Belichick's Gamble

Initially I was aghast, like many fans and commentators, when I learned that the Patriots went for it on 4th and 2 for their 23 and a 6 point lead--and lost the game.

Then again, as this article notes, the Patriot defense is no longer the legendary Belichick defense that let the Giants defeat the Bills in the SuperBowl. In fact, as this article notes, they've done their best to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory--and succeeded all to often. Belichick may have recognized that.

This blogger loathes Belichick but defends him for that very reason.

At the end of the day, it was an unconventional call that's easy to question, given how things turned out. Belichick, though, has made a hall-of-fame career and built his own legend around making decisions just like that one. That way of thinking is what makes him great. If he wasn't willing to take those risks or do the unconventional thing, he wouldn't be Bill Belichick, future hall of famer and NFL coaching legend. He'd be Bill Belichick, that doofus that the Browns hired once a long time ago.

I have to agree.

I'd like to see another Lombardi Trophy or two from the Brady Patriots before that done, but it's looking like the Fates are frowning on that.

(Recall that years ago near the end of a close game in Denver, Belichick took a safety rather than risk punting from his own end zone. After Denver's resulting field position, the Patriots won the game.)