Pats give up late on - Good or Bad move?

[Archer]

Belichick says "uncle" to his new daddy

Posted by Mike Florio on November 30, 2009 11:34 PM ET


Six years ago, on a Monday night in October, the Colts trailed the Bucs in Tampa by 21 points with four minutes to play.

But Colts coach Tony Dungy didn't throw in the towel. And he was rewarded for showing faith in his team by a comeback for the ages. Led by Peyton Manning, Indy scored three touchdowns to force overtime -- and then won the thing in the extra session.

On Monday night in New Orleans, the Patriots regained possession of the ball with 5:22 to play after a missed field goal, trailing the Saints by 21 points, 38-17.

So the stage was set for another stunning outcome, right?

Wrong.

Pats coach Bill Belichick threw in the towel, pulling quarterback Tom Brady and many other starters and conceding the win to Sean Payton, Gregg Williams, and the rest of the Saints.

For a head coach known to take plenty risks, why not take a chance on a miracle?

It's almost as if he didn't want to give the Saints the satisfaction of squashing an attempt to score one touchdown, much less three of them. And so Belichick opted not to even try to pull off a similar kind of magic that Brady and company worked on Monday night in Week One, against the Bills.

Though the Patriots likely will fend off a substandard trio of AFC East rivals to secure a spot in the playoffs, this night to forget will be fresh in their memories when the postseason begins.

The only possible consolation for the Pats? If they somehow get hot and find a way to get past teams like the Chargers, Colts, Steelers, and Bengals, a rematch with the Saints would occur in a place other than the Superdome.

Maybe when they're losing by 21 points with 5:22 to play then, Belichick will at least try to pull out the unlikely win.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/11/30/belichick-says-uncle-to-his-new-daddy/

Seems like the media is once again ripping into BB for another move in a primetime game . I also heard a comment on ESPN along the lines of "So when BB says "play for 60" he only means it when his team is up by four scores"

Was he in the right considering Brees hadn't been stopped all night?

[Senser81]

I think he was wrong, considering all it takes for NE to score is one lob pass to Moss. But I really don't think its that big of a deal. New England is in such a bad division that they are basically a lock for the postseason, so its not all that smart to risk Brady's health by passing on every down at the end of a game. Take the loss, move on, get healthy for the postseason.

[Kuzzy Powers]

I was pretty surprised he did it, but to be fair the way momentum was going, and their D was playing, the game was probably over regardless. It sure is fun to question BB's coaching tho.

[Mogriffjr]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...his-new-daddy/

Seems like the media is once again ripping into BB for another move in a primetime game . I also heard a comment on ESPN along the lines of "So when BB says "play for 60" he only means it when his team is up by four scores"

Was he in the right considering Brees hadn't been stopped all night?

I lol'ed at that...so true.

[Warner2BruceTD]

I think he was wrong, considering all it takes for NE to score is one lob pass to Moss. But I really don't think its that big of a deal. New England is in such a bad division that they are basically a lock for the postseason, so its not all that smart to risk Brady's health by passing on every down at the end of a game. Take the loss, move on, get healthy for the postseason.

This would make sense, except for the fact Belichick routinely leaves Brady in games that are blowouts the other way...and passes on every down at the end of the game.

It was strange to see an NFL team fold up the tent only being down three scores with 6:00 left.

[Blade]

This would make sense, except for the fact Belichick routinely leaves Brady in games that are blowouts the other way...and passes on every down at the end of the game.

It was strange to see an NFL team fold up the tent only being down three scores with 6:00 left.

I have agreed with you twice today, this is crazy.

Belicheat loves running up the score with the starters when he is well ahead of the game, last night he just plain gave up. My question is, how does the players respond to that vote of confidence? He has no belief in his D as we witnessed in the Indy and now the NO game. And now he has no confidence in his offense, which is laden with Vets. Shit cracks me up.

But not as much as when I saw Shady and Belicheat standing on the sidelines together counting down the clock. LOL.

[steeljake]

This would make sense, except for the fact Belichick routinely leaves Brady in games that are blowouts the other way...and passes on every down at the end of the game.

It was strange to see an NFL team fold up the tent only being down three scores with 6:00 left.

this.

if it was 48-3 he would leave Brady in and start throwing bombs. I think Belicheat got mad and took his toys and went home. Even though I hate Steve Young his analogy of a kid sweeping off the pieces of a losing chess game was pretty much dead on.

[PP]

better to remove starters than lose one to injury and mess up the rest of the season.

[Senser81]

This would make sense, except for the fact Belichick routinely leaves Brady in games that are blowouts the other way...and passes on every down at the end of the game.

It was strange to see an NFL team fold up the tent only being down three scores with 6:00 left.

But he was getting pressured by the Saints all game, so to leave Brady in against a good defense increases his chance of injury, as opposed to leaving Brady in during a 40-0 blowout of the Bills when none of the Bills players have touched Brady all game.

[OnlyOneBeerLeft]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...his-new-daddy/

Seems like the media is once again ripping into BB for another move in a primetime game . I also heard a comment on ESPN along the lines of "So when BB says "play for 60" he only means it when his team is up by four scores"

Was he in the right considering Brees hadn't been stopped all night?

EXACTLY... thats a great quote... Belicheat loved running it up and all that nonsense when his team was a powerhouse... I like how the Saints slowed it down, the way Brees was destroying that secondary they could of pulled a Patriots move and put up more points. Belicheat has kinda always had that aura of being arrogant. Now the Pats are still a solid team, dont get me wrong, but they are past their prime, time to hand over the reigns and act like a man about it.

[Tailback U]

The faces of the Patriots after the game were priceless:



















And this wouldn't be complete without a picture of Brady whining and bitching to the refs:

[DomePatrol]

He can dish it out but cant take it. Belicheat is a sad little man.

[ralaw]

Who cares what happened in the Colts/Bucs game a few years ago. The Pats were getting it handed to them and Belichick understood that. In the spirit of "playing 60 mininutes" or "fighting to the end" it makes sense to keep playing hard, but sometims its better to just take your beating, accept it and move on.

[Scorask]

My question is, how does the players respond to that vote of confidence? He has no belief in his D as we witnessed in the Indy and now the NO game. And now he has no confidence in his offense, which is laden with Vets.

I think when the Patriots D watches the tape of last nights game today they will see why BB has no confidence in them, another strong point why they went for it on 4th and 2 against Indy! BB still has confidence in the Offense IMO, they just weren't clicking last night, as well as Brady getting a lot of pressure around him. As W2B said, in those Pats blowouts, the pressure was non-existant.

[jaxjaggywires]

I will say, it was good to see BB after the game was over actually talking to Payton, and going over to Brees during his ESPN interview to say good game. He doesn't really seem to be the asshole people make him out to be...he knew they got beat soundly, and didn't mope about it afterward.