Now That The Dust Has Settled On 4th & 2

[Warner2BruceTD]

I hate Bill Belichick. Those of you who know me from MM already know this. He's a cheater, he's an asshole, and he's entirely unlikable in almost every way. With that said, I find it almost impossible to be critical of the 4th & 2.

Had the Pats made it, all of the hypocrites in the media, from ESPN to print, would be lauding Belichick for yet another genious move, and raving about how he had the gumption to take a gamble and keep the greatest QB of all time off the field. As it is, he is being blasted by nearly everyone, including some of his former players.

But i'm not here to debate the call. We have threads for that. I'm here to illustrate the bigger issue.

NFL head coaches allow the media to make decisions for them. They live in fear of the type of backlash and scrutiny that Belichick is facing this week. That's why every NFL head coach is essentially the same, and make the same conservative, coach-by-numbers decisions in nearly every situation.

Conventional wisdom called for a punt Sunday night. Nobody would have had a bad word for Belichick had he punted, and Peyton still won the game. It's what you are supposed to do.

Belichick has three SB rings and job security. That's why he can make a gutsy call like the one Sunday night, and get away with it. Other coaches, in similar situations, have postgame press conferences in the back of their minds, and promptly send out the punt team. They do what you are supposed to do. And what you are supposed to do, is play conservative, and punt. They cant blame me, I played it by the book.

It's the same reason you rarely see teams try to block punts. Nobody wants to answer for the 15 yard penalty.

It's the same reason teams slip into the Prevent (you from winning) defense at the end of games, because they dont want to answer for allowing a TD on a blitz.

It's the same reason head coaches demand balanced playcalling from offensive coordinators. They dont want to answer as to why their team passed 45 times and lost (yet no one questions this when teams win).

Coaches fear the media, and are cowards for the conventional and safe. Belichick dosen't give a shit what anybody thinks, and that's why, as much as i'd like to, I cant kill him for 4th & 2. It was agrressive, and aggressive is a dirty word for most NFL coaches.

It wasnt a bad call, it just didnt work out.

 

[Gonzo]

I hate Bill Belichick. Those of you who know me from MM already know this. He's a cheater, he's an asshole, and he's entirely unlikable in almost every way. With that said, I find it almost impossible to be critical of the 4th & 2.

Had the Pats made it, all of the hypocrites in the media, from ESPN to print, would be lauding Belichick for yet another genious move, and raving about how he had the gumption to take a gamble and keep the greatest QB of all time off the field. As it is, he is being blasted by nearly everyone, including some of his former players.

But i'm not here to debate the call. We have threads for that. I'm here to illustrate the bigger issue.

NFL head coaches allow the media to make decisions for them. They live in fear of the type of backlash and scrutiny that Belichick is facing this week. That's why every NFL head coach is essentially the same, and make the same conservative, coach-by-numbers decisions in nearly every situation.

Conventional wisdom called for a punt Sunday night. Nobody would have had a bad word for Belichick had he punted, and Peyton still won the game. It's what you are supposed to do.

Belichick has three SB rings and job security. That's why he can make a gutsy call like the one Sunday night, and get away with it. Other coaches, in similar situations, have postgame press conferences in the back of their minds, and promptly send out the punt team. They do what you are supposed to do. And what you are supposed to do, is play conservative, and punt. They cant blame me, I played it by the book.

It's the same reason you rarely see teams try to block punts. Nobody wants to answer for the 15 yard penalty.

It's the same reason teams slip into the Prevent (you from winning) defense at the end of games, because they dont want to answer for allowing a TD on a blitz.

It's the same reason head coaches demand balanced playcalling from offensive coordinators. They dont want to answer as to why their team passed 45 times and lost (yet no one questions this when teams win).

Coaches fear the media, and are cowards for the conventional and safe. Belichick dosen't give a shit what anybody thinks, and that's why, as much as i'd like to, I cant kill him for 4th & 2. It was agrressive, and aggressive is a dirty word for most NFL coaches.

It wasnt a bad call, it just didnt work out.

How unfortunate it is that 90% of the media would look at that and only take notice of the bolded part.

That's just how sports gambles work out I suppose.

 

[Juggernaut]

Belichick has three SB rings and job security. That's why he can make a gutsy call like the one Sunday night, and get away with it. Other coaches, in similar situations, have postgame press conferences in the back of their minds, and promptly send out the punt team. They do what you are supposed to do. And what you are supposed to do, is play conservative, and punt. They cant blame me, I played it by the book.

^^^

Best paragraph. BB has nothing to fear, especailly a mid-regular season game.

 

[Senser81]

Belichick has three SB rings and job security. That's why he can make a gutsy call like the one Sunday night, and get away with it. Other coaches, in similar situations, have postgame press conferences in the back of their minds, and promptly send out the punt team. They do what you are supposed to do. And what you are supposed to do, is play conservative, and punt. They cant blame me, I played it by the book.

^^^

Best paragraph. BB has nothing to fear, especailly a mid-regular season game.

True...but since the Patriots #1 foe for home field in the playoffs this year is the Colts, it probably wasn't the best time to "throw away the book".

 

[Derrville]

In a few weeks no ones gonna even give a shit about this.

 

[St. Francisco]

I still can't agree with this...there's a reason it's conventional wisdom. When you give Peyton Manning the ball 30 yards away from the endzone, you might as well score the fucking touchdown for him. Now I understand why he did it, but the risk outweighs the reward in my book. In my head, you stood a better chance backing them up with a punt.

 

[Scorask]

I hate Bill Belichick. Those of you who know me from MM already know this. He's a cheater, he's an asshole, and he's entirely unlikable in almost every way. With that said, I find it almost impossible to be critical of the 4th & 2.

It wasnt a bad call, it just didnt work out.

I can certainly attest for the MM days, and I know that's not even close to how you really feel about BB, lol.

High Risk - High Reward, made the play but came up a little(barely touching) short.

 

[Hasselbeck]

Great post, but I agree with St. Francisco much more. If they were playing the Lions or Browns.. that's one thing.. you're playing against arguably the best QB in the league right now and arguably the best QB at running a 2 minute offense to get points before a half/win a football game.

And you risk giving him the ball 30 yards away?

 

[Len B]

Great post, but I agree with St. Francisco much more. If they were playing the Lions or Browns.. that's one thing.. you're playing against arguably the best QB in the league right now and arguably the best QB at running a 2 minute offense to get points before a half/win a football game.

And you risk giving him the ball 30 yards away?

I have the exact opposite opinion on this. If you're playing the Browns or the Lions, you punt the ball because you know the QB won't be able to lead the other team 70 yards down the field and score. The percentages are in favor to punt the ball vs. bad teams.

He was playing the best QB in the league, so he made a risky call to try and keep the ball out of the MVP's hands.

Nice post W2B.

 

[Len B]

It's a lose-lose situation because of the media. Either way the play turns out every media outlet covers it for the next 24 hours with the replay on loop and BB rubbing his ugly face over and over.

But I care way too much about Deion Sanders and Trent Dilfer's opinion that I needed to hear them talk about it for more than one night.

 

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

To there credit Tony Kornheiser,KingOFootball, and Merril Hoge all agreed with the call.

 

[DSpydr84]

Great post, but I agree with St. Francisco much more. If they were playing the Lions or Browns.. that's one thing.. you're playing against arguably the best QB in the league right now and arguably the best QB at running a 2 minute offense to get points before a half/win a football game.

And you risk giving him the ball 30 yards away?

That's exactly why they went for it. The goal was to get the 2 yards and not let him have the ball at all. Why even give him a chance from 70 yards away when you can ice the game right there with a 2 yard completion?

 

[Bmore]

Bet that cocky fag Brady thought he would sure get the first.

I liked the call, personally I would love the Ravens to do this. Because if your team has a damn good defense, it shouldn't be to hard to keep the opposing team out of the endzone.

 

[Senser81]

I think I would have a better feeling about the call if it were the Browns playing the Colts and the Browns were hanging on for dear life to pull off the upset, so they went for it on 4th and 2. The fact that Belichick had an adequate defense really gives him no excuse for not punting the ball.

 

[killgod]

I think I would have a better feeling about the call if it were the Browns playing the Colts and the Browns were hanging on for dear life to pull off the upset, so they went for it on 4th and 2. The fact that Belichick had an adequate defense really gives him no excuse for not punting the ball.

4th Quarter

Drive Start: 1-10-IND 21
(12:20) 18-P.Manning pass deep right to 85-P.Garcon for 29 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Plays: 5 Possession: 2:04

Drive Start: 1-10-IND 21
(2:27) 29-J.Addai right tackle for 4 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
Plays: 6 Possession: 1:49


You can bring up the 4th quarter INT all you want, but that was simply from a mistake in reads by Manning/Wayne, not because the defence made something happen.


So I have to disagree that the defence was playing anything close to adequate in that 4th quarter.

 

[Senser81]

I guess the dust is still swirling on this one then, no?

 

[TDAUG]

Bet that cocky fag Brady thought he would sure get the first.

People use the words cocky and arrogant as if they are bad attributes.

I want my QB and my Head Coach to be both.

The "fag" just screams of jealousy.

 

[ThunderHorse]

People use the words cocky and arrogant as if they are bad attributes.

I want my QB and my Head Coach to be both.

The "fag" just screams of jealousy.

There's a difference between Confidence and Arrogance.

one who's confident is respectful and doesn't have to be an outright asshole to show that he's confident in his abilities. Laughing at a players prediction that you'll only score 17 in the superbowl is a sign of arrogance, not even scoring 17 is even worse.

You never see Manning do that.

Billy B is Billy B, at least he doesn't pretend he's a person of good character and the media doesn't label him as one.

 

[SethMode]

I am still stunned that people will look for ways to defend this call. I think by far the worst argument though is the whole "if you go for it you don't have to worry about Manning going 70 yards for the win". You're right. If you go for it and don't get it, you have to worry about Manning going 20 some yards for the win. I like those odds much better than going the length of the field.

 

[TDAUG]

There's a difference between Confidence and Arrogance.

I am quite aware of the difference and I want my Coach to be a cocky, arrogant, SOB.

A couple of coaches that fit that criteria among various sports. Billy B, Phil Jackson, and Tony LaRussa. I'll take all three for my teams.