Box Score C0lts 35, Patriots 34

Coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots has won three Super Bowls, but he lost a fourth-down, go-for-it gamble here Sunday night that was as unconventional as it was unsuccessful.

“If we had made it, we win,” said Belichick, whose team didn’t make it and lost.

The Indianapolis Colts moved on with a 9-0 record after beating the Patriots 35-34 on Peyton Manning’s 1-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Reggie Wayne with 13 seconds left. The Patriots (6-3) flew home after a numbing defeat that was summed up in three words by quarterback Tom Brady.

“It was a bummer,” said Brady, who threw for 375 yards and three touchdowns.

The Patriots led by 17 points early in the final quarter. They led by 13 with 4:12 left.

They led by six, 34-28, with just more than two minutes left. That’s when they faced fourth-and-2 at their own 28-yard line. After calling a timeout, Belichick decided not to punt. The Patriots went for it.

But Brady’s pass to Kevin Faulk gained just a yard after he was tackle by Melvin Bullitt. When officials brought in the sticks for a measurement, New England had come up about a half-yard short.

At the two-minute warning, the Colts took over on downs at the New England 29. Manning won it with his pass to Wayne four plays later, the fourth TD toss of the game for Manning. (more…)