Belichick is NO defensive genius!

When it matters most, late in the 4th quarter Bill Belichick is far from a defensive genius. Let's take a a look at his meltdown.

• Super Bowl XXXVI (Patriots 20, Rams 17) Hardly a colossal breakdown, but the cracks began to show in the Belichick legacy ironically -- at the furious end of this, his greatest triumph. The Patriots held the Greatest Show on Turf to three points through three quarters. At one point, it even looked like a rout: a fumble return for a TD by New England defensive back Tebucky Jones would have given the Patriots a 24-3 lead late in the third quarter. But the play was overturned by a penalty against the defense.

The Rams stormed back, scoring two fourth-quarter touchdowns -- following their two longest drives of the game (55 yards and 77 yards) -- to force a tie with 90 seconds to play. If not for the what became typical Tom Brady heroics, leading the only walk-off scoring drive in Super Bowl history in just his 17th NFL start, this game might be remembered only for New England's defensive collapse.

• Super Bowl XXXVIII (Patriots 32, Panthers 29)-- The wheel's began to wobble on Belichick's defensive wagon here in Houston. The 2003 Patriots boasted the league's No. 1 team (14-2) and No. 1 defense (14.9 PPG). The 11-5 Panthers, meanwhile, had mustered just 10 points through three quarters against this, the league's best defense.

But, when it mattered most, Belichick's defense snapped more gruesomely than Joe Theismann's tibia. The spunky little Panthers ripped off three TDs, 19 points and 251 yards of offense -- in the fourth quarter alone. The Confederates played better defense during Sherman's March to the Sea.

To put those 19 points into perspective, consider it was the greatest single-quarter total the Patriots had allowed in a well over a year. To put those 251 yards into perspective, consider New England's No. 1 scoring defense had surrendered an average of just 292 yards per game all season.

Belichick's legacy survived the meltdown, as the New England offense responded with a remarkable 11 points in the final four minutes, including another last-second field goal, to stave off a humiliating upset to an inferior opponent.

• 2006 AFC Championship Game (Colts 38, Patriots 34) -- Indy's victory begets a simple question: Can you be a defensive genius when your defense suffers the greatest meltdown on American soil since Three Mile Island?

We don't think so.

To put New England's implosion into perspective, remember Belichick's Patriots held a 21-3 late in the first half. Indy quarterback Peyton Manning had just thrown an awful pick that was returned for a TD. Then, on the ensuing drive, he was sacked on consecutive plays and was whistled for a delay-of-game penalty. Amelia Earhart never looked so lost.

The game was effectively over. Belichick's Patriots were on their way to Super Bowl XLI. Only the greatest defensive meltdown in history could ruin their hopes.

And it did.

Manning and the Colts recovered from a situation so desperate we saw it pan-handling outside Starbucks. The Colts ripped off 341 yards, five scoring drives and 32 points in the second half alone -- against a team run by a coach widely considered the great defensive genius of our time.

In the fourth quarter, with another trip to the Super Bowl on the line, the Patriots needed just a single stop. Instead, they prostrated themselves before the Indy offense, as if unworthy to play on the same field. On three fourth-quarter possessions, the Colts ripped off a 59-yard field goal drive and TD drives of 67 and 80 yards. They scored the winning touchdown with just one minute to play.

To put Indy's second-half outburst into perspective, it pays to remember the Colts offense had been a complete playoff no-show before that point. In their previous 115 plays against the Chiefs and the Titans in the wild-card and divisional rounds, the Colts netted just 406 yards and seven field goals.

In other words, the Colts could not move the ball against anybody in the 2006 playoffs. But then they were handed what seems to be a cure-all for impotent offenses: a chance to face a Belichick defense in the most critical moments of the biggest game of the year. At this point, the Colts were unstoppable.

We think even Ray Charles could see a pattern here, folks: despite the legend, Belichick's defenses routinely collapse in the late stages of the biggest games of the year.

2. Super Bowl XLII

We could have included Super Bowl XLII among the many other times a Belichick defense wilted like week-old lettuce when the game mattered most.

But Super Bowl XLII deserves to stand alone.

After all, New England's collapse in this game was so historic, so massive, so colossal, it joins the Great Wall of China as the only man-made objects that can be seen from space.

Before considering Super Bowl XLII's place in history, it pays to understand it was, by any objective, analytical measure, the greatest mismatch in NFL championship game history -- not just Super Bowl history, but championship game history dating to the very first title-tilt in 1933.

The Giants were merely mediocre in 2007, outscoring opponents by just 22 points over the season -- the smallest margin ever by a Super Bowl champion.

The Patriots were the single most dominant team in modern NFL history, outscoring opponents by a record 315 points.

The Giants were 10-6 in 2007 -- tying for the worst regular-season record ever by a Super Bowl champion.

The Patriots were the first 16-0 team in NFL history.

Yet somehow, someway, the Giants captured victory in a game they had no business winning.

As we mentioned recently, the Giants defense has garnered all the credit for shutting down the most prolific offense in NFL history. They deserve this credit.

But also remember that, with the Super Bowl on the line, with the first 19-0 season on the line, with football immortality on the line, and with the biggest audience in American sporting history as witness, Belichick's defense crumbled faster than the French Army in 1940.

The Giants had scored just three points against the Patriots in three quarters of play. But once again, a crunch-time Belichick defense proved the magic cure-all for ailing offenses: The Giants ripped off fourth-quarter TD drives of 80 and 83 yards and ripped a gaping wound in the Belichick legacy that might never heal.

By Kerry J. Byrne