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Bill Belichichick Did Not Make Wrong Decision in Patriots 35-34 Loss to Colts

Monday, November 16th, 2009 | Indianapolis Colts, New England Patriots, NFL, Sports | No Comments

I am one of the few to think it – but Bill Belichick did not make the wrong decision in the 4th quarter of Sunday night’s 35-34 loss to the Colts.  If you missed it, here’s how it played out.

The New England Patriots led the 8-0 Colts in Indianapolis well into the 4th quarter – 31-14 with 14 minutes left in the game and 34-21 with just over 4 minutes left in the game.  The Colts cut the lead to 6 points with just over 2 minutes left in the game.  Then the fun began.  The Patriots started on their own 20 yard line and after 3 plays, the Patriots faced a 4th and 2 from their own 28 yard line at the 2 minute warning.  Belichick could have punted the ball and forced the Colts back into their own zone.  Or he could go for it and end the game if the Patriots offsense could gain 2 yards.  Decision time.  Much to the surprise of most critics, Belichick opted to go for it.  Bad move – Tom Brady’s pass to Kevin Faulk netted just 1 yard and the Colts had the ball at the Patriots 29 yard line with just under 2 minutes to play.  A 15-yard pass to Reggie Wayne set up Joseph Addai’s beautiful 13 yard run to put the ball at the Patriots 1 yard line – 1st and goal with over a minute left.  The Patriots shut down another Addai run, but then Manning found Wayne with a 1-yard touchdown pass and the Matt Stover PAT gave the Colts the improbably 35-34 win.

Now everyone (except me) has been all over Belichick for going for it on the 4th down in your own end.  Why give the Colts a short field?  Going for it indicates that you don’t have confidence in your defense to get the job done? Belichick’s smugness got the best of him?  I disagree with all of them.

First, dating back to last year, the Colts had won 17 straight regular season games.  The Colts were arguably the best team in the AFC and were playing on their own home turf.  Whether you gave them 20 yards of field or 80 yards of field, there was a good chance that Peyton Manning would find a way to lead his team to victory – he had done so the previous 17 times his team took the field.

Former Patriots stud linebacker Ted Bruschi “went off” on Belichick’s decision stating that it showed a lack of confidence in his defense to be able to stop Manning and the Colts defense.  Here’s a brief snippit of what Bruschi had to say: “The decision to go for it would be enough to make my blood boil for weeks.  Bill Belichick sent a message to his defense.  He felt that his chances were better to for it on his own 28-yard line than to punt it away and make Peyton Manning have to drive the majority of the field to win the game… I would look at this decision as a lack of confidence in our ability as a defensive unit to come up with a big play to win the game.”

I totally disagree.  Belichick was in total control of the game.  If the Patriots get the 2 yards, the Patriots run out the clock and the game is over.  If we don’t get it, Belichick’s attitude had to be that I have enough confidence in my defense that we can stop them from gaining 29 yards to score the winning touchdown.  A field goal wasn’t good enough.  The Colts had to score a touchdown to win, and it just worked out that way that they scored the touchdown to pull off the come-from-behind win.

Now granted, I think Belichick’s (over-)confidence sometimes gets the best of him.  He thinks he is “God” and he thinks that he knows everything and he thinks that whatever he does is right.  And while I might not agree with that mentality, if you want to be successful in whatever it is you do, you have to have confidence in your abilities and in your own “teammates’” abilities to get the job done.  This applies to everything, not just football.

Belichick made an informed decision and it didn’t work out the way that he planned.  The Colts are 9-0 and are looking like a lock to be the top team in the AFC come January.  The Patriots are 6-3 and they are in 1st place in the AFC East with a 2-game lead over each of the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets.  They should make the playoffs and wouldn’t it be interesting to see these 2 teams meet again in Indy in January to determine the AFC’s representative in the Super Bowl.  Look at the high-octane numbers in this game – Brady – 27-42, 375 yards passing with 3 TD’s; Randy Moss – 9 catches for 179 yards and 2 scores; Wes Welker – 9 catches for 94 yards; Manning – 28-44, 327 yards passing with 4 TD’s; & Reggie Wayne – 10 catches for 1269 yards and 2 scores.  WOW – I can’t wait for the NFL playoffs.

Tags: Bill Belichick, Joseph Addai, Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Tom Brady