BY KEVIN FRIEDENBERG

In print | Published November 19, 2009

Surely by now, many of you know about the epic ending to the Patriots-Colts game Monday night and are preparing some sort of anti-Patriots barb for me. For those of you who missed it, New England had the ball deep in their own territory with a six-point lead and just over two minutes left.

After a few lackluster plays and a burned timeout, the Pats faced a fourth-and-two situation and had to make a difficult decision.

Coach Bill Belichick decided to go for it and seal the win, yet his pass to running back Kevin Faulk came up short by less than a foot (including a horrific spot by the ball judge), giving Peyton Manning a short field and a decent amount of time to take his team to the promised land. Sure enough, a few plays later, Manning effectively won the game with a pass to Reggie Wayne. Immediately, controversy exploded over Belichick’s decision not to punt and send his defense out on the field. Having spent several hours determining my own thoughts, I have a few words to say about the results of the game.

There are two distinct aspects to consider surrounding the decision not to punt the ball away on fourth down. The first thing to understand is that the Patriot offense is prolific to say the least. Brady was having an excellent game, Randy Moss had almost 200 receiving yards and workhorse Kevin Faulk was having a terrific day on the ground. Two yards is not a long distance, and a fully elongated Brady standing well over six feet could have fallen across the first down marker. Additionally, historically, the Patriots have been tremendously successful on fourth-and-two attempts (over 70 percent), so even though this call by Belichick could be considered a gamble, the numbers were in fact on the Patriots’ side.

Two yards was all New England needed to end the game and break the Colts’ unbeaten streak, but of course as we all know, it was not in the cards. Not withstanding what appeared to be a terrible spot on the play by the ball judge, even though the Patriots came up short, the call to go for it seems to have made sense from a historical perspective, based on the given information.

The other thing to consider about Belichick’s decision (and also the reason for the controversy) is that by electing to go for it, there is a strong implication that Belichick did not trust the defense to go out and get a stop after the punt. Sure, defensive players were probably disappointed by this decision (ESPN columnist Teddy Bruschi certainly hammers this point home).

It was as if Belichick had decided that if Manning got the ball back into his hands, he would lead the comeback drive in the final minutes (which, of course, he did). Yet it doesn’t make sense, many argue, to punt the ball away in that situation and make Manning drive 60-plus yards downfield to earn the win, rather than 30?

My opinion on the subject is that Belichick made a good decision that just went the wrong way. Looking at the numbers purely, though the Patriots historically had converted a vast majority of fourth-and-two situations in the past, they were not perfect. Naturally, some of the time they are going to fail on that play. That is why those eleven guys on defense are on the field in the NFL – they are the best defensive players that the country has to offer. Sure, it backfired on Belichick, but let’s remember, after all, that it was a gamble – not a sure thing. Sometimes you just have to go for it.

Say history was on the Patriots’ side last night and they converted easily and ran the clock out for the win. Would people hail Belichick as a hero for gutting it out? Probably not. I feel like most people would just consider the fact that the Patriots’ offense is nothing short of terrific, and in a game where their stars really showed up to play, converting a fourth-and-two would have been just about par for the course.

For these reasons, I stand behind the call made by Belichick. Though of course I wish New England had won the game, I will always back an aggressive coach. Any coach who makes a decision that says, “I have enough faith in my team to make a big play when it matters,” should not be maligned when it doesn’t go his way. This is life. We are human, and we make mistakes. Maybe this one play will prove to be a tremendous catalyst for the Patriots who will win out and go 15-3.

Maybe it will prove to be an epic collapse for a defense that now believes that it doesn’t have the full support of its coach to make a stop late in the game when it really matters.

However, given the demeanor and the history of the Patriots franchise, I would be surprised if this is talked about at all by any members of the team or staff from today on. The Patriots are defined by their focus, and certainly I would like to see them chalk this one up to chance and move on in the season.

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