Week Nine - Even the best have crappy days sometimes

Let's be up front about this: As great has Bill Belichick has been as the Patriots' head coach, last night was not one of his moments of glory by any means. There were quite a few puzzling decisions that were just as puzzling right after they were made as they were post-mortem. Even if the Colts' spare DB didn't get off the field in time, was five yards really worth throwing a challenge flag? 1st and 10 isn't much different from 1st and 5 or whatever it would have been. Calling the time out just in time to nullify a successful QB sneak by Cassel? Maybe it's karma coming around from past time outs helping the Pats, but it sure looked like the hurry up and run the sneak would have worked before the ball was even snapped.

The worst decision, however, was chasing the points by going for two when the Pats went up 12-7 in the third quarter. Sorry, but that was way too early to chase the points, even if you think you needed them because Peyton Manning can and will rip apart your depleted secondary. Still, that didn't make sense to me. I like our coach, but he screwed up a lot last night against a weakened and certainly beatable Colts team that has now been let back into the playoff picture.

There were a lot of positive things too. Cassel gets better each week I've seen, I admit I missed the Rams game since I was watching friends run in the Marine Corps Marathon. He was solid throughout, I won't blame him for the pick, it was 4th and 16 due to a bad penalty by David Thomas. He tried to make a near miracle play, it just didn't work. The run defense was excellent. I found myself wanting to jump out of my chair every time the Colts set up for a run. Yeah! They can't do much! Benjarvus Green-Ellis and Kevin Faulk did a good job running the ball. And if they're going to lose, at least it was a fast moving game, ~ 2 hr 40 min, so I could go to bed at a normal hour.

Going forward, two huge games vs the Bills and Jets. Win both, the Pats are probably AFC East Champs again. Cassel's turning into a pretty good QB, but Moss needs to get the ball more often. Trent Edwards and Broadway Brett Favre won't be able to take advantage of the Pats' secondary like Manning did either. I'm optimistic now that the frustration of last night has worn off.