Mighty Belichick STRUCK OUT!

If you didn't catch the Patriots-Colts game on Sunday night, you missed out. For future reference, it's ALWAYS a good idea to watch this matchup as long as Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are the quarterbacks involved.

It was a FABULOUS game, but what I want to focus on (no surprise) is what Peter King named "The Call Heard Round the World."

With 2:08 left and the Pats leading by 6 with no timeouts (Indy had 1 left) they faced a 4th and 2 at their own 28 yard line.

If you punt it, you give Manning and the Colts the ball somewhere around their own 30 (most likely), with 2:00 to go and 1 timeout. Manning has to drive 70ish yards for a winning touchdown.

If you go for it and make it, you effectively win the game. With just one Colts timeout left and the two-minute warning, New England could run the clock WAY down, and if they didn't convert another first down, Indy would get the ball back with very little time on the clock.

If you go for it and DON'T make it, Manning and his 1 timeout (plus the warning) have to go less than 30 yards for a winning touchdown.

Belichick decided to go for it. The Pats were stopped just short of the first down marker. Manning took about four plays to put the ball in the endzone on a 1-yard slant to Reggie Wayne with just 13 seconds left. Colts win.

People are shocked Belichick decided to go for it. I'm not. As much as I respect the guy (and I do) for being a brilliant coach (there's no denying it), he's an arrogant son-of-a-gun who wants to win more than anything, but only slightly less than his desire to win is his desire to win big, defiantly, and to rub the losers' faces in it. In 2007 when the Pats were on their 18-win tear that took them all the way to the Super Bowl before they were beaten, they did this kind of thing all the time. The annoying thing is, they most often convert that 4th-down and win the game. It's frustrating to me because I just wanted a team to stop them (like they should) and make Belichick eat his hot-headed rub-it-in playcalling -- make him pay for his risky decisions.

Well, Sunday night that happened.

P.S. Not only were the last two minutes thrilling, but so was most of the fourth quarter. The Pats entered the 4th with a 17-point lead over the Colts. Under Belichick the Pats had NEVER lost a game in which they led by 13 or more points heading into the 4th. Now they have. I like Peyton Manning quite a bit.