FanHouse BillBelichick

It was two years ago that then-Jets head coach Eric Mangini ratted out the Patriots for what would become Spygate. The NFL slapped Bill Belichick with a $500,000 fine, took away one of their first-round picks, and kindly asked us to move on.

Eventually we did, but not before accusing the Patriots of cheating their way to three Super Bowl titles this decade before karma intervened by way of David Tyree.

New England became an afterthought when Tom Brady went down 15 minutes into the 2008 season, football gods and Pats-hating fans finally mollified. But it was only a matter of time before the Dark Lord found new ways to gain an advantage over opponents. And now, after some time off to regroup, Belichick is back, this time with psychological warfare. Or as the liberals would call it: subtle forms of torture.

Read on in mock incredulity:

The nerds in the nerdery proved that, statistically, Bill Belichick was right to go for it on 4th and 2 against the Colts last week.

Pretty sure there isn't an egghead on the planet who'd support first-year Yale head coach Tom Williams' decision to call a fake punt from his own 25 on 4th and 22 with just over two minutes to go and leading Harvard 10-7. But he did. It didn't work. And a few plays later Harvard scored to make it 14-10. Game over.

Williams explained the decision after the game:

The laws of probability support Bill Belichick's late-game decision to go for it on fourth down (and, for what it's worth, so do I), but I imagine that's little consolation to Patriots fans today. Upshot: it's more than enough material for the curmudgeons who make their living penning misguided "get off my lawn!" diatribes about, well, anything.

But the last two minutes of the game obscured the biggest story of the day coming out of Lucas Oil Stadium: health code violations in the kitchen. That's right, mouse droppings AND dead mice were found in the food preparation areas. In all, officials said inspections at the stadium led to 42 citations and nearly $4,000 in fines. And the revelation obviously has some fans concerned.

What Bill Belichick did Sunday night has happened before. It justifiably earned Barry Switzer the nickname "Bozo The Coach'' for failing TWICE on fourth down in the late stages of a tie game. And the Eagles' Andy Reid did the opposite of the New England coach on Sunday, eschewing fourth-and-short twice to kick field goals in what turned out to be an eight-point loss.

Switzer's mistake didn't prevent Dallas from winning its third Super Bowl in four seasons in the early '90s, but it left Switzer at the top of the oft-debated list of worst coaches to win a title.

On Nov. 15, 1995, the Cowboys were playing in Philadelphia and faced a fourth down and 1 on their own 29 with the game tied 17-17 and just over two minutes left. Switzer decided to go for it and sent Emmitt Smith left over the massive Nate Newton.

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As Bill Belichick very quickly left the field on Sunday night after the Patriots' shocking loss to the Colts, most people were still yelling incoherent things and trying to figure out what the hell happened at the end of the game (quick summary: Belichick got aggressive on a fourth down, the Patriots didn't convert and it cost them the game ... although, if he makes that everyone's praising him this morning). Some other people, however -- trained professionals at the stadium -- were trailing him with a camera.

And some other people were walking with Belichick, keeping the annoying media away. The combination (collision?) of the two resulted in this awesome clip:

If the Dolphins had been able to march into Foxborough Sunday and find a way to beat the vaunted New England Patriots Sunday, the AFC East would have been quite the muddled division. Even the Buffalo Bills would have been within striking distance, while the Jets and Dolphins would have trailed the Pats by a single game with eight to play.

After a Ronnie Brown touchdown pass -- which was surely a flashback to last year's Wildcat-fest in New England -- the Patriots found themselves facing a 17-16 deficit with 4:51 left in the third quarter, and the Dolphins appeared on the verge of the critical road upset.

But Tom Brady, Randy Moss and company weren't having that.

NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.

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Two-point conversions are a staple of high school football, mostly because at that level the quarterback or running back are more reliable options than the kicker.

So it's not altogether noteworthy that Central High School went for two after scoring a touchdown. What separates this particular attempt from any other I've ever seeen is that quarterback Will Briscoe went with the behind-the-back pass into the end zone. And he completed it for the converstion.

Video evidence after the jump.

NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.

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NFL Coaches Fight Club: the Tournament. Because we have nothing better to do than predict what might happen if head coaches started punching each other in the face.

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