Bad Bad call by Bill Belichick

A kick in the teeth
Colts win it late after questionable Patriots decision

By Adam Kilgore, Globe Staff | November 16, 2009

INDIANAPOLIS - With all the hype washed away last night - the Rivalry Of The Decade and Manning-Brady storylines set aside - it all came down to an eye-popping, unforgettable gamble by Bill Belichick. The Patriots’ lead had been chopped to 6 points, just more than two minutes remained, it was fourth down. And their punter was running off the field.

Bravado, guts, madness - call it what you want. As the Colts streamed onto the field after the clock struck 0:00, still undefeated and still the team to beat in the AFC, one thing was clear: It didn’t work.

Just when the Patriots seemed poised to announce themselves one of the best teams in the NFL, the Colts stunned them to win, 35-34, in a game that will be remembered for Belichick’s decision to go for it. With the Patriots, Belichick had never before lost a game when leading by 13 or more points in the fourth quarter because decisions like the one he made last night rarely have wrought disaster.

This one did. Peyton Manning gave the Colts the margin of victory with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne with 13 seconds left, but the Patriots’ fate was sealed minutes earlier.

With just over two minutes left, the ball inside their 30-yard line, the Patriots went for it on fourth down with 2 yards to go. They had sent their punting unit on, then had it scramble off the field in favor of the offense. After a timeout, they spread the field, sending Kevin Faulk in motion out of the backfield as the fifth receiver. Surely, though, they were just trying to draw the Colts offside.

Right?

No. The ball snapped, and Tom Brady - who threw for 375 yards - fired to Faulk on an out. Two Colts defenders dropped him as soon as he caught the ball, inches from the first down marker.

The Patriots couldn’t challenge the spot because they didn’t have a timeout left.

The rest was at once dramatic and inevitable. The Colts took over with 1:57 remaining. Manning hit Wayne for 15 yards. The clocked ticked . . . ticked . . . ticked down. Joseph Addai ran to the 1-yard line. The Patriots stuffed him once, but then Manning called a play at the line and drilled Wayne on a slant. Lucas Oil Stadium, all 67,476 fans, erupted. The impossible had happened.

The Patriots had blown two 17-point leads, had let their overwhelming 24 straight points in the first half and Randy Moss’s 179 receiving yards and two touchdowns go for naught. Manning finished with 327 yards.

In the third quarter, the Patriots nearly sealed the game early. With Faulk gashing a spread-thin Colts defense, the Patriots held the ball for more than nine minutes. They had run 12 plays when they snapped the ball from the 2 and Brady handed to Laurence Maroney. He bulled ahead, but Phillip Wheeler ripped the ball loose. Linebacker Gary Brackett dove on the ball, giving the Colts possession.

The Patriots forced a Colts punt after a short, six-play drive. Wes Welker weaved his way to the sideline on the return and ran it back 69 yards, all the way to the 6-yard line. On the second play, Brady beamed a laser at Moss a yard deep in the end zone.

The Colts responded with another touchdown, a 29-yard pass from Manning to Pierre Garcon. They forced the Patriots to punt for the first time in the second half, but a potentially crucial drive fizzled before it even began. Manning overthrew his target, and Jonathan Wilhite made the second interception of Manning of the second half. With roughly eight minutes remaining, the pick all but polished off the game. Manning stood on the sideline and shook his head.

The Patriots seized control during an overwhelming stretch in the first half. After they went three and out on their first possession and watched the Colts take a 7-0 lead, they exploded with the kind of dominating football that recalled their 2007 season, Brady zipping passes everywhere, Moss shredding the secondary, the defense battering. The Patriots scored 24 consecutive points on four straight possessions while the Colts ran 10 offensive plays that weren’t punts.

The Colts scored first, when Addai took a screen pass 15 yards. The Patriots needed only six plays to answer. The key play of the drive came when Moss lined up in the slot, sprinted up the seam, and a caught a pass in stride over the middle that he advanced 55 yards to the 6. From there, Maroney ran twice, plunging into the end zone to give him a touchdown in four straight games.

A dizzying sequence had started. The Colts managed one first down before punting, and the Patriots settled for a field goal after an 11-play, five-minute drive. The Patriots forced a three-and-out when Leigh Bodden broke up one of Manning’s passes.

The Patriots’ next drive would be nearly as arduous. On the second play, Brady rolled to his right. Behind him, rookie Sebastian Vollmer mauled Dwight Freeney, perhaps the NFL’s most ferocious pass rusher. Vollmer shoved Freeney past Brady as he cocked his arm.

With no defenders near, Brady fired a pass 60 yards in the air. While it spiraled down the field, Moss jousted with safety Antoine Bethea. Moss hauled in the pass and dragged Bethea with him for the final 5 yards. Bethea still clung to Moss when he crossed the goal line on the 63-yard TD, and then he walked away as if trying to figure what had just happened to him.

The Patriots were not finished. Jerod Mayo blitzed unimpeded through the Colts line, and Manning fell to the ground before Mayo even touched him. Another three and out.

Their defense flustering Manning, the Patriots did whatever they wanted. On the first play of their next drive, Brady hit tight end Benjamin Watson with a delicate pass over the middle, and he ran 36 yards.

Four plays later, Brady dropped back from the 9-yard line. Robert Mathis wheeled around Nick Kaczur and lunged for Brady. Brady scrambled out of his grasp, set his feet, and fired a pass to the left side of the end zone. Julian Edelman leaped and squeezed the ball against his chest, his first career touchdown. Edelman spiked the ball and ran to Brady so he could leap into his quarterback’s arms.

In less than a full quarter, the Patriots had turned the showdown into a showcase.

They were staggered, but the Colts also had Manning at quarterback. He led a drive that culminated with a touchdown pass to Wayne in the back of the end zone.

Belichick has devised memorable schemes against Manning over the years, and last night brought another. The Patriots used a nickel defense - four lineman, two linebackers, and five defensive backs - as their base.

But it was his call late in the game that everybody would be talking about.