01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, November 26, 2003

The fine, thread-thin line between genius and madman was never more clearly in evidence than when the Patriots were at the Texans' 4-yard line in the final minute of the fourth quarter Sunday in Houston.

It was 4th-and-1 and the Pats were trailing by seven points.

They needed a touchdown to send the game into overtime. At that moment, however, what they needed even more was a first down.

"Don't be surprised," I said to the guys on each side of me in the press box at Reliant Stadium, "if Charlie [Weis, the Patriots' offensive coordinator] goes for it all here."

"Are you crazy?" they both said, almost in unison. "That's too dangerous. Too much of a gamble. They only need a yard for a first down."

"That's just what Charlie probably is thinking that the Texans are thinking," I said. "I'll bet he takes a shot at going for it all, right here."

Down on the New England sideline, Weis was having much the same discussion with quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick during a timeout.

Weis wanted to go for the touchdown, to throw the ball into the end zone. Belichick, at first, said no. He wanted to run the ball and get at least a first down.

When Brady turned and trotted back toward the huddle, he was going to call a run. Rookie defensive lineman Joe Klecko had been sent in as a blocking back to clear the way for New England's big back, 232-pound Antowain Smith.

Suddenly, through the deafening din in the domed stadium, Brady heard Weis's voice over the headset in his helmet. To make sure he'd heard what he thought he'd heard, Brady ran back to the sideline, where Weis, holding his play card in front of his face so no one could read his lips, told Brady the decision had been made to throw the ball.

"We were talking about running the ball," Weis said, "but at the last second I said, 'Listen, we went into this game and that play was our lead goal-line play. Why go through all this planning and then change and go to a different play?' "

The play called for Brady to fake a handoff to Smith, then bootleg to his right and throw to tight end Daniel Graham, who would be in the end zone after faking a run-block.

"I thought David would be standing in the end zone by himself," Brady said.

No such luck.

Instead, Graham was covered by strong safety Eric Brown and Brady had a blitzing linebacker heading right at him. At that point, the chances of an interception, an incompletion, or a sack all appeared more likely than the Patriots' chances of getting six points.

And, if that had been the case, Weis would have been not merely criticized, but castigated, for throwing caution to the winds and throwing the ball, instead of trying to pound out the first down.

As it turned out, Brady and Graham bailed him out. Brady managed to elude the rush long enough for Graham to momentarily shake his defender, then got away a crisp pass that Graham, who'd dropped a couple of easy balls in the first half, leaped to bring down for the tying touchdown.

A stroke of genius, right?

Now let us consider the plight of Chris Palmer, the offensive coordinator for the Texans, who was quarterbacks coach under Bill Parcells when the Pats went to the Super Bowl in 1996.

"Odd play-calling makes this one hurt even more," read the Monday morning headline in The Houston Chronicle.

Palmer was taken to task for taking a chance and trying to throw downfield in overtime to standout rookie wide receiver Andre Johnson on successive plays when the Texans had 2nd-and-8 at the New England 40 after their block of a field-goal attempt by the Pats.

Tyrone Poole, playing cornerback for New England, had both passes covered, and the Texans had to punt.

"We liked the matchup there and we took a shot at it," Texans coach Dom Capers said.

"If [Johnson] hangs on to it," said Palmer, "we have the ball at the five. These opportunties come up and you try to exploit them."

On the Texans' next possession, which began at the New England 35 after a poor punt by Ken Walter out of his own end zone, Palmer was ripped for being too conservative.

Needing only a few yards to move into high-percentage field-goal range for Kris Brown, the Texans twice gave the ball to their elusive young running back, Domanick Davis.

On first down, Davis was stopped for no gain by Willie McGinest. On second down, McGinest slashed into the backfield and dropped Davis for 5-yard loss.

When a third-down pass to Johnson was incomplete, the Texans had no choice but to punt, after which the Patriots drove from their own 14 to the game-winning field goal.

So, in the final analysis, Weis was brilliant while Palmer was nuts.

The truth, of course, is that what makes a play the right call in the eyes of the fans, and most of the media, all depends on whether it turns out right.

The Texans had the fourth-down pass to Graham covered initially, but the playmaking of Brady and his tight end turned a busted play into a dramatically successful one.

And, because McGinest and Poole made outstanding defensive plays at crucial times, the plays called by Palmer were foolish.

Crazy, isn't it?