Bramble Tamble

Even if I didn't bleed blue for the Colts, I still would have had no problem with Bill Belichick's call to go for it on 4th-and-2. If you roll up 450 yards of offense and have shown the Colts' defense to be positively sieve-like, you reach for the dagger. Indy had seized the momentum at that point, and there's very little chance that the Patriots would have held on, even if Peyton Manning had to go 70-80 yards instead of 29. Manning got into a rhythm on the previous touchdown drive, and with one timeout and the two-minute warning remaining, I would have put my money on him regardless of the distance.

All that being said, it did backfire on New England, and the Colts are firmly entrenched in the driver's seat for a #1 seed in the playoffs. You can say whatever you want about the Patriots' poor clock management on their last drive, how they gift-wrapped the victory for the Colts, but great times find the way and the will to win, and I think it's safe to assume that the 2009 edition of the Indianapolis Colts are a great team.
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