Sports Redux: Um

In ten years prowling the Patriots' sidelines, Bill Belichick has earned all kinds of trust and goodwill and benefit-of-the-doubt. Which is good, because he needs it this morning.

Bill's controversial (we probably need a word stronger than that) decision to go for it on fourth down, in Pats territory, late in the game, was the centerpiece of a bona fide fourth quarter collapse that turned a city around quicker than any city's turned around since Ron Burgundy told San Diego where to go on the air. If Kevin Faulk's arms were two inches longer...if the refs had given a friendlier spot...if the Patriots had a time out left so they could maybe talk some sense into one another...we'd be talking about an awesome display of vintage Patriots football. Instead, we're talking about whether Bill has gone rogue.

Nobody on the team is breaking from the script. "No matter what he does, to us, that's going to be the right call," said Faulk. "I don't ever second-guess coach Belichick," said Brady. No, we'll leave the puzzled rage to the media, starting with Rodney Harrison, who looked like he was ready to cry last night as he dissected the play calling (to further the Anchorman analogy, Rodney will be playing the Chris Parnell character). Dan Shaughnessy joyfully whizzes all over the coach and Patriots fans; no way we're linking to that.

For our part, we're going to dwell on the myriad other ways the Pats could have won this game. Like, for instance, the first two drives of the second half, which ended in two turnovers in Indy's end zone; there's 14 points right there. Like tacking Joseph Addai at the 1-yard line when they could have let him in and had a minute or so to get down the field instead of 13 seconds. And we're going to reluctantly take our hat off to Peyton and the Colts, who survived getting (let's face it) blown out in the first half and stayed in the game. And we're going to comfort ourselves, however mildly, with the thought that Indy is still undefeated, and the '72 Dolphins have to be feeling almost as lost and confused as we are this morning.

Still haven't had enough? Still pacing back and forth? The Globe tries to explain that going for it on 4th-and-2 was a defensible call. Peter King disagrees. And the Indy press is as baffled as anybody.

And if that's not enough....just do what Bill and the boys are doing in Foxboro this morning. Trying to forget the past and starting to get ready for the Jets.