Belichick regrets 4th down call in AFCG
Towards the end of the third quarter in last Sunday's Championship loss to Denver, the sputtering Patriots offense had managed to breach enemy territory, and faced a difficult 4th and 3 situation on the Broncos' 29-yard line.
Rather than opt for a 47 yard field goal, well within Pro Bowl Kicker Stephen Gostowski's range, Belichick decided to go for it with his team down 20-3. As we all know now, it did not work out. Tom Brady was sacked by Terrance Knighton on a blown protection by Logan Mankins, and the Patriots never recovered. Speaking on WEEI about the play earlier this week, Bill had this to say (Quote from Pro Football Talk):
Over the years, Bill has made some questionable decisions on 4th down. The most notable, by far, being his decision to go for it on 4th and 2 game in a regular season showdown with the Colts in 2009. That decision was much more controversial given the Patriots had the lead and were at their own 29 yard line at the time the decision to go for it was made.
However, in a certain way, a similar line of thinking may have motivated Bill's decision in both games. And that line of thinking was that Bill didn't believe his defense, both the 2009 and 2014, was capable of stopping Peyton Manning and his offense.
In both cases, the coach probably felt it was best to do everything possible to keep the ball out of Peyton's hands. Short conversions on inside passes and draw runs are often the Patriots bread and butter, a high percentage play in most situations. Unfortunately, in the two aforementioned cases, it simply didn't work out.
Personally, I didn't have a problem going for it in Sunday's game and I don't have a problem with it now. It is easy to justify the argument that the team should have kicked the field goal, and the numbers would have worked out better later in the game. But that point of view lacks context.
Leading up to the 4th and 3 play, the Patriots had failed to do ANYTHING offensively. Conversely, the Peyton and the Broncos-O were beginning to open the floodgates. At that point in the game, the Patriots had a potential red-zone opportunity and I believe Bill was right to try and capitalize on it with a touchdown. Unfortunately, his players could not execute when it mattered most. Unfortunately, that was the resonating theme throughout the AFC Championship game. A failure to execute by the New England Patriots when it mattered most.
What do you guys think? Let us know what you think in the comments section or on Twitter: @PatriotsLife and @LiamPCunningham
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| Jamie Squire/Getty Images |
Rather than opt for a 47 yard field goal, well within Pro Bowl Kicker Stephen Gostowski's range, Belichick decided to go for it with his team down 20-3. As we all know now, it did not work out. Tom Brady was sacked by Terrance Knighton on a blown protection by Logan Mankins, and the Patriots never recovered. Speaking on WEEI about the play earlier this week, Bill had this to say (Quote from Pro Football Talk):
“Those three points would have been good to have at the end of the game if we would have made the kick, which we would have had a good chance to,” Belichick said, via Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com. “I felt like, at the time, we were down by 17 points, only had three points, and hadn’t got down there very much. I don’t think you’re going to beat Denver kicking field goals, but . . . if we would have had a field goal and then the two touchdowns we ended up getting later on, those would have been important points for us. I don’t know that was the right decision. It wasn’t, obviously, when we lost yardage on fourth down and gave the ball back without any points.”
Over the years, Bill has made some questionable decisions on 4th down. The most notable, by far, being his decision to go for it on 4th and 2 game in a regular season showdown with the Colts in 2009. That decision was much more controversial given the Patriots had the lead and were at their own 29 yard line at the time the decision to go for it was made.
However, in a certain way, a similar line of thinking may have motivated Bill's decision in both games. And that line of thinking was that Bill didn't believe his defense, both the 2009 and 2014, was capable of stopping Peyton Manning and his offense.
In both cases, the coach probably felt it was best to do everything possible to keep the ball out of Peyton's hands. Short conversions on inside passes and draw runs are often the Patriots bread and butter, a high percentage play in most situations. Unfortunately, in the two aforementioned cases, it simply didn't work out.
Personally, I didn't have a problem going for it in Sunday's game and I don't have a problem with it now. It is easy to justify the argument that the team should have kicked the field goal, and the numbers would have worked out better later in the game. But that point of view lacks context.
Leading up to the 4th and 3 play, the Patriots had failed to do ANYTHING offensively. Conversely, the Peyton and the Broncos-O were beginning to open the floodgates. At that point in the game, the Patriots had a potential red-zone opportunity and I believe Bill was right to try and capitalize on it with a touchdown. Unfortunately, his players could not execute when it mattered most. Unfortunately, that was the resonating theme throughout the AFC Championship game. A failure to execute by the New England Patriots when it mattered most.
What do you guys think? Let us know what you think in the comments section or on Twitter: @PatriotsLife and @LiamPCunningham
