4th and 2 from your own 28, you're up by 6 and there's less than 2 minutes to go...

[Senser81]

Its not about making him go 60+ instead of 28. Its about either winning the game there, or conceding the score to get the ball back with time to kick the field goal, because you're defense has been struggling recently and its Peyton Manning.

As a Pats fan, I knew that if we punted there we just were going to lose. Wilhite was the one that fucked up the strategy by making that tackle. If Addai scores there, the Pats have a minute+ to get in field goal range.

If thats the case, then on 4th down why didn't Brady run backwards to the endzone, set the ball down, and wait for a Colt player to recover it for a TD? But what if Brady did that but the Colt player kicked the ball out of the endzone for a touchback, giving the Colts the ball as well as the opportunity to run out some clock before their "inevitable" TD?

[Kuzzy Powers]

Sure it was. If you convert, you WIN. If you don't, Manning has a shorter field but still has to score a touchdown.

Anybody thinking the clock was a factor is moronic, considering Manning just went 72 yards in 1:52 the drive prior to that without using a timeout (and if they punted, he would've had about 2:05 with a timeout)... so the only reason you punt the ball is to make Manning go an additional 40 yards. Is that really worth it when you can win the game right there on a 2 yard play?

I'm not gonna play the "Manning hasn't been stopped all day" card, because I do believe in trusting your players and letting them go win the game on defense. And I'm not naive enough to think there isn't a difference in 30 yards and 70 yards. I just thought it was smart to be aggressive in a makeable situation with a chance to win the football game. If you strip everything away and just look at it for what it was - two yards and you win the game - it doesn't seem that foolish of a call.

How was it worth the risk when it clearly blew up in his face? The D was doing a pretty damn good job of stopping Peyton all day, why just not trust they can prevent 7 again? Not only that but BB just alienated himself from his defense, and big time. Did you see how pissed Adelius Thomas was? Showing you cant trust your defense that had played fairly decent that game was not only a dumb decision for THAT game, it was a poor decision for his future relationship with his defense. I dont see how a single player on the Pats D couldnt be very upset with BB in that sito. Showing you basically have no faith in them to prevent a TOUCHDOWN.. not a field goal.. a TOUCHDOWN is not a good move as a leader at all. It was stupid in so many ways. And if you're GOING to go for it on 4th.. do it fucking right. Do a run play on 3rd down.. save a TO incase you need to challenge.. it was just a clusterfuck that ended up costing them the game.

[jms493]

If thats the case, then on 4th down why didn't Brady run backwards to the endzone, set the ball down, and wait for a Colt player to recover it for a TD? But what if Brady did that but the Colt player kicked the ball out of the endzone for a touchback, giving the Colts the ball as well as the opportunity to run out some clock before their "inevitable" TD?

lol....that's funny

[Kuzzy Powers]

Its not about making him go 60+ instead of 28. Its about either winning the game there, or conceding the score to get the ball back with time to kick the field goal, because you're defense has been struggling recently and its Peyton Manning.

As a Pats fan, I knew that if we punted there we just were going to lose. Wilhite was the one that fucked up the strategy by making that tackle. If Addai scores there, the Pats have a minute+ to get in field goal range.

The strategy was to.... let them score?

[Kuzzy Powers]

If the Colts had went 70 yards and scored, which is extremely possible with Manning, people would be suggesting Belichick could have gone for it on that 4th down.

LMAO.. not a fucking chance. In all my years of watching football ive NEVER seen someone make that move in that part of the field. Not a soul would be questioning him for not going for it for a 4th down on their own 29 yard line.

Theres a very simple concept here for me... MAKE a player beat you. Dont spoon feed him the win. You punt and pin them deep you're making Manning beat you.. would he have? Probably, but we dont know that for sure. We dont know for sure hes going to score with a 29 yard field either, but its a helluva lot more likely.

[celtsxpatsxsox]

The strategy was to.... let them score?

I agree. I dont know why everyone is saying that they should of let Addai score on the run. You never let a touchdown against you and in case people forgot a couple years ago we beat the Colts on a goal line stand.

[Bear Pand]

It's amazing how Pats fans (not all) will defend their boy Belichick no matter what.

[killgod]

It's amazing how Pats fans (not all) will defend their boy Belichick no matter what.

It's amazing how you are so thick to think that a Patriots fan (or any true fan of a team) would turn their opinons on a coach who has done so much for their team.


(cue belicheat jokes)

It takes 60 minutes to play a football game. Lets completely ignore the lengthy drives resulting in FG attempts and the Maroney fumble on the goalline, those had NOTHING to do with the end result yes? Lets chastise the coach for showing respect to one of the greatest players of the game and taking a risk by rolling the dice on another of the games great players of the decade. There was logical reasoning behind the move and it was extremely high risk but it didn't "cost" us the game, the 60 minutes of played football determined the winner, like it always does.

You're an idiot.

[Kuzzy Powers]

It's amazing how you are so thick to think that a Patriots fan (or any true fan of a team) would turn their opinons on a coach who has done so much for their team.


(cue belicheat jokes)

It takes 60 minutes to play a football game. Lets completely ignore the lengthy drives resulting in FG attempts and the Maroney fumble on the goalline, those had NOTHING to do with the end result yes? Lets chastise the coach for showing respect to one of the greatest players of the game and taking a risk by rolling the dice on another of the games great players of the decade. There was logical reasoning behind the move and it was extremely high risk but it didn't "cost" us the game, the 60 minutes of played football determined the winner, like it always does.

You're an idiot.

It may not have completely cost them the game, but it sure as hell made it a lot easier, haha. Im sure the defense was real inspired to stop a 29 yard drive after their coach just told the entire world he doesnt trust them to stop them from going the whole field.

Im not hating on BB.. hes earned the right to a stupid move like this.. but in all my years of watching football ive never seen this kind of move in a huge game like that.. ballsy is cool when it works, but obviously doesnt look great when it doesnt. I still question whether he had planned to do this or just said "fuck it" and did it cause he really wasnt about getting burned by Manning again and wanted to put the stake in the heart.. if any team could do it, its the Pats.. but it was unconventional to say the least, and will def go down in history as one of the most questionable coaching decisions of all time.

[kyhadley]

If thats the case, then on 4th down why didn't Brady run backwards to the endzone, set the ball down, and wait for a Colt player to recover it for a TD? But what if Brady did that but the Colt player kicked the ball out of the endzone for a touchback, giving the Colts the ball as well as the opportunity to run out some clock before their "inevitable" TD?

uh, because if they do convert they win the game?

[Esjay]

It's amazing how you are so thick to think that a Patriots fan (or any true fan of a team) would turn their opinons on a coach who has done so much for their team.


(cue belicheat jokes)

It takes 60 minutes to play a football game. Lets completely ignore the lengthy drives resulting in FG attempts and the Maroney fumble on the goalline, those had NOTHING to do with the end result yes? Lets chastise the coach for showing respect to one of the greatest players of the game and taking a risk by rolling the dice on another of the games great players of the decade. There was logical reasoning behind the move and it was extremely high risk but it didn't "cost" us the game, the 60 minutes of played football determined the winner, like it always does.

You're an idiot.

Who said anything about Pats fans turning on Belichick? Obviously no one with a brain is going to do that.

Still doesn't mean you couldn't say it was a bad call and give him a little shit for it. Not trying to argue with you just pointing that out.

[Bear Pand]

It's amazing how you are so thick to think that a Patriots fan (or any true fan of a team) would turn their opinons on a coach who has done so much for their team.

True, but not really the point. I don't expect Pats fans to start demanding for him to be fired or anything, just to admit the decision sucked. Instead we have to listen to people explain why it wasn't a bad move. It reminded me of other times when the Pats do something questionable and you get similar bizarre explanations of why it was a good idea. Larry Coyer (or Dungy) pulls that move and I'd be mad at him regardless of the outcome.

[Len B]

YouTube- belichick

Amazing how the hate makes people irrational. Belichick didn't knock the guy over, and had nothing to do with that yet he gets blamed for it. Blame the other guy if anything.

Terrible call by Belichick. He's scared of Peyton Manning. If this were JaMarcus Russell (or any other QB for that matter), he would have punted.

The ref's spot was correct. Think of it this way. Do you give credit to a catch that is bobbled out of bounds and then caught? Then why should "forward progress" count when he DIDN'T have possession and was bobbling?

Your logic on part #1 is awful.

Deion Sanders said twas a first and that's enough for me

Who said anything about Pats fans turning on Belichick? Obviously no one with a brain is going to do that.

Still doesn't mean you couldn't say it was a bad call and give him a little shit for it. Not trying to argue with you just pointing that out.

All the polls I'm seeing on ESPN have it as "not that bad a call" at 35-42%, with a lot of non-New England states being up there in the 30-35% range.

The decision isn't as cut and paste as a lot of you are making it out to be. You don't agree with the call, that's fine, but there is a wide % of people out there who loved the call.

[killgod]

True, but not really the point. I don't expect Pats fans to start demanding for him to be fired or anything, just to admit the decision sucked. Instead we have to listen to people explain why it wasn't a bad move. It reminded me of other times when the Pats do something questionable and you get similar bizarre explanations of why it was a good idea. Larry Coyer (or Dungy) pulls that move and I'd be mad at him regardless of the outcome.

You can debate with 3/4 Around the Horn guys that sided with BB, or Hoge and Dilfer who also sided with him at the end of primetime...

There's plenty of professional opinion out there that believe the decision was legitimate.

It was a high risk move, but stepping back and looking at who is on the offence for both teams, considering the two 4th quarter scoring drives Manning already engineered....I can't see how it was as bizarrely insane as some of you suggest.

Brady torched them for 400+ yards and you don't believe he can get you two more? C'mon.


I'd love to see a legit breakdown of that play tho, but we won't get it. That spot was absolutely terrible and the whole suggestion that he was bobbling through to the ground is absurd.

[Len B]

How many possessions did the Colts have and how many TD did they score?

Clearly NE did stop and could stop the Colts. Your own 28 is not 4 down territory under last night's circumstances. Beli is still a great [SOB] coach and I respect his balls i must say.

There's quite a difference between drives in the 2nd/3rd quarter with lots of time left and the 4th quarter/game ending drive.

First of all, you have four downs to get a first in this situation, not three. That automatically makes both situations incomparable.

Secondly, there would not have been much of a pass rush on that final drive. On drives where the Colts got stopped, it was because of solid pressure forcing Manning to get rid of the throws quickly. The Patriots also could afford to cheat safeties up earlier in the game, where as in the final drive they'd have to prevent the long ball.