When it got to 4th down for the Patriots, and I saw them go for it, I thought it was genius, and still think that. If you don't get it the Colts are closer, but they still have to score a touchdown. It's not like they needed a FG and you left them in range. All you have to do is get it back on downs, it doesn't matter where they start from. And of course if you do get the first down, then you run out the clock and win. If they had got the first down, everyone would have crown Belichick a god. Instead everyone is saying how stupid it was, and I just don't see it. My only complaint is that they ran a pass play with no RB in the backfield. If on 3rd and 2 you knew you were going for it on 4th and 2, then I would have just ran the ball twice. There is almost no way the Colts would stop 2 straight running plays for less than 2 yards. Also 3rd and 2 resulted in an incomplete pass so the Colts saved a timeout on that play.

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"We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home."

I think that was a rules loss as much as anything else. Since it was the 2 minute warning, it couldn't be reviewed by officials, but he had possession ahead of the marker and should have gotten the first to win the game.

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Pats had no timeout challenge it with anyway, but he did clearly bobble the ball and I doubt on review they would have overturned the ruling on the field that he didn't have possesion ahead of the first down mark, the bobble cost him.

No doubt it was a gutsy call. And I am sure that (given Peyton's track record and his ability to drive downfield quickly and score) there was a good chance that the Colts would go 70 yards or so for the final touchdown.

However... what kind of message does Belicheck send to his defense? To me, he basically said "I have no confidence in you guys that you are going to stop the Colts, so I am going for an all-or-nothing move knowing that if we don't get the first down you guys are going to let them score and we lose". If I was a Patriots defender, knowing that my coach has zero confidence in the unit to stop a team for one drive... I just don't know how well that will sit with them the rest of the year.

Even if they do get that first down, the lack of confidence message is still there towards the defense. I would have punted the ball and taken my chances with my defense. To me there is better odds of preventing a team driving 70 yards or so for a TD in two minutes... than there is getting a first down on a 4th and 2.

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In the 4th Qtr. the Colts had drives of 5 plays 79 yds for a TD in 2:04; a one play drive with an INT; 6 plays 79 yds for a TD in 1:49 prior to the decision to go for it on that 4th down. The Pat's D had SHOWN that they could not stop Manning and the Colt's Offense in the 4th qtr.

Also, the two other TD drives by the Colts were 80 or more yards.

IMO the mistake was calling the time out with 2:08 left in the game. With the snap happening BEFORE the two minute warning any review had to come from the sidelines. They should have let the 2:00 warning happen then run the play. That would have left NE with the time out and left the challenge from the booth still be an option.

I do agree that Coach Hoodie would have been hailed as a super-genius if they had made that first down.

You also didn't mention the other drives that they did stop the Colts.

I agree- in the fourth quarter, the Colts were moving the ball on them. They also got an INT on one of those possessions, which could have happened as well. I still say that the odds were higher that they would stop the Colts in two minutes and 70+ yards than making a 4th and 2.

Then again, that is why I am not a NFL coach and just a fan

And I still say that the defense is probably a bit peeved at the decision. They will probably eventually get over it, but right now there is a lost "trust" factor between defense and Belicheck.

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Belicheck and Trust do not belong in the same sentence.

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"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." -Henry Louis Mencken
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VEGETARIAN -Noun (vej-i-tair-ee-uhn): Ancient tribal slang for the village idiot who can't hunt, fish or ride.