"I thought we could make it. I don't know how we could not get a yard on that (play) but we didn't...We came out here to win." - Belicheck via @Trags on Twitter.
That's exactly why I liked Belicheck's play call on 4th and 1 at the NE 28 yard line. If they get a yard, the game is over. Done dada. And the Pats are sitting at 7-2, the Colts 8-1, and New England holding a tie-breaker for home field throughout the playoffs. And he's right, they should have gotten a yard there.
I like the call for a few reasons. He went for the kill. On the road against an undefeated Colts team with one of the best quarterbacks of our era, he tried to finish them off without giving Peyton a chance to win it. But I have to think that Belicheck saw the Jets lose today and figured at this point, it will be hard for the Patriots to lose the AFC East. They hold a 2-game lead over the Dolphins and have already beaten them (27-17 at home last week). The Patriots will contend for a Super Bowl, and he is showing confidence in his TEAM for the rest of the season, which is more important than showing confidence in his defense for one game that, in the grand scheme of things, isn't really that big of a deal.
Let's face it, it's not a guarantee that had the Pats won, the Colts would lose another game and/or the Pats will win out. Because in order to hit that tiebreaker, that's probably what would've needed to happen. And even if the game goes through Indy for the playoffs, I'm a fan of the Pats offense indoors. They dropped 34 points on the Colts tonight. And they can probably do it again. So relax everyone, the Pats are fine. If the Pats were tied for the division lead and on the bubble for a playoff spot, I think Belicheck punts. But they're not. They'll make the playoffs as the AFC East champs and he knows that. You should too.
-Bess
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