This post comes from Tyler, our 13 year old Kid Correspondent, and owner of the 7-3 Tornado Peppers in the LBros League at Family Fantasy Sports.
Sunday night’s contest between the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts was one of the best football games of the 2009 NFL season. It was an exciting game that showcased the two best quarterbacks in the league, Tom Brady of the Patriots and Peyton Manning of the Colts. The matchup is called the “Rivalry of the Decade” since both these teams seem to fight it out for the top spot in the AFC almost every season. The game was played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis in front of 67,476 crazy football fans.
The Colts scored first when Joseph Addai caught a TD from Manning in the first quarter. However, the Patriots stormed back behind the dominant play of Brady and his favorite target, wide receiver Randy Moss, to take a 31-14 lead in the fourth quarter. Historically, a Patriots lead in the fourth quarter means a victory. Under Head Coach Bill Belichick’s, the Patriots had never lost when they led by at least 13 points in the final quarter. But this game would be different.
Midfield at the site of an all-time classic! Photo courtesy of Josh Hallett @flickr.
The Colts never gave up and played an incredible fourth quarter. Peyton Manning showed the world why he is such a great quarterback by leading three touchdown drives, including the game winning TD pass to Reggie Wayne with 13 seconds left that would give the Colts the victory. The final score came after a controversial call from Belichick that will be talked about for a long time to come. With just over two minutes remaining in the game, the Patriots faced a fourth-and-2 situation on their own 28 yard line. The safe move would have been to punt it away and force the Colts to march down the field for a winning touchdown. Coach Belichick decided to go for it rather than punt. But a pass from Brady to running back Kevin Faulk wasn’t far enough for the first down and the ball turned over the Colts.
Belichick defended his call and said, “We tried to win the game on that play. We had a good play, we completed it. I don’t know how we couldn’t get a yard.” Whether or not you agree with Belichick’s decision to go for it, you must admit that it was a gutsy call. If the Patriots did get the first down, many would have thought that he was a football genius. Unfortunately for New England, the gamble did not pay off and Manning became the hero of the game.
As a fantasy football team owner, I can tell you that the last quarter of Sunday night’s game was too much for me to handle. Going into the game, my fantasy team had a good lead on my opponent even though they had Joseph Addai. I had Laurence Maroney on my team, and things were looking good when he scored a touchdown in the first quarter. But like the Patriots, disaster struck my fantasy team. First, Maroney fumbled in the end zone what would have been a touchdown. I would have had a commanding lead if he scored. Instead, of all players to score for the Colts, it had to be Addai. His touchdown put my team down by one point. I was going crazy and I knew that I would be exhausted the next day at school, but this was what fantasy football is all about. I was hoping that the Patriots would be able to run out the clock and keep handing off to Maroney so I could regain the lead. But things were not meant to be! After they failed to make it on the controversial fourth down play, the chances of a fantasy football victory went down the drain.
I ask all you fantasy football players out there what you think of Belichick’s decision to go for it on fourth down. Do you think it was the right decision or was it too much of a risk? Do you think it will cost the Patriots a shot at the AFC championship?
If you would like to be a Kid Correspondent for Family Fantasy Sports, send your articles, thoughts, predictions, or reviews to Taz & Sal at info@familyfantasysports.com!
Tags: Bill Belichick, Peyton Manning, Rivaly of the Decade, Tom Brady