4th and 8 was my 62-7 moment for the Ballard/Steichen regime.

[Colts And Orioles]

o


When Bill Belichick went for it on 4th-and-2, he was not going for it because of Tom Brady ...... he was going for it because of Peyton Manning.

If Matt Cassell had been the Patriots QB in the same exact situation, I would bet $100 that Belichick still would have went for it ...... he didn't want to give the ball back to Peyton Manning with the game on the line if he could avoid it.

And if Anthony Richardson or Daniel Jones had been the Colts' QB in that same exact situation, I believe that Belichick would have punted ...... regardless of whether or not Tom Brady was his quarterback.


I think that it was the right call, largely because it gave the Patriots 2 chances to win the game ...... either by getting the 1st down, or by stopping Manning on a short, compacted field. If he had punted the ball, the only chance that the Patriots would have had would have been to stop Manning on a long, open field with 2 minutes to play.

o