The Call

The game was one of the best we will see all year, but the last two minutes were the most bizarre moments in the Bill & Brady experience.

"The Call" was probably the wrong choice in that situation. But that was not the biggest mistake of the game for Belichik's Patriots. The number one reason the Patriots lost this game is because going into that drive, THEY DID NOT HAVE A PLAN!! Come on Tom Brady, what are you doing?! The timeout after the kickoff on 1st down was Dumbest Move Ever #1. Brady had been shredding the Colts defense all game, why the confusion now? You had like 10 minutes to prepare for your drive, and 1st and 10 at your 20 yard line with two minutes left up by 6 points is not uncharted territory! And all that extra time concocted the following play: inside hand-off to Kevin Faulk. Did you really need to burn a timeout for that?

Dumbest Move Ever #2: On 4th and 2, to win the game, you throw two yards to a tightly guarded Kevin Faulk. What else are the Colts expecting? A quick toss to your halfback... again, this was right after another timeout? That was your Must Have Guaranteed Success play?

Dumbest Move Ever #3: Electing not to punt would go here.

Dumbest Move Ever #4: Not going to Moss on that last series! Come on, they can't stop him. Do the last thing the Colts would expect: throw deep. The only way he wouldn't catch the ball is defensive pass interference, which would end the game anyway. You have to put the ball into the hands of your best weapon, Randy Moss.

Dumbest Move Ever #5: If you plan to go for it on 4th down, run the ball on 3rd down. Force Indy to take their last timeout or take the two-minute warning. Even if you don't convert on 3rd down, you get plenty of time to make an educated game-plan. This is combined with the actual play: pass to the sideline to a guy well defended. I can't quite recall, but was that Kevin Faulk again or Welker? Come on, go to Moss. Or at least throw it in the middle of the field. Allow some space for your teammate to make a play. That was a terrible play call on 3rd down. There was no way for the receiver to catch the ball and it was nearly a pick-6.

Yet even after all those dumb moves, there was no bobble on that catch. He had the ball CLEARLY beyond the 30 yard line. The ref claiming Faulk didn't have possession was a terrible call. That was a terrible spot. And in the biggest moment of the biggest game of the year, the refs have to at least check out that play again. If they were not sure, they should look. Let me repeat: HE HAD POSSESSION OF THE BALL!! And yet the place they spotted the ball was like 2 yards behind where he caught it! If it is one foot closer, it's a Patriots first down, the game is practically over, and Bill Belichick is not destroyed in the media. Bill could have challenged it, but they had no timeouts due to the Dumbest Move Ever #1.

I don't think it was the most bone-headed play I've ever seen to go for it. The Patriots have immense confidence in their offense. It is reasonable to assume they could gain two yards. You want to keep the ball out of the hands of Peyton Manning. It was an extremely close play! But the real reason the Patriots lost this game was that Bill Belichick and Tom Brady DID NOT HAVE A PLAN!