and there’s a difference.

Is it possible for Bill Belichick to out-think himself? Did Ernie have one too many up in the booth and was seeing double last night? How to explain some of the the odd, un-hoodie-like coaching decisions and time mismanagement in an otherwise obviously methodical gameplan? Who knows? I definitely needed time to digest this game, and it’s completely understandable why MaPatsFan had to wait a bit before writing his Recap.

This was completely different from our other two losses against Miami and San Diego. Those two had elements where there were too many things going wrong at the same time — The O-Line, Cassel being consistently sacked, the defense not able to stop the run or the pass or anything really.

Last demonstrated a shift. The Colts, who were able to stop the Titans’ running game Monday night, for the most part couldn’t stop Green-Ellis or Faulk. Cassel had ample time to throw and in my opinion looked confident out there. No curling up with the ball and folding. Not even once. In fact the one time I thought he was going down, he ended up running with it for yards. He still has trouble seeing the open receiver options, but he looked good.

Our defense looked solid with the exception of Wilhite, who was one of the few not-ready-for-prime-time-players on the field. Vrabel had a good game, and the Colts were not allowed too many yards after the catch. I hated to see Wheatley go out especially after that outstanding play, tipping away one of Manning’s passes downfield.

Gaffney’s dropped pass? I felt bad for him, but anyone can make a physical error like that. Thomas’s penalty? At first it really bothered me, but you know, it wasn’t as if he whacked some guy after the play or acted out of undisciplined anger at someone. He was finishing his block and didn’t hear the whistle. I bet he never does it again, and I’m not going to lay the whole thing at his feet.

Knowing nothing about game-plans, last night’s seemed a bit too conservative to my amateur eyes. I won’t pretend to think I know better than the master, but whatever went wrong I have faith will be corrected for next week’s matchup against the Bills. Because in spite of the loss, too many things went right last night for us to be discouraged.

but the officiating in football as a whole has gone down the tubes. I watch the college games on Saturday and am just amazed at the calls they don’t make and at some they do. It’s just pitiful.

The NFL is no better. I was watching the Jets-Bills game yesterday when the Bills ran the fake punt. The side judge was standing right there and marked him three yards short of where he went out of bounds. The Bills had to waste a challenge to get the ball properly spotted because if they hadn’t, the Jets would have had great field position. I want someone to tell me how a man standing three feet from the play watching the man’s feet can mess up that bad and can keep his job as a ref. It’s ridiculous. It’s funny why NE never got to Manning. If you DVRed the game, go back and look at how many Pats were tackled trying to get to him. Look at how many times Bob Sanders hit the runners late, at least as late as what Thomas’ hit was, and he never got called for it. I guess they were overlooking it because he was rusty and his timing was off. Oh, and he plays for the Colts. It’s just frustrating that if you allow that to go on all game by one team, then you shouldn’t flag the other team for the same infraction.

Let me add that the refs were not the only reason we lost, just a part. If our offense doesn’t figure out how to turn the trips into the red zone into touchdowns, they don’t have a shot at beating a team like Pittsburgh or Tennessee. Ultimately, that’s what cost us the game last night. We shouldn’t have even been in the position of needing a tying score to stay in the game.

We also never ran any play-action. The safeties would cheat up and they throw a short pass. Safeties back and run the draw. Never did they try to go over the top when the safeties were up. If they don’t try to stretch the field more, it’s a lost cause, especially against a rookie CB. Even if you don’t complete the pass. you have to try at least a couple times a game to give the defense a little uneasy feeling. I mean, I understand simplifying the game, but you have RM. Put a scare in the defense that you intend to at least try to get the ball to him. That’s the main thing hurting the offense right now. Dinking and dunking is fine, but you score FGs. If you want to put 6 up, loosen the D up. I’m not knocking MC. He is doing exactly what he has been asked to do. But sooner or later, you gotta give the the kid keys to the car if you want him to learn to drive.

 And I really believe it was the difference