Belichick's Baffling Blunder

Fourth and two on your own 28 yard line. Your team is winning by six points and the clock reads 2:08 remaining in the game. The opposing quarterback is future Hall-of-Fame passer, Peyton Manning. You’re punting the ball if you’re the head coach of any team, right? Not if you’re Bill Belichick.
The Patriots masterful head coach is the subject of scrutiny in the sports media today. There's a public outcry because the result did not work last night. Belichick cost his team a win against the rival Colts when he inexplicably chose to go for a fourth and two. New England failed on the stunning gamble in their own territory. Tom Brady’s completion to Kevin Faulk came up a yard short of the first down, and Belichick’s infamy became instantaneous. Melvin Bullitt, replacing the injured veteran, Bob Sanders, drove Faulk into the ground to stifle the Pats. The Colts, playing at home in a Sunday night AFC battle, took over on downs. It took Manning just two throws to take give his team the lead. The prolific passer connected with Reggie Wayne in the end zone with 13 seconds left to rally Indianapolis to a 35-34 win. The Colts remained undefeated, but the bigger story was the questionable decision by the championship coach on the opposing sideline.
The Lucas Oil Stadium crowd sensed the Colts’ chances slipping away along with the team’s 18 game regular season winning streak. Indianapolis trailed by 17 points in the fourth quarter before the improbable comeback. Manning’s two interceptions were close to as uncharacteristic as Belichick’s call in the fourth quarter. Joseph Addai hauled in a Manning spiral from 15 yards out to give the Colts an early advantage. New England running back, Laurence Maroney, poked into the end zone for a one yard touchdown to even the score before the first quarter ended. The Patriots and Colts were equally humble in the backfield, but both teams scored a rushing touchdown a piece. Addai scored on a four yard scramble following a six play Colts drive in the final quarter.
New England padded the lead in the second quarter after Stephen Gostkowski’s 31 yard field goal split the uprights. Brady found Randy Moss and Julian Edelman for 63 and 9 yard touchdown receptions, respectively. Wayne’s 20 yard heave from Manning before the half put the Colts within ten points. The receiver caught 10 passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns. Neither team scored in the third quarter. Manning was 28 for 44 on the night, with four touchdown passes. He threw two in the fourth, the first a rocket to Pierre Garcon from 29 yards. The second was the game-winning launch to Wayne. Brady totaled 375 yard and three touchdowns in this AFC shootout. The 2007 MVP found Moss in the end zone for the second time Sunday during the fourth quarter. Moss finished 21 yards shy of 200 yards, with nine receptions and a pair of touchdowns. Belichick’s aggressive game strategy has often made him a winner. Last night, he made a poor, unconventional choice. The Colts punted seven times on fourteen possessions. They weren’t playing their best and Belichick should have had more faith in his own men. The Patriots’ demoralized defense was an obvious scene when they came out to stop Manning from the 28 yard line. Sunday marked the first time the Pats lost when leading by at least 13 points in the final period in Belichick’s tenure as head coach. You can’t give Manning three timeouts and over a minute with the ball when all the All-Star needs is one touchdown to win. Jim Caldwell’s team has not lost and now lead the Patriots by three games. Belichick’s morose monotone is always the same, win or lose. This time, he needs to take the heat for putting his team in position to lose. Head coaches are supposed to put their teams in a position to win, but Belichick was unafraid to go for it on fourth down. His decision shows how little he thought of his own defense, and of Manning. The ridiculousness of the call is quite evident. Belichick is perhaps the only NFL coach to get away with it. The Belichick error doesn’t undermine the Patriots coughing up a 14 points lead in four minutes. The dubious decision can be dissected and discussed, however, because the Patriots outplayed the Colts for 56 minutes. Belichick believed Brady would come through, and his Bean town team would run out the clock. Not so. Not in Indianapolis. Not against an undefeated team. Sunday’s disconcerting one point loss will stand as the defining moment of the season for New England. November games are meant to solidify your position in the NFL. Belichick risked the game and made the wrong call. Do the former Superbowl Champions bounce back and move on, or does this interfere with Belichick’s legacy?

Miami's Monday Melee

There is some incredible football being played in Miami. Unfortunately for fans of the Sunshine State, the best football is being produced at the University of Miami. While the college game is thriving down south, the professional home team is struggling to get their first win. The Dolphins dropped their second game in a row Monday, losing to the visiting Indianapolis Colts, 27-23. The road victory for the Colts was impressive considering Indianapolis held the ball for just 14 minutes and 53 seconds. The Colts’ time of possession was the lowest by any winning NFL team since 1977. Indy quarterback, Peyton Manning, staged another one of his numerous comebacks by hitting second year receiver, Pierre Garcon with 3:18 ticks remaining in the game. Manning spoiled the fun for the Miami home opener a night after his younger brother, Eli, rallied to beat the Dallas Cowboys in Texas.
Manning showed supreme confidence and created opportunities for the Colts late in the game. The veteran signal-caller gave his team a chance to win, finishing 14 for 23 and throwing over 300 yards in limited time. The 2-0 Colts scored promptly on their first possession amid an electric atmosphere in Land Shark Stadium. Manning found Dallas Clark wide open on a one-play 80 yard touchdown reception 12 seconds into Monday night’s melee. The Dolphins scored in first quarter on a Ronnie Brown 14 yard run to even the score at 7-7. Brown and Ricky Williams effectively executed the wildcat offense. Together, they rushed for 205 yards and two touchdowns. Williams craftily carried the ball 19 times. Miami outrushed the Colts and completed close to double the first downs, but was still unable to pull together a win. Fins quarterback, Chad Pennington, is prone to some inconsistent passing. The lopsided time of possession was not an advantage for Chad. Pennington did not have a touchdown pass, but was charged with one interception on 183 yards through the air. Miami’s leading receiver, Ted Ginn, Jr, dropped two vital passes in the endzone that could have made the difference last night. Pennington overthrew Ginn on the most important plays, but still managed to complete 11 passes to the former Ohio State receiver.
The Dolphins beating the Colts was imperative, but Manning is Mr. Clutch. Manning earned a record 119 wins with the Colts to break the team record for quarterback. Manning took only three snaps in the third quarter and his team held the ball only three times after halftime. Superbowl star, Adam Vinatieri, footed two field goals in the second quarter (43 and 48 yards) and Dan Carpenter ran for two touchdowns for Miami to keep the teams notched at 13 at the half. Neither team executed in the third quarter but Miami went ahead early in the fourth on a 13 play, 80 yard scoring drive. Brown squirted into the endzone on a three yard burst to give the Dolphins their third lead of the day, 20-13. University of Connecticut tailback, Donald Brown and the Colts responded with ten minutes left. Brown scored on a six yard run to tie the score for the fourth time of the night. The Dolphins fell short of finding the endzone and had to settle for three points on Dan Carpenter’s 45 yard field goal with just over three minutes left in regulation. Miami converted three third downs before the field goal, including a 21 yard pass to Ginn on 3rd and 7 at the Miami 45 yard line.
The stage was set for a Colts comeback as Carpenter kicked to the Colts’ Chad Simpson. Manning was on the field for only 4:47 of the second half when the Colts began their game-winning drive with 3:44 remaining. Reggie Wayne snagged a 15 yard pass on first down and Clark followed with a 17 yard reception to pit the Colts on the Miami 48 yard line. Manning threw an incompletion to Garcon on 1st and ten before he nailed him on the very next play for what would be the winning 48-yard touchdown. Pennington was intercepted on the final play of the game, and the Dolphins’ last ditch attempt to squeeze out a late win. It was another forgettable loss and miserable Monday in Miami as Manning motioned meticulously as an exhilarating one-man wrecking machine. The Dolphins may have had the ball more often, but it was the Colts from Indianapolis that were more efficient.

Parting points: Song of the day: “Nice to Know You” by Incubus
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