Colts President Bill Polian said on Saturday that he believes Patriots coach Bill Belichick made the right call when he went for it on fourth-and-2 late in a game in Indianapolis last season.
And not just because the gamble backfired and led to the Colts’ victory.
Speaking at a sports analysis conference hosted by MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Polian said Belichick made the correct call not because statistical models indicate that coaches should go for it on fourth down more often, but because in that game, at that time, it gave the Patriots their best chance of winning.
“Was it the right call? In my opinion, it was 100 percent the right decision,” Polian said. “All of the statistical analysis that’s done over the course of the season means nothing. The situation on the field at the time dictates the decision.”
In that case, Polian said, the decision was right. Even if it didn’t work.
I like that Bellicheck was playing to win, rather than not to lose.
It takes a gutsy coach to do that, which you hardly see in the NFL.
He’s correct, although he remains the biggest douchebag in the NFL.
Holy s***! one of the most conservative people in the industry is backing the loose cannon Bill Belichick?
Amazingly this is still being debated.
You don’t give Peyton the ball back to win the game, so if you only need 2 yards to win you go for it.
The call was good, the execution was bad. It’s that simple.
“100 percent the right decision”"
Yeah, it is the right decision, for the Colts.
That was one of the most assinine decisions I have ever seen in a football game. I guess Belicheat is having a tough time without the use of video tape.
The decision was spot on. A designed play not to Moss or Welker, however, was idiotic at best.
And resting starters was the right decision…yeah right.
I’m a Colts fan and love Polian in charge of selecting players. But his personal opinions (especially about in game decisions) he can shove. But then again, he doesn’t care what we fans think anyway.
Of course it was right.
The Patriots’ Defense had lost its top two Pass Rushers to injury in that game, they weren’t getting pressure on Manning anymore; and the officiating had just gifted the Colts with a bogus PI call with 3 minutes left in the game to keep the Colts rolling.
The Patriots get a first down, games all over. The Patriots punt, its almost certain that the games all over as well, in favor of the Colts. What was there to think about?
Does anyone really think 60 yards would have been any more different than 30 yards for Manning and the Colts in that situation?
This has got to be the stupidest thing Polian’s ever said. It’s called a distinction without a difference Bill…its precisely that statistical work which has changed how coaches view the situation on the field. We actually know that Belichick has read the work on this. But I suppose we can’t let those nerds with their pocket protectors be right about anything…
Yet, think of all the criticism of Bellichick by national media after that game. Interesting that noone killed Payton after his SB gambles.
Nobody cares about what that pompous clown Polian thinks………except for choke artist Manning.
Polian, go plant your lips where they are 99% of the time……….on Mannings backside, and throw your O-Line under the bus some more.
And Irsay go plant your lips as well where they are 99% of the time…………on Goodell’s backside.
What about the decision to make no history (14-2 season with no SB) then to at least make some history (16-0 season).
“it gave the Patriots their best chance of winning.”
–
IF THEY MADE IT …
BUT what it also did and even more s was it “gave the Patriots an ALMOST CERTAIN LOSS if they did not”.
AND they gave the colts time to change their lineup with that time-out so there was absolutely NO SURPRISE and they had just failed to make it on the same try for those 2 yards on the 3rd down play.
polian should shut up already
well he is wrong
I think it was absolutely the right call. If Faulk didn’t slightly bobble the ball or the Pats got a slightly more favorable spot it was game over. If they had decided to punt, Peyton Manning would’ve had a ton of time to go about 60-70 yards against a defense he had just shredded on the previous few drives.
I actually had a few bucks on the Colts for that one and believe me, my heart sunk a little when I saw the Pats were gonna go for it. They didn’t make it but if that’s my team I’d rather put it on Brady and my offense to get 2 yards with 1 shot than rely on my defense to shut down Peyton Manning and the Colts offense with the game on the line.
What did he think about Peyton’s decision to throw the football into the arms of a Saints defender for a pick six and 14 point swing in the Superbowl? Just wondering.
Yeah, okay. Pats still haven’t done much of anything since they had to quit cheating.
You left out the part where he then blamed the Patriots offensive line for the reason they didnt convert.
How is it the 100% right decision if he lost the game? That makes no sense. It’s like republicans still trying to embrace trickle down economics after, you know, its creator Art Laffer recently admitted its failure.
If anyone else made that call they would be fired for it. It was the wrong decision and bb is a cheater.
I can’t believe anyone even thinks about it anymore. Everyone’s got the hindsight to say they shouldn’t have done it, but it was a gutsy move that would have worked without a alight bobble of the ball. Call it a lucky match Indy shouldn’t have burned before they got to Miami.
I would have loved to read the comments from PFT and the fans if that call had been made by Childress or somebody not named Bill.
While Belichick made the right call on 4th and 2, he made the wrong call after the turnover on downs by trying to stop the Colts. If he let Addai walk into the endzone (instead of stopping him on the 2 yard line), Brady would have had ~1:30 to come back and get a field goal to win the game. Instead, the Colts ran down the clock and got the TD anyways and with no timeouts left the Patriots couldn’t put together anything and lost by 1.
Yeah, they’ve only gone 39-13 since they stopped taping. They suck.
I’m a Patriots fan. I watched and recorded the game. I watched the entire series over and over again.
The call was the right call. The problem is that the offense wasn’t prepared to execute it and had to call a timeout.
Kudos to BB for going for it, but shame on him for not making that decision before the series started and having his offense ready.
And that is the underlying reason they lost that game. Faulk caught the ball, Bullit made a play. But, calling that timeout, giving the Colts time to reset and basically poorly planning that series cost them the game.
An iffy call even if it was fourth and an inch and a qb sneak was called.
To throw a pass on fourth and two is insanely BAD coaching.
So many things can go wrong … and lo and behold one did.
Yeah, okay. Pats still haven’t done much of anything since they had to quit cheating.
Ummm…..they went 16-0, 11-5 without their starting QB and made the playoffs this past year…
I would think there is at least 20 teams that would have liked to have those results???
Right call by Belichick.
Wrong call by official.
How many NFL coaches come on this site…??? The only thing I see, is a bunch of Armchair , Monday Morning QB’s. Hey Mike Z, its bitches like you who constantly make stupid comments. You’re just pissed cause your probably a Raiders fan.
Polian said. “All of the statistical analysis that’s done over the course of the season means nothing.
Then why do it dumbass?
I don’t get it – on one hand Manning is a *Choke Artist* but then in this situation he surely would have gone on a last minute, 60 yard game winning TD against the Pats.
I was at the conference and there was a lot more to his point than is stated here. He went through the laundry list of cornerbacks that were hurt/dinged up which jonathan kraft confirmed which factored in and discussed the percentages of getting the first down and having more time to score if the colts pulled ahead. Simmons was part of the panel too. It was a great take. I’ve never been a polian fan but he came across as extremely knowledgable about the game and I actually walked away with much more respect for him
Indy had 2 prior TD drives that 4th Q. One was 79 yards in 5 plays that took 1:52. The other was 79 yards in 7 plays that took 1:45. Why would anyone think the Pats D would be able to stop the Indy offense with 70-80 yards to go with over 2 min? Especially a competent offense that is playing with 4 downs instead of 3 downs.
The Colts coaching staff and owners are a bunch of pussy morons.
Nobody cares their opinion
“Listen, there’s people stealing signals all the time before that. You have ways to hide those things. We had wristbands for our defense. I remember trying to get offensive plays and see what the formations were. Everybody knows.
“You’re trying to gain a competitive edge. Did that go beyond it? To a degree. Do I think that helped them win football games? No. You still have to go out and play the game. I still have a hard time believing that was a difference in a game.”
- Bill Cowher
hey dirt mcgirt. have u ever watched a patriots game? anyone who has knows that kevin faulk has made just as many big 3rd and 4th down conversions than than anyone on the team in the last 80 yrs since hes been on the roster. i love when people playing madden franchise all day call a something a coach that won 3 super bowls and that led a team to 16 undefeated regular season games say he did something idiotic. by the way faulk made the play it was a terrible spot.
Definitive Logic My A$$! Total Dis-regard For Common Sense!!
WHY are we still talking about this? Go away, MDS.
Hatethepats says:
I don’t get it – on one hand Manning is a *Choke Artist* but then in this situation he surely would have gone on a last minute, 60 yard game winning TD against the Pats.
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It is easy to look over the body of Manning’s work, during the season, especially when playing in Indy, almost all the calls go Manning’s way, and he excells in regular games.
In the playoffs, against top competition that is putting out great effort, he has proven to be a mediocre QB, at best.
The Colts have been in the playoffs more than 10 times under Manning, but once they start letting ‘boys be boys’ and they don’t gift the Colts with critical PI calls when they need them, they have a tendency to lose. Infact, most games they’ve won in the playoffs was with help from questionable or outright wrong PI calls.
I remember that bogus OPI they called on Gonzalaz in KC that one playoff game… horrid officiating in favor of the Colts. In 2006 against the Patriots, they were getting their butts kicked until the officiating stepped in and gifted them with OPI against Brown, and then a ‘face guarding’ call against Hobbs to set up a TD… without the officials I don’t think they would have ever sniffed a SB.
# Doctor Connors says: March 7, 2010 12:23 PM
“Listen, there’s people stealing signals all the time before that. You have ways to hide those things. We had wristbands for our defense. I remember trying to get offensive plays and see what the formations were. Everybody knows.
“You’re trying to gain a competitive edge. Did that go beyond it? To a degree. Do I think that helped them win football games? No. You still have to go out and play the game. I still have a hard time believing that was a difference in a game.”
- Bill Cowher
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Take your intelligent researched stuff elsewhere. This is PFT where ones like Mize Z and Bonnie D makes up abo0ut 80% of the commenters.
last starfighter says: March 7, 2010 10:25 AM
How is it the 100% right decision if he lost the game? That makes no sense. It’s like republicans still trying to embrace trickle down economics after, you know, its creator Art Laffer recently admitted its failure.
Whether or not the play succeeded has nothing to do with whether it was the right decision or not. Belichick did not have the hindsight we have when he made the decision. Of course if he knew the play would fail he wouldn’t have called it. With the information available at the time, the decision is very defensible. It’s a pretty simple concept.