In week 10, the New England Patriots at 6-2 faced the Indianapolis Colts who were undefeated at 8-0 on Sunday night. Everyone was expecting this battle between longtime rivals to be a great one. And they sure didn't disappoint us. Between two future hall of fame quarterbacks in Peyton Maning and Tom Brady, nobody was sure who was going to come out on top. Early on it looked like Tom Brady and the New England Patriots would absolutley run away with it because of the Colt's inability to put any sort of pressure on Brady in the pocket. They also struggled to cover Randy Moss and Wes Welker, the Patriots two best receivers. However, the New England defense also somewhat struggled against Manning and the highpowered Colts offense. Nevertheless, New England still had a commanding lead at the half. Both offenses dominated in the second half and then things got very interesting. With just 5 minutes to go in the game New england led by two touchdowns and everyone knew that if they "played their cards right" that they would come away with a win. The Colts got the ball back after forcing a three and out on defense with about 4 minutes to go. In order for the Colts to have any sort of chance on winning the game, they had to score a touchdown quickly. They did just that by Peyton Manning hooking up with Pierre Garcon for a 35 yard touchdown. The Patriots got the ball back with about 2:30to go in the game. They knew that converting a first down right then and there would ice the game and put it out of reach for Manning and the Colts. Bill Belichick decided to go for it on 4th and 2 with the ball on his own 30 yard line. I understand that you have Tom Brady at quarterback but their is no way you can go for it in that situation. In my mind, you play the percentages and punt the ball and see if Manning can go 70 yards with just a minute and a half remaining. The odds are in your favor if you punt the ball. With that said, they went for it and didn't get it. The Colts drove it 30 yards in a minute and thirty seconds and capped it off with a two yard strike to Reggie Wayne. Bill Belichick showed zero confidence in his defense and it cost him. Ball game. Colts remain undefeated at 9-0 because of a coaching meltdown.
Bill Belichick has made many good coaching decisions throughout his career but thi was not one of them
ReplyDeleteBelichick made an awful decision when he decided to go for it. There was way too much risk going for it on 4th and 2 with 1:30 remaining on your own 30- yard line. The better idea would have been to punt the ball away and attempt to stop the almost unstoppable Manning. Even though the Patriots lost this game because of a bad call on Belichick's part, its probable one of the few bad calls Belichick has made during his career compared to the many good calls he has made. The Patriots will have another opportunity to beat the Colts in the playoffs to get to the Superbowl.
ReplyDeleteI think that Belichick is most definitely a moron. All coaches make mistakes but punting the ball away on 4th down is an easy decision every coach should make. The other night against the New Orleans Saints he did it again. The patriots were down by a couple touchdowns but the game was not yet over. With about 7 minutes left Belichick went for it on 4th and 3. And once again did not convert.
ReplyDeleteHoltz... To start, this blog is cute, and I like the baby blue on the sides ;)... So yes Belichick is a fool... To start, the moron also got caught cheating by filming teams plays, signs, etc...Also even if Indianapolis has an amazing offense, you do not take that risk on your side of the 50. If you fail, which the Pats did, you are essentially screwed.... They choked. Hopefully Tom will choke on his next meal.. wouldn't that make Fins fans happy!
ReplyDeleteIt would make this Fins fan happy :)
ReplyDeleteI would have to respectfully disagree with everyone on this call. As much as i dislike the Patriots Bill is clearly not a moron. He has three super bowl victories, on four appearences and has only been with the Patriots since 2000. He coached the first 16-0 team durring the regular season and was named the NFL Coach of the year twice in 2003 and 2007. He is known for not being a conservative coach and that is one of the many ways he is as good as what he does. The bottom line is had he converted the game was over. He would have been a "genius". However when you are not conservative you fail sometimes and considering that the defense would not have stopped the Colts offense that is a risk you must take and in the position i would make the same decision.
ReplyDeletecomma after Patriots, twice, and converted. After the word position insert and.
ReplyDeleteTo the contrary of everyone except for Brandon, I think this was the right call. Personally, I'm sick of seeing conservative coaches in the NFL. All this tells us about Bill Belecheck is that he believes in his team, which is a good thing.
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