0 Carpenter kicks home to surpass the Patriots 22-21. Posted by DieHardFans | at 2:24 AM

Over the last four weeks the New England Patriots have looked less like contenders and more like pretenders as they are making their way through the NFL campaign. On November 15, New England lost a game they should have won to the Indianapolis Colts due to a terrible decision made by head coach Bill Belichick and a display of ineptitude by the team’s defense in the last quarter.

The following week they had some consolation as they beat a lackluster New York Jets team as a payback for their loss earlier this season. Last Monday night they were run over by the New Orleans Saints and were pummeled by a score of 38-17. The Patriots this Sunday played in Miami’s Land Shark Stadium against division rivals the Dolphins. New England needed a win against the Dolphins not mathematically but psychologically; they needed to show themselves that they could bounce back from a beating they had gotten Monday night.

The Patriots would hold the lead the entire contest; except when it counted as the game became a final with the Dolphins getting a 22-21 come from behind victory. Kicker Dan Carpenter kicked a 41 yard field goal with 1:02 left to play giving the Dolphins their first lead of the game at 22-21. The Patriots had the time to make one more drive to comeback and grab the victory. Unfortunately for the Patriots that did not happen as their QB Tom Brady was intercepted by Dolphins linebacker at the Patriots 40 with 35 seconds to play. It was the first interception Crowder had made in the NFL and it could not have come at a more opportune time as it clinched the come from behind win for the Dolphins. If you just look at the statistical breakdown of this game the Patriots really had no business leading for most of the contest. Miami held onto the rock for 32:37 while New England had it for 5 minutes less at 27:23.

However in spite of those numbers, the Patriots would dominate the scoreboard for most of the contest and appeared that they would take this game quite easily until the latter stages of the game. The two quarterbacks were a study in contrast as Henne improved as the game went along and completed 29/52 pass attempts for a total of 335 yards; with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception where it seemed Brady peaked early on and then trailed off completing 19/29 for 352 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Miami is back to even as they are now 6-6 with the victory and they will be in Jacksonville next Sunday to take on the Jags. New England still leads the mediocre AFC East with a record of 7-5 and will play host next Sunday to Carolina.

0 Jets get back to basics and upend the Panthers 17-6. Posted by DieHardFans | at 2:57 AM

The old-school route worked, as the Jets beat the Carolina Panthers, 17-6, in a game that was never really in doubt. Jets rookie and quarterback Mark Sanchez had been struggling. Sunday, saw the game plan from Rex Ryan and his coaching staff, pay off. It was clear the defense and running game was at its peak. "We're rolling now and we can't think about a month ago," said Sanchez, who left for four plays after injuring his left leg. He was however, able to return late.

He wasn't given a heavy workload at all, unless you consider handing off a daunting task and attempting just 17 passes, while RB’s Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene combined for 35 carries. Carolina briefly worked themselves back into the playoff picture a few weeks ago at 4-5, but consecutive losses to AFC East teams have them looking to build toward next season.

0 Belichick’s Gamble fails as Colts edge the Pats 35-34! Posted by DieHardFans | at 2:30 AM

The Indy Colts have gone from winning games with relative ease, to escaping by the skin of their teeth. As luck would have it, their opponents on Sunday were the New England Patriots, led by Tom Brady. However, there was a twist in the tale at the Lucas Oil Stadium. The Pats would seal their fate not by anything that Brady did, but by a bold and questionable play called by head coach Bill Belichick.

The screw up enabled Indianapolis to rally from 17 down to edge them 35-34. We will talk more on the Belichick gamble later. The Indianapolis Colts drew first blood as Peyton Manning tossed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Joseph Addai, giving them 7-0 lead. The second quarter would find New England racking up points in short order. They would score twice in 4 minutes, the first being a 63-yard TD pass from Brady to Randy Moss and the second being a 9-yard Brady to Julius Edelman, which gave them a comfortable 24-7 lead with 7:19 left in the half.



However, the Colts reduced New England’s lead to ten as Manning riffled a 20-yard TD pass to Reggie Wayne, making it 24-14 which would be the half-time score.

As opposed to the previous periods, the third quarter was a battle of attrition albeit scoreless. The fourth quarter found Patriots striking early as Brady threw a 5-yard TD pass to Moss, increasing their lead to 31-14. Sounds like lights out?

Hold on fans, things got better, just gets better, especially for a Colts fan. With 12:14 remaining in the game, Manning tossed a 29-yard TD pass to Garcon which narrowed the Patriots’ lead to 31-21. They would come storming back; all credit goes to Manning and a little help from Belichick. Addai would score from a yard out, putting the Colts to 34-28 with 2:23 left in the game; then came the erroneous judgement by Belichick.

New England had the ball but Belichick called two timeouts during the series, with the second TO setting up their fourth down play. Typically on a fourth and 2 against Indianapolis, you’d punt the ball and let Manning try and beat you. But Belichick opted to go for it on fourth down. The gamble didn’t pay off and they gave the Colts the ball at the opposition 29-yard line with 1:57 left in the game, an eternity when Manning is in charge. He would run three plays before connecting with Wayne for the winning score, a 1-yard TD pass. Manning played true to form, throwing for 327 yards with 4 TD’s and 2 INT’s while Brady went for 375 yards with 3 TD’s and an INT. Indianapolis (9-0) play again on Sunday, when they face the Baltimore Ravens while New England (6-3) returns home to host the New York Jets on Sunday.