New England @ Indianapolis

[His Greatness]

Should've let them score. Two bad decisions.

[The Regime]

I knew the Colts were going to win, even when they were down to scores with 3 something minutes to go. Typical Colts/Pats game, with lots of drama.

[The Great iBoldin]

I'll defend Belichick here.

 

Simply put, he's trying to just put the Colts away. With the playmakers you have in Moss, Welker, Faulk out of the backfield and a line that's held Freeney in check all game (albeit at the expense of Robert Mathis), I think it's a calculated risk. Brady was the one to actually say that he was going for it. So why's Belichick getting all the flack here?

 

If anything, it was an awful playcall. I believe Faulk was motioned out of the backfield, but whether he started there or not doesn't matter. Indianapolis was playing straight up man, a cover 0, with the MIKE linebacker dropping back into zone, more of a spy, trying to take away the easiest pass.

 

C S M

 

C FS B E T T E SS C

 

That's kind of what the defense looked like. The Corner in the left slot wasn't playing that press, he was about 3 yards off the line. The Free Safety and the corner on the far right both played press coverage, trying to jam Welker and Moss at the line so the pressure could get there. The MIKE, as previously mentioned, played a spy/hook zone. The B (or Bandit) blitzed off the edge, and the SAM came with pressure up the A-Gap. The SS, Bullitt, played man on Faulk.

 

In order against the defense, this is how the Pats receivers lined up; Stanback on the far left, Watson in the left slot, Welker in the next one, Faulk in the right slot, and Moss on the far right.

 

Stanback ran a curl, Watson ran a vertical to give Stanback the opportunity to make a play on the ball. Welker ran a drag/crossing route, but the FS got a decent jam at the line. Faulk ran a little hook route at the 1st down marker, and Moss got jammed, so once he came out of the jam, the ball was out of Brady's hands. The Colts applied pressure with 6 men and forced a quicker throw. 6 against 5 obviously works in Indianapolis' favor. Session was a bit late around Freeney, but if he got a good jump, it was game over.

 

I just didn't agree with the playcall. I think I would of gone for it. The defense had been on for about 70 plays before then, and I trust guys like Brady, Faulk, Welker and Moss to get the job done. I would've lined up differently. I would've had Brady in shotgun with Faulk on his left side to alleviate the pass rush and pick-up the blitz. I would've had Watson as my TE on the right and a twin WR set with Brady and Welker, giving Stanback an opportunity for M2M coverage. The Colts would've still jammed, and I would've run Stanback on a slant with Welker coming inside on a hook route. Moss run vertical and Watson release to the right flats. Faulk step in to block then go out for a route if Brady got time and didn't see a receiver.

 

But, this is all hypothetical. As Herm would say, "Hello, you play to win the game".

Edited November 16, 2009 by iBoldin

[Lone Wolf]

Bahahah! Finally it bit him in the butt.

[SRT Spidey]

even though belichick blew the game for us it showed that the pats can hang with the Colts, we shouldve had that win. Well see them again in the playoffs