Finally, some animosity appears to be brewing between the Patriots and Colts.
Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton referenced Spygate on Thursday when he was talking about his time on the Jets' coaching staff from 2003-05."I do know for a fact that it was always a 60-minute chess match," he said. "It was ever-changing looks and disguises and they always tend to find ways to figure out some of your signals."
Hamilton isn't the first Patriots' opponent to bring up Spygate this season. Texans defensive end Antonio Smith raised accusations about the Patriots knowing defensive signals after they scored 27 second half points to defeat his club in December.
Though Hamilton's comment appeared to be innocuous, the fact remains that many people around the league look at the Patriots' success with a suspicious eye. If the possibility of the Patriots videotaping practices or spying on signals wasn't on Hamilton's mind, he wouldn't have said it.
Prior to Hamilton's statement, the only pseudo-controversy attached to this divisional round matchup was the Colts' acquisition of former Patriots wide receiver Deion Branch on Monday.
There doesn't appear to be a conspiracy theory attached to the Colts' signing of Branch, though, as they're thin at receiver and tried him out in December. Branch's knowledge of the Patriots' offense wouldn't be all that useful anyway, given that he played in an entirely different system that featured Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez last season.
Up until Thursday, the intrigue attached to the Patriots and Colts game was centered around the battle between Andrew Luck and Tom Brady (a battle that Brady downplayed this week). Possibly the juiciest storyline surrounding this contest was whether Patriots' fans are going to boo Adam Vinatieri, but even that ran its course years ago.
But then Hamilton opened his big mouth on Thursday. Game on.
Photo via Kyle Terada/USA TODAY Sports
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