Bizarre Decision Gives Colts Win Over New England

NFL News - November 16th, 2009 - Written by John

The Indianapolis Colts stayed perfect thanks to a coaching blunder that was far from it.

The New England Patriots made headlines in the hours following the Sunday night battle because of a shocking gamble that essentially handed the Colts the game. The Patriots had the ball deep in their own territory with two minutes left in the game, and hoped to salt the game away. And head coach Bill Belichick was determined to keep Indianapolis from taking the ball back.

After failing to reach a first down on the first three plays, Belichick elected to go for it on 4th-and-2 at his own 27-yard line. And when Tom Brady's completion to Kevin Faulk came up a few feet short, it set up a short field for Peyton Manning's inevitable march. Joseph Addai ate up a large chunk of real estate, and Manning hit Reggie Wayne on a slant route for a one-yard score to win it, 35-34, in a game that was deemed a toss-up at kickoff.

"We tried to win the game on that play," Belichick explained to reporters. "I thought we could make the yard. We had a good play, we completed it. I don't know how we couldn't get a yard."

The decision seemed to solidify the power in the AFC, giving the Colts the likely home-field advantage, and forcing their next meeting with New England (if there is one) to be back at Lucas Oil Stadium. It also jarred a locker room that has all but expected to win the type of game in which they dominated for most. The Patriots led by 17 at the start of the fourth quarter, and Belichick had never lost a game with the club when leading by at least 13 in the final period.

"That fourth-down play, that's one of your best plays, and you go to one of your best guys," Brady said on ESPN.com. "We've got our offense on the field. We have over 450 yards of offense at the time. We've got a lot of great players on our offense. They stopped us."

Those extra yards allowed Manning to throw for 327 in total and four touchdowns, and spoiled Brady's 375-yard-and-four-touchdown performance. His throw to Faulk seemed at first to lock up the game, but the running back juggled the catch, and was knocked backwards, back across the line. When he finally secured the ball, he was several feet shy of the marker, leaving half of the audience elated and half devastated.

"It's a bummer," Brady later said.

Indeed it was. For most of the day, the Patriots had implemented a similar style that kept a secondary -- which was minus Marlin Jackson, Kelvin Hayden and Bob Sanders -- in fits. But on the Patriots' final drive, the inexperienced cornerbacks came up big, swatting away two passes prior to the conversion attempt to put New England in a difficult spot. Now, the Colts remain as one of the two unbeaten teams in the 2009 NFL Season, reaching 9-0 for the second time in the Manning era. They have an 18-game regular-season winning streak, tied for second-longest all-time with the Patriots.

"When you see them going for it on fourth down, you get a little nervous, but our defense blitzed them, pressured them and got the stop," Manning said. "It certainly changed our philosophy. In practice, we're going 60 or 70 yards. So we figure we're going to have to go five, six, seven plays. In the huddle, I said, 'Obviously, we need a touchdown, but let's not be in a hurry.'"

Wayne finished the day with 126 yards and two touchdowns.

It seemed like the Patriots had the game all but locked away after a fluid air attack put them way ahead early. Laurence Maroney pushed through a one-yard score and Randy Moss broke through the secondary and gobbled up a pass that went for about 35 yards, and took it 63 in total for a touchdown. That score made it 17-7 and sucked the wind out of the depleted secondary. Julian Edelmann then added a nine-yard score that gave New England it's largest lead of the night.

But the Colts stormed back in the fourth quarter. After another Moss touchdown, Pierre Garcon made a great catch at the side of the end zone to make it 31-21 and, after trading turnovers, the Colts cut that lead to six when Joseph Addai finished off a long drive with a four-yard scamper to make it 34-28.

Moss had a season-high 179 yards.

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