What Was Bill Belichick Thinking?
Of course, I had to walk away for 5 minutes to care to my kids and missed one of the “craziest” calls I have ever heard of. Thank you for Sportscenter!
The New England Patriots fell short on Bill Belichick’s decision to gamble on fourth-and-2 from the Patriots own 28, turning the ball over to Peyton Manning and the Colts with two minutes to go. As you should have expected, Manning drove the entire length of the field left (28 yards) and scored the winning touchdown with just 12 seconds to play.
Colts win 35-34.
So, was Belichick correct in trying to end the game with the fourth-and-2 play? Should he have punted?
Thoughts?
From the Associated Press:
“We were preparing to go 60, 70 yards,” Manning said. “It was a great play by the defense, shortened our field.”
Indianapolis (9-0), which trailed by 17 in the second quarter and 34-21 with 4 minutes left, got its most improbable win during the streak, which tied the Patriots for the second-longest in league history.
When Belichick decided to go for it instead of punting with 2:08 to go, Tom Brady threw to Kevin Faulk, who made a juggling catch but was pushed backward and came up just short.
“We tried to win the game on that play,” Belichick explained. “I thought we could make the yard. We had a good play, we completed it. I don’t know how we couldn’t get a yard.”
Manning needed just four plays before hooking up with Wayne for the winning score. Manning finished with four touchdown passes and Brady had three in the matchup of AFC division leaders.
While it was another magical comeback for Manning, this one was set up by Belichick’s bungled play-calling. Belichick called two timeouts on that key series, the second to set up the fourth-down play.
The Patriots (6-3) have now lost five of the last six in this series.
Tags: 4th and 2, AFC, Bad Call, Belichick, Belichick Call, Belichick Decision, Bill Belichick, Brady, Colts, ESPN, Kevin Faulk, Manning, NFC, NFL, Patriots, Patriots Colts, Peyton Manning, Sportscenter, Tom Brady
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November 16, 2009 at 10:50 am
I give the coach credit for making a gutsy call, but from your own 29 yard line, the correct decision was to punt. If I was the coach, I could not face my defense after losing that one.