Belichick Hath No Fury…

…Like watching his team turn the ball over twice in the end zone and fail to gain 2 yards (or 3 in case the refs blow the spot) after moving the ball at will for the whole game.

Everybody say "Awwwwwww... pooooooor Bobby!"

Hello everyone, it’s great to see you.  I’d like to take a quick moment before we get started to apologize for my lack of a Patriots/Colts recap (like anyone wanted to relive that game).  After coming down with a fever Sunday of 102.2 that lasted until early Tuesday morning, I wasn’t quite in the “writer’s space,” to say the least.  However, since I believe that this Sunday’s game against the New York Jets will be influenced in large part by the events of the last game, let’s quickly go over some key points from the Colts loss:

• “The Decision” that wasn’t.  After awakening from my illness on Tuesday, I was at first shocked to hear people were discussing Bill Belichick’s decision to go for it on 4th-and-2 at the end of the game.  Then, I was made almost physically ill upon discovering not only that most people thought it was a bad decision, but that there were a shocking amount of lunatics out there that were floating Grady Little’s name, wondering if Bill had lost it, labeling him arrogant, stubborn, or doing all of the above.  Just mind-blowing.  Not only do I believe Bill Belichick made the right call there, I think there was no other call to be made.  In fact, when Wes Welker caught a 2nd down pass for 8 yards, making it 3rd and 2, the first thought to cross my mind was:  “We have two plays to make it two yards.”  That’s it.  No “ifs,” “ands,” or “buts.”  Want to second-guess the guy?  How about these questions:
• After you punt on 4th down, what’s your best-case scenario?  Even if Chris Hanson booted a 62-yard beauty to the Colt 10, that’s only 11 more yards to go than the last two scoring drives orchestrated by Indianapolis.  And, by the way, both of the other drives lasted less than the two minutes they’d be afforded after a Patriot punt [Editor's note: Actually the first TD in the 4th quarter was 2:04 as stated in "Why Bill Belichick is NOT an Idiot"].  Then, with two minutes left to go, armed with one timeout and against a defense that was exhausted from chasing after the Colts the two previous times (both 79 yards, first took 2:04, second took 1:49), Peyton Manning would take the field with a supernatural amount of momentum and looking to redefine the advantage one’s home field can provide.
• If you’re one of the knuckleheads that thought Bill Belichick looked like a knucklehead after that game, riddle me this:  What if the end result was the same, but we had punted on 4th down?  Bill Belichick, knowing his defense was gasping for every breath on the sideline, and having some of the best offensive players in the entire NFL all on his 11-man squad, kicks it to the “Other Best QB” in the game, giving him an opportunity to humiliate him for his decision.  Aren’t people killing him more if this happened?  You can’t possibly deny he’d be under way more scrutiny had he not allowed his future hall of fame quarterback and record-breaking receiving corps to attempt to gain two yards; especially since under close examination… Faulk had the first down.
  

  Hint: Sounds like "Our Inspector"

• If anyone remembers the name of that United States senator/Eagles fanatic that launched an investigation into the Patriots under suspicion of cheating, could we give him a ring and ask him to delve a little bit into why some of the more egregious pass interference calls seem to happen at the Colts’ home stadium?  How you call that on a defensive back turned completely around to face the quarterback, jumping for the ball, and very likely getting interfered with himself by Austin Collie, is and forever will remain a mystery to me. 
• One last thing:  I wasn’t disappointed when the Colts scored their third touchdown in the 4th quarter to take the lead for good.  No, I’m not secretly rooting for the Colts.  I simply couldn’t allow myself to believe any NFL team could win turning the ball over twice in the end zone.  It’s too momentum-lethal, it’s far too generous to the opponent, and, above all else, it’s too many damn points left out there.  Blame Bill, blame the D, blame the refs, blame whomever.  While Tom Brady may have had some impressive plays in this game, your offense cannot turn the ball over two times in the end zone and come away with a victory.  The players have moved on, and now so will I…

While the upcoming game between 1st place New England (6-3) and New York (4-5) complete with its 10.5 point spread would seem like a potential landslide waiting to happen, the actual, tangible factors that could lead to this are intoxicatingly exciting.  By my count, there are five major factors that can, and likely will, lead to a Patriot cruise-control blowout.

Russell (I couldn't resist!)

1. An angry coach, and an equally angry quarterback that are capable and willing to continue scoring points in excess to vent their frustrations from the last game.  I’d think twice before getting in their way.

2. A reeling Jets team.  In their last 4 games, the Jets have lost 3 division games (2 to Miami, 1 to Buffalo) with their only win coming against the JaMarcus “You mean there’s more to being a quarterback than appearing on ‘Cribz’?” Russell-led Oakland Raiders.

3. A Belichick revenge scenario.  These almost never end well.  If a division rival beats the future-name-of-the-Super-Bowl-Trophy coach early in the season, things tend to turn out badly for them the second time around against the Patriots.  Remember the 31-0 drubbing the Pats took from the Bills to open the season a few years ago?  You think New England’s 31-0 “Thank You Card” win to close out the season was a mistake?  (Note:  This scenario does not apply to the Miami Dolphins when the second game is played in Miami, a.k.a. Bradykryptoniami.)

4. Home Field Advantage:  After a week where deafening roars lauded their every miscue, misstep and first down given up, the Patriots will return to the comforting cool weather of New England in November.  This weekend, with their own fans rewarding their players every time they score, providing some momentum as opposed to stripping it all away, and encouraging their best players to run up the score so high that a Slaughter Rule will have to be implemented, the mindset will be an entirely different one.

5. Rex Ryan’s waterworks:  You know I had to put this one in too.  This doesn’t work.  It has never worked!  And, unless the next 20 years of our evolution include a future eerily similar to the one from “Demolition Man,” it never will.  By the way, is this not the greatest coach to head up a New York-based (or Jersey-based, to be more accurate) sports team from a Boston standpoint?  He’s a trash-talking, rollercoaster disaster of emotion that has an opportunity to provide more catchy headlines for the New York Post than A-Rod’s affair with Madonna, or the one with himself.  As long as the Jets don’t unseat the Patriots for the division, no Jets fan will ever be able to trash-talk with their Patriots fan counterparts with their head held high again.

Here’s what matters this Sunday:  The Patriots are better than the Jets.  The Patriots are angrier than the Jets.  The Patriots are… well, both teams are pretty embarrassed considering the Pats’ loss last week and the Jets of their coach.  The point is, New York may have drawn the shortest straw of any team this season in catching them after this loss.  While the Jets’ defense is admittedly very good (3rd in total defense, 3rd pass def, 7th scoring), they would need almost an entire other defensive squad to avert the coming wrath.  
 

Random Predictions:
Tom Brady:  24/26, 297 yds, 3 TD
Randy Moss:  6 receptions, 115 yds, 2 TD
Wes Welker:  11 receptions, 93 yds, 1 TD
Laurence Maroney:  87 yds, and exactly 1 fumble away from getting stuffed in his locker for the weekend by Bill Belichick himself.
Mark Sanchez:  15/30, 149yds, 3 Int
Thomas Jones:  137yds, 2 TD
 
Official Prediction:
New England Patriots 42, New York Jets 14

 Staff predictions:

• Chas: Pats 31-Jets 10. “Brady throws 25-32 and 330 yards with four TDs. Three TDS go to Randy Moss who abuses Darrell Revis. The other comes on a 4th and 2 from the goal line to Kevin Faulk.”
• Patrick: 34-21 Pats. “Dustin Keller seems to have our number- I think he catches a TD, Wes Welker has more receiving yards than Randy Moss.”
• El Mustachio: 45-17 Pats. “During the post game press conference, Rex Ryan announces the Jets are taking the rest of the season off and going to a women’s retreat to get in touch with their feminine selves.”
• Seano: Pats 27-7. “P-A-T-R-I-O-T-S  PATRIOTS PATRIOTS PATRIOTS”
• Craig: Pats 38-10. “Brady throws for close to 400 yards, we will call is 382 and 3 TDs – at least 2 of which are bombs to Moss over the head of Revis. Standout defensive performances from Meriweather, Mayo, and McGowan.”