Belichick decision one for the books

Bill Belichick's decision to go for it on fourth-and-2 inside his own 30-yard line in Sunday night's New England Patriots-Indianapolis Colts game was as reckless as it was disastrous. Sure, Peyton Manning two-minute-drilled his way through the Patriots to get to six down on the previous possession, and a conversion would put the game away. But there's a reason NFL teams carry punters. Pinning the Colts in their own end, needing a touchdown and not a field goal, with no timeouts and less than two minutes to go - a lot less time in the NFL than in college football - would have forced greatness from Manning.

As it was, only moderate mediocrity was required when the Patriots failed to convert.

Belichick gets credit for defying the holy "book" TV commentators are so fond of citing, but it was a bad idea for the same reason the fan-favorite strategy of "letting them score" late in a game is a bad idea: Nothing in football is ever assured, and it takes only one mishandled snap to prove that. That puts Belichick's go-for-it decision somewhere among the silliest coaching decisions that backfired - Tuesday's Top Five.

5. Chaney's unnecessary roughness: John Chaney wanted more toughness on the basketball court in a rough-and-tumble game when the Temple coach sent out little-used Nehemiah Ingram against St. Joseph's, but sending out Ingram with instructions to foul deliberately, to protest the officiating, went too far. Ingram took down St. Joe's John Bryant, breaking his arm, and Chaney's proud career with the Owls started coming to a close.

4. Belichick forgets he has a punter: Belichick's confidence in his offense was his downfall, and it may have cost the Patriots a chance to host the AFC title game, which could potentially be a Patriots-Colts rematch.

3. TO, Roy, TO: Roy Williams has won two national titles at North Carolina, so no one is questioning his credentials, but the Heels might have had a chance at a third if they had held onto a 10-point lead over George town in the 2007 regional final. As UNC missed shot after shot over a three-minute span - five straight in all - Williams waited to call one of his four remaining timeouts until the lead was down to three. It was too late. The Hoyas had the momentum and won in overtime.

2. Take a knee: Kevin Steele was about to lock up his first win as football coach at Baylor when he decided he wanted a little more. UNLV was out of timeouts with less than a minute to play and all Baylor had to do was kneel on the ball, but Steele kept running the ball, trying to run up the score.

Darrell Bush fumbled on the goal line and UNLV recovered and returned it for a 100-yard touchdown and a three-point win. Baylor went 1-10 that season, and Steele lasted only four seasons in Waco.

1. Take the ball: At least most of those decisions had an upside. Steele, for example, wanted to instill some swagger in the downtrodden program; Williams and Belichick believed in their players. There was no explaining Detroit Lions coach Marty Mornhinweg's decision to kick after winning the overtime coin toss against the Chicago Bears in 2002. The Bears scored before the Lions ever touched the ball.

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