"You can say a lot of things about me as a coach, OK? I'm sure you do and so do a lot of other people. But I'm just telling you guys something -- one thing I'm not is scared. ... I'm not apologizing to anyone for being aggressive and trying to win."

-- Bill Belichick, 2009 (talking to his team and captured in "A Football Life")

In a game absolutely stuffed with everything ranging from the bizarre -- Ed Hochuli rambling, Colin Kaepernick fumbling, Stevan Ridley very probably doing just enough to guarantee he will be on the sideline when things matter most in the playoffs, sacking of quarterbacks by helmet-less defensive tackles -- to the remarkable -- the Patriots very nearly matched the greatest regular-season comeback in NFL history against the best defense in football, scoring 28 points in just over eight minutes against a group that hadn't allowed more than 26 points in a game this season -- we left 49ers 41, Patriots 34 with an understanding that it would be difficult for a potential Round 2 in February to match Round 1 on the Bang For Your Buck Scale, a couple of big-picture questions for the Patriots and one mini-controversy.

There will doubtless be plenty of places to read about the struggles of the defense, some troubling stuff from the offensive line and all things Ridley, so let's look at this: With 2:24 left in the game and two timeouts in his pocket (that's why he keeps the challenge flag in his sock), Bill Belichick faced a decision on fourth-and-1 from the New England 12 with his team down 38-31.

If converted, the drive goes on and whatever happens from there on is at least (somewhat) controlled by Tom Brady and the offense, who had just put up those 28 points and had been successful on all three fourth-down conversions before the play. 

If it fails, the game basically is over. The 49ers almost certainly are going to kick a field goal (and force the Patriots to burn all their remaining timeouts), which would mean the Patriots would have to score, recover an onside kick and score again in two minutes or less with zero timeouts. 

Well, unless you called it a night at 31-3, (the largest home deficit of the Brady-Belichick era) or dozed off on the couch (the game did run about three hours and 45 minutes -- thanks again, Ed Hochuli) and still are unaware of the conclusion, Belichick elected to go for it on fourth down, Tom Brady overthrew Danny Woodhead and that was really that. Hello to 10-4 and likely the No. 3 seed in the AFC.

First, there is of course some serious fourth-down history with Belichick, most famously the fourth-and-2 in Indianapolis in November 2009. Now this isn't that, not even close. We all recognize the difference between going for it down seven points and going for it up six points. One is surprising, the other nearly unprecedented. 

At the time, I was critical of the decision against the Colts, ranking it No. 3 behind John McNamara's failure to remove Bill Buckner for defensive replacement Dave Stapleton, and Grady Little's blunder with Pedro Martinez on the Boston coaching disaster chart. Remember, the Colts had punted seven times and turned the ball over twice in that game. If you ran the ball three times and forced the Colts to use all their timeouts, the very worst the Patriots would have been looking at was probably a six-point lead and the Colts needing to go 70-75 yards with no timeouts left. But the Patriots threw the ball on second, third, and fourth down (still don't know if Kevin Faulk actually had the first down, just as I still don't know if Ted Ginn's leg touched the ball on the punt), Peyton Manning took over at the New England 29 and five plays later the game was over and it was Camelot for the professional Belichick-haters.

Thirty-seven months later, I still think I would have punted in that spot. But I've shifted somewhere closer to the middle, I understand why the decision was made and can recognize my thoughts that night were a staggering overreaction. This is unusual, it strikes me there seems to be pro-Belichick and anti-Belichick crowds in this town and you cannot cross the line. I don’t know how it got to this (I suspect plenty of it is only because he doesn't feed stuff to the media, what else is there, really?) but here we are.

The easiest thing in the world for an NFL coach to be is safe. We see it all the time, right? We've seen the Norv Turners and Jason Garretts and John Foxes of the world fail the Grapefruits Test against the Patriots in the last couple of years. No one would have second-guessed Belichick in 2009 and not many would have second-guessed if he had sent Zoltan Mesko out to punt on Sunday night. 

But I believe Belichick in this regard: He doesn't care what we think. Now, does some of that come with three Super Bowls, five AFC titles and the kind of job security that means he could have sent out Stephen Gostkowski to attempt a 95-yard field goal and no one in the organization would have questioned it? Of course. Maybe he would have punted in the same situation in his second year in Cleveland or in 2000 with the Patriots. Who knows?

There are 32 head coaches in the NFL. I’m thinking maybe four of five of them would have gone for it on Sunday night in that same spot -- with Harbaugh at the front of that list. But Belichick said after the game it was a no-brainer from his perspective, and I'm sure it was. Again, you have the best or second-best quarterback on the planet, on a roll, with the ball in his hands and a chance to tie the game. If you punt, you are taking a very real risk that Brady might not touch the ball again in that game. And you are putting a lot of faith in a defense that had already allowed 38 points, sure, but more importantly 178 yards on the ground. Plus this wasn't going to be a dull, three times up the middle and punt series from the 49ers, we were going to see a wrinkle or three from Kaepernick, Frank Gore and LaMichael James.

Now, the actual play itself -- a floater over the arms of Danny Woodhead, a lousy throw from Brady -- was a stinker. You'd like to see Wes Welker or Aaron Hernandez or Brandon Lloyd (10 catches, 190 yards) involved, but it was instead Woodehad. The play call from Josh McDaniels is fair to debate, as is the Patriots' decision to throw on all four downs on the drive, including on third-and-1 (if this was predetremined four-down territory, why not mix in a run on third-and-short? There was plenty of time; two timeouts plus the two-minute warning is an eternity for Brady).

But going for it was the right call. You don't take Tom Brady off the field if you don't think he's going to get back on the field. 

Does that make sense? If not, we can get Ed Hochuli to explain it to you.