INDIANAPOLIS, IN - The New England Patriots continued their season of dominance by beating the Indianapolis Colts 24-20 in the much-anticipated midseason clash of unbeatens. Seemingly eager to remain at the center of controversy, Patriot's
head coach Bill Belichick continued his quest to pad the statistics of his star quarterback in the win. With the game well at hand, Belichick sent in Tom Brady late in the fourth quarter to chip away at Peyton Manning's game ending kneel-down record.
"Quite frankly, I was shocked when he went back in." said Colts head coach Tony Dungy. "They had the lead and we were out of time outs. Anybody could have taken those snaps. I'm surprised [Belichick] would risk injuring his premier player for a few cheap kneel-downs."
"Obviously they were rubbing our noses in it." said Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning, visibly shaken by the turn of events. "I don't care one bit about statistics, but those three [kneel-downs] at the end definitely skewed the standard deviation and increased the probability of eclipsing my mark by 47%."
Brady, who is on pace to shatter Manning's season touchdown pass record of 49, now has the inside track to break the so-called 'victory formation' record as well, a mark secretly coveted by Manning. "That's my play - no one can touch me on that play." he has been reported to say.
Belichick defended his decision to put Brady back in the game, vehemently denied the ongoing accusations of hoarding stats for his quarterback, and dispelled any notion of contrived late-game theatrics: "It is what it is." he said.
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