One of the best Sunday night games EVER!!!! Totally stuffed it to Belly and his arrogant Pats.

You know if you don't trust your defense to stop the Colts from a long field, I guess what I don't understand then is why didn't the New England defense just let Addai score on his big run. That would have left Brady over a minute needing just a field goal instead of 10 seconds.

I guess if I have the balls to go for it on 4th and 2 from the 28...then I'm going to let Indy score and give my offense more time to try and win.

Just my .02

josh

didn't see the game but that was a sweet fourth quarter collapse by the pats!

Easily game of the year and a stunning collapse by the Pats. I wrote about it in my Week 10 notes.

I'm really on the fence about Belichick's coaching in the 4th quarter yesterday.

On the one hand, Kudos to Belichick for going for it on 4th and 2. He's trying to win the game and not just playing it safe by punting it away. To defend Belichick, I'd ask the following question: If you punt it at that point, what are the odds Peyton Manning drives the length of the field to score the winning TD? (rememeber there were still 2 minutes left on the clock and the Colts had a timeout) I don't know the stats, but I'd guess Manning has gotten it done the vast majority of the time in that situation.

The big criticism Belichick leaves himself open to is not having any timeouts left when they got to the 2-minute warning. First, his team is ahead the entire 2nd half - so there is no reason/excuse to use any of the timeouts until you might need them at the end of the game. Second, if he had a timeout left he could've challenged the spot on the 4th down play. The linesman (exagerrated hand bobble motion) and announcers made it seem like Faulk was bobbling the ball the whole play until he hit the ground at the 29 yard line. But to me the replay showed he had one very quick bobble and had possession at the 30 before being driven backwards. Third, with timeouts Belichick would've been able to prevent the Colts from running out the clock prior to scoring the go ahead TD. Thus, giving the Pats a chance to win it with a FG on a final possession.

I'll answer that with another question. Do you go for it and fail giving Manning a 30 yard field to work with, or punt it away and give him 70 yards to work with? Let's not forget, Manning struggled throughout the game throwing a couple of bad picks. He was no superstar for the vast majority of the game in the face of the Patriot defense.

A stunning decision for Belichick. And a slap in the face to his defense that had done the job well enough to that point.

I could have seen Belichick going for it on the 30, but on the other side of the field. No matter what, the Colts had a timeout left w/ 2 minutes. It would have been a lot harder for them to go down the field for 70 yards. I think it was a stupid move cuz they had the lead.

In the end Belichick had too much confidence in his offense getting it done in such a tight situation, & prolly in his defense too in getting the stop. You're on the road for Christ's sakes. Play it safe, win, & get the hell out.

My only problem with the decision was the play called. Why make it a play that was just barely at the first down marker? If you need 2 yards, why not have the receiver go 5 yards and come back for the catch, not just stop at the exact spot needed and stand there?

And while Manning didn't look like a superstar for most of the night, he did in two 79 yard drives in the 4th quarter. Bellichek knew his defense was gassed so I'm okay with his decision. If the defense feels like it's a slap in the face, they ought to feel a couple of slaps in the face for the two long drives they gave up before that.