Patriots-Colts: A Genius Call by Belichick?

I don't want to hear it from anyone trying to support Bill's decision to go for it on fourth down.

I don't want to hear about hindsight being 20/20.

What he did was stupid. Period.

The thought of him having more faith in his offense gaining two yards on fourth down than his defense keeping Peyton out of the end zone is ludicrous. The poor decision-making started even before he chose not to punt.

Kevin Faulk got 79 yards on 12 carries. Who gives a flying fart if he was stuffed on first down?

Keep the ball on the ground and burn that clock. Completing that pass on second down was the worst possible thing to happen since it gave coach the confidence to throw and still burn time or timeouts.

Third Down came along and instead of trying to pick up the first down on the ground, an incomplete pass stopped it. The only type of pass that should be thrown in this situation is a WR screen, a play that was working for them the entire night.

I understand that they are a spread offense and a passing team, but there comes a time for every team to play to win the game, not according to their script.

The way the Pats win that game is by running the ball three times and punting it on fourth down. The Colts would have had to go 75 yards in less than two minutes. To put that in perspective, Manning's game winning drive went 29 yards in 1:47. As little faith as Bill has in his defense, I would have taken my chances with those odds.

What is the team supposed to take away from Belichick's decision to stick with the offense? He didn't trust the defense enough to keep the opposition out of the end zone with 75 yards of breathing room.

The Patriots aren't going anywhere unless Belichick has confidence in his defense.

We saw one of the greatest coaches of all time make a decision for the betterment of himself and not his football team. I can't remember the last time he made such a mistake.

In this game, Bill wanted to be labeled a genius. He wanted Monday's headline to read, "Pats Hold Off Colts After Excellent Call By Belichick."

He had the opportunity with minimal risk, being only midway through the regular season. Had this been the playoffs, Bill would have been playing to win, not for a story.

Fortunately, the Patriots are not done with a loss on Sunday night. They proved to be stiff competition for anyone with Super Bowl hopes. The only thing we learned is that Bill is still human and can be wrong sometimes. The bad news for the Colts is that if the situation arises the next time they meet, they won't be moving on.

—Kyle Strausbaugh