Did Bill Belichick Make the Right Call?

INDIANAPOLIS - NOVEMBER 15: Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots watches play in the fourth quarter of the game against the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium on November 15, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Colts won the game 35-34. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

Well, there has been a ton of discussion about whether Bill Belichick made the right call in the instant classic game between the Patriots and the Colts this past Sunday night. Because of that, I thought I’d compile a list of links to several stories (with synopses of some) to get many different takes on this. At the end, I’ll throw in my own thoughts on the call.

Tedy Bruschi’s take: It was an insult to the defense.

Gene Wojciechowski: Belichick flunked his open-book test

Mike Nadel: It’s what Belichick does.

Ron Borges: Maybe temporary insanity?

Advanced NFL Statistics: Statistically, the 4th down call made more sense.

More after the link.

Checking the Numbers: Pats-Colts Game Week 9

INDIANAPOLIS - NOVEMBER 15: Quarterback Peyton Manning #18 of the Indianapolis Colts greets Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots after the game at Lucas Oil Stadium on November 15, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Colts won the game 35-34. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

On Sunday Night Football, the New England Patriots traveled to Indianapolis to face the Colts. If Brett Favre had stayed retired, this would clearly have been the marquee game of this season. As it was, this game played out to be perhaps the most exciting finish this season. In a game where Tom Brady and the Pats appeared to be in control, a late gamble gave Peyton Manning and the Colts a short field and ultimately the 35-34 victory. Since you can get the game recaps plenty of places, here we will take a look at the teams stats and compare them with their opponents averages to this point in the season.

Do Roughing the Passer calls apply differently to Tom Brady?

In a recent interview on NFL Total Access, Joey Porter stated that different rules apply to Tom Brady when it comes to calling Roughing the Passer penalties. As the linked article says, there was some controversy over a couple of calls in the Ravens – Patriots game a few weeks. Ray Lewis complained about the calls after the game as well, and the penalty where the Ravens defender made almost no actual contact with Brady raised the most concern. So that go me thinking, is there actual evidence that Brady gets preferential treatment? Is this comment by Porter accurate?

When a guy can tell a ref when to throw a flag and he gets it and stuff like that, I mean he got his own rules

Falcons-Patriots Week 3 Preview

Matt Ryan

Tom Brady and Randy Moss

Yesterday, I said that the most exciting game of the coming NFL weekend may be the  Sunday Night Football game between the Indianapolis Colts and the Arizona Cardinals. If that’s so, this weekend’s meeting between the Atlanta Falcons and the New England Patriots should be right up there as well. This game will feature an intriguing matchup between one of the NFL’s budding stars in Matt Ryan, whose rookie season last year was among the best ever, and Tom Brady, considered by many the best QB in the game today, but who was also known for his early career success. Ryan has looked strong so far this year, while Brady has struggled. Will that trend continue, or will Brady return more to his 2007 form?

Checking the Numbers: Jets-Patriots Game

Nick Laham / Getty Images

On Sunday afternoon, the New England Patriots and New York Jets played a game that had been prefaced by much talk, mainly from the Jets’ side. Given the past fate of teams making similar comments to Kerry Rhodes’ victory guarantee, many people considered the Patriots heavy favorites. Few expected the Jets to repeat their Week 1 success against the Texans. The Jets won a hard-fought, close game, but how did each team look compared to what we would expect statistically? As I did with a few games last week, here I wanted to look at this game from my own analytical perspective.

Checking the Numbers: Bills-Patriots Game

(Elsa/Getty) Tom Brady leads the Patriots back to beat the Bills with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdown passes.

On Monday night, the New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills matched up for a game expected to be an easy win for the Pats. Surprisingly, the Bills held an 11 point lead late in the game, but some Tom Brady heroics combined with an untimely fumble on a kick return did in the Bills for a 12th straight time against New England. There are plenty of recaps out there reviewing the game, but here I wanted to look at this game from my own analytical perspective.

NE Patriots: How Likely is 16-0 Again?

Tom Brady and Randy Moss

Two years ago, the New England Patriots had a historic regular season, the first team in NFL history to go 16-0. In that season, they also set the record for most points scored in a regular season. They were only seconds away from finishing the season with an undefeated Super Bowl championship, which would have made them the second team to ever accomplish the feat. With Tom Brady returning from a torn ACL, are the Patriots poised to pursue perfection again?