of doubts. But my mom taught me that patience is a virtue. I had to go through the same thing at LSU and that helped me."
