Random Thoughts (November 3, 2008)

For those of you who stayed up last night, you were a witness to a rare occurance. Bill Belichick sucked last night. It's not like he was simply outcoached by his opponent. He was just terrible. His challenge in the third quarter of the Colts having too many players on defense was a waste of a challenge and a waste of a timeout. It cost the Pats later when he could have challenged Kevin Faulk's failed two-point conversion. Later, in the fourth quarter, he used his last timeout on a 4th-and-inches that was converted by Matt Cassel. Not only did the Pats lose a possible first down, they used their final timeout which would come back to haunt them at the end of the game. Instead of possible taking the lead, the Pats ended up evening the score at 15-15 on a Stephen Gostkowski field goal. It is very rare to see Belichick effect the outcome of one of his games in such a negative fashion. It is hard to think of another game in which his decisions were so poor. I guess that is why he is a Hall of Fame coach with three Super Bowls on his resume and not Rod Rust... Some other quick-hit thoughts from the Pats-Colts tilt:

• Matt Cassel continues to develop into a solid quarterback. He may end up just good enough for the Pats to get a decent draft pick in return for his services in April.
• Kevin Faulk continues to amaze. After Super Bowl XXXVI, I was sure that J.R. Redmond would be playing this role but Faulk is still kicking ass and picking up first downs.
• I saw enough good plays from Brandon Meriweather and Terrence Wheatley to believe the secondary could become a strength at some point.
• As good as Cassel has played at times, it sucks to think we are missing one of Tom Brady's prime seasons.
• Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, and even (slightly) Reggie Wayne are getting older but second-year receiver Anthony Gonzalez will keep that trio young through at least 2009.
• Even when you take into account Belichick's mistakes, the Pats would have won this game if Jabar Gaffney didn't drop a sure TD and David Thomas didn't take a 15-yard late-hit penalty.

There were more punches thrown in Saturday's Bruins-Stars game than in most major boxing pay-per-view events. That is great thing for hockey fans, not so good for boxing fans...

Texas Tech-Texas was absolutely phenomenal. Graham Harrell's game winning TD pass to Michael Crabtree was the best play in college football this season...

Even with the great win, I don't think Texas Tech should have vaulted past unbeaten Penn State in the polls...

How in hell are the Tennessee Titans undefeated? That's right, they play great defense and their offense doen't commit stupid turnovers. The Cowboys should be paying attention...

I would love to promise a college hoops preview but my obligations to the faithful readers are backing up enough already. My preseason Top 5: UNC, Oklahoma, UConn, Duke and Texas...

Enjoy Obama and McCain on MNF tonight...