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

[Deviant]

Well, here's the truth of it regardless:

- Go on 4th and 2 says the following: If I don't convert, the defense stop Peyton with only 30 yards.

- Punt on 4th and 2 says the following: I'm trusting my punter to pin Peyton back at least 70 yards and make them drive 70 yards to win.

Here's what I wonder. If Belichick and his defense stops Manning, is this still a stupid call? I still think so, but I wonder what others would think.

 

[Senser81]

Another question...

Who wins this matchup? Peyton Manning or Batted Ball?

 

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

I guess this decision doesnt bug me the way it has many.

Mike Francesca called it immediately after the the worst call by a guy who knows what hes doing ever. and went on and on about it.Dilfer lambasted him along with 2 of his former defenders.

All Im saying is this.

1. Since when does Bellyflop not go for it on 4th downs ? The guys gone for it more times than I can remember since 07. So him attempting it and being that arrogant is of no surprise.

2. Frankly it was a good play call. Just a bad result. Theres too much conservative play in this league so Im not going to knock someone for going for the throat. Ball was caught past the first down marker. Completed pass, past the LOS. I mean yes the guy was knocked back and everything else but thats player execution not play call.

3. It obviously shows his faith in the offense and lack of faith in the D. Hes assuming Peyton is getting down to the 30 in a few plays anyhow. Might as well try and put it away now. Even if they do score theres a shot they get the ball back after that with time left.

It obviously wasnt the right call , But Im not as shocked by it as people are based on Bellys past.

 

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Another question...

Who wins this matchup? Peyton Manning or Batted Ball?

The only guy who can play both.

 

[Senser81]

 

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Pfft...Noob.

 

[Scorask]

No, thats not the point. The point is that you make the Colts earn their game-winning TD. If the Colts go 70+ yards in under 2 minutes, then they deserve to win. The Patriots didn't make the Colts earn anything, they practically gave the game to the Colts.

The point is you eliminate all possibility of them scoring at all by getting the 1st down, which is a very risky decision that didn't work out, refer to KOF quote, point # 2!

All Im saying is this.

1. Since when does Bellyflop not go for it on 4th downs ? The guys gone for it more times than I can remember since 07. So him attempting it and being that arrogant is of no surprise.

2. Frankly it was a good play call. Just a bad result. Theres too much conservative play in this league so Im not going to knock someone for going for the throat. Ball was caught past the first down marker. Completed pass, past the LOS. I mean yes the guy was knocked back and everything else but thats player execution not play call.

3. It obviously shows his faith in the offense and lack of faith in the D. Hes assuming Peyton is getting down to the 30 in a few plays anyhow. Might as well try and put it away now. Even if they do score theres a shot they get the ball back after that with time left.

It obviously wasnt the right call , But Im not as shocked by it as people are based on Bellys past.

I think point # 3 is the key to this. This isn't the usual Pats D that we have seen over the years stop these type of game winning drives. Are they a good D? So far they have played well, better than most peoples expectations from week 1, but they were visably gassed on 2 TD drives in the 4th qtr. And I'm sure it was mentioned, but Merriweather tackling Addai was more so a killer too. He lets him score, assuming Addai doesn't pull a Maurice Jones Drew, and they get the ball back with 1:10 left. There was a day that Bellichick had more confidence in his Defense than his Offense, and proved it time and time again. At this point, its not the same Defense!

 

[FedEx227]

Pfft...Noob.

I was going to say Brian Jordan.

 

[Bear Pand]

The point is you eliminate all possibility of them scoring at all by getting the 1st down, which is a very risky decision that didn't work out, refer to KOF quote, point # 2!



I think point # 3 is the key to this. This isn't the usual Pats D that we have seen over the years stop these type of game winning drives. Are they a good D? So far they have played well, better than most peoples expectations from week 1, but they were visably gassed on 2 TD drives in the 4th qtr. And I'm sure it was mentioned, but Merriweather tackling Addai was more so a killer too. He lets him score, assuming Addai doesn't pull a Maurice Jones Drew, and they get the ball back with 1:10 left. There was a day that Bellichick had more confidence in his Defense than his Offense, and proved it time and time again. At this point, its not the same Defense!

The whole problem with the they should've let Addai score argument is that we're assuming the Patriots had a plan all along when it's pretty clear they didn't at all:

-On their last drive they blew a timeout before it started.
-Their 3rd down playcall suggests that they weren't initially treating it as 4 down territory.
-After 3rd down it looked like Tom Brady was going off the field and the punt team was coming on,. Then they suddenly changed their mind and had to blow another timeout.
-They tried to stop the Colts offense instead of letting them go into the endzone when they easily could have.

Everything points to Belichick making a rash decision, and excuses like "Manning was gonna score anyway" really don't cut it. I mean if that defense is so pathetic that we can assume with certainty the other team is gonna score on a long touchdown drive with little time remaining the Pats might as end their season now.

It's like Belichick has become so bulletproof he could punt the ball on first down while behind and people would try to rationalize his decision. He's an amazing coach but he made a mistake and it had a significant negative impact on his team. Move reminds me of when shitty teams constantly used to onside kick against the Colts but those teams weren't chasing HFA and had nothing to lose.

 

[Scorask]

The whole problem with the they should've let Addai score argument is that we're assuming the Patriots had a plan all along when it's pretty clear they didn't at all:

-On their last drive they blew a timeout before it started.
-Their 3rd down playcall suggests that they weren't initially treating it as 4 down territory.
-After 3rd down it looked like Tom Brady was going off the field and the punt team was coming on,. Then they suddenly changed their mind and had to blow another timeout.
-They tried to stop the Colts offense instead of letting them go into the endzone when they easily could have.

Everything points to Belichick making a rash decision, and excuses like "Manning was gonna score anyway" really don't cut it. I mean if that defense is so pathetic that we can assume with certainty the other team is gonna score on a long touchdown drive with little time remaining the Pats might as end their season now.

It's like Belichick has become so bulletproof he could punt the ball on first down while behind and people would try to rationalize his decision. He's an amazing coach but he made a mistake and it had a significant negative impact on his team. Move reminds me of when shitty teams constantly used to onside kick against the Colts but those teams weren't chasing HFA and had nothing to lose.

I agree with every single one of your points, especially with regards to the timeouts. If they had 1-2 timeouts and I think they would have punted, especially before the 2:00 minute warning. You at least have the ability to stop the clock if need be. But burning that last TO changed that, even more reason to go for the first down with no TO's, and keep the ball out of Peyton's hands to eliminate that possibility of them scoring completely. The only reason I mentioned Addai is that if it was some of the older Pats D in there, they might have realized that and let him score to give Brady enough time to get in FG range, just an assumption. And there is a big difference between being gassed and being pathetic. The Pats D did hold him in check for 3 qtrs, they played well enough to win, for 3qtrs. Then Peyton Manning does what Peyton Manning does, he figured it out. I'm not trying to make excuses at all, I just think that taking everything into consideration, TO's, score, down and distance, it wasn't a bad call to go for it. And you don't go for it on 4th down thinking your not going to convert!