The Philly Phanatics

What do you say about a coach who goes for it near the 2-minute warning on 4th and 2 on his own 28 yard line with the powerful offense of the Colts behind future hall-of-famer Peyton Manning? You may think he is a fool, that it was the worst decision he has ever made in his coaching career, that he should have avoided the situation, punted, and hoped his defense could stop this power house offense. If you are a Colts defensive player you might say you feel disrespected, that you feel Belichick should have punted because you and your men are that good. Indy linebacker Clint Session was quoted as saying "They disrespected us and got what they deserved. They fought hard throughout the game, but they disrespected us at the end and they got what they deserved."

Do we really feel that Belichick disrespected the Colts defense, or do you feel that Billy had that much faith in his high powered offense? To be honest, the Colts have had an amazing defense this season, being the best scoring defense in the league coming into the game, but to say that they were disrespected is a little irrational. The Patriots offense had already scored 34 points, a season high against the Colts defense, so they already proved that they could score on your defense.

My main beef with the disrespect card is that if they convert the 1st down, do you still feel disrespected? Is it gonna be all you talk about after the game? Do they still get what they deserve? And futhermore, does Belichick get hounded by the sports media for making "The worst mistake of his career?" I am sorry but one more yard, ONE MORE YARD, and no one reads a single article about how foolish one of the best coaches of the past decade was in his teams 35-34 loss on Sunday. It may have ended the same way had he punted the ball with Peyton leading the way.

One of the few Colts players to put it in perspective was Defensive End Jerraud Powers: "I was surprised. I thought maybe he was going to try to get us to jump offside or something. I didn't think he'd actually try to run a play. That's the confidence Belichick has in his players and his quarterback. But we just stepped up to the challenge and made plays when we had to." The Colts weren't disrespected, but they did step up when they had to, like a top defense should. The Patriots just weren't so lucky on the Offensive end.