Bill Belichick: Patriots didn't heavily consider going for it on fourth down in overtime
BOSTON -- On its face, the concept of going for it on fourth-and-5, on the road, with a rookie QB dressed on an NFL Sunday for the first time, in Lambeau Field, with 78,000 people screaming and millions of people watching at home, is, well, a bit far-fetched.
But, with Aaron Rodgers champing at the bit to get the ball back and end a frustrating afternoon with a game-winning drive, the thought of asking Bailey Zappe to try to gain five yards to get a new set of downs and step onto the edge of Nick Folk's game-winning field goal range had to have crossed the mind of Bill Belichick for at least a few seconds in overtime on Sunday. Didn't it?
According to Belichick, it did not.
"Well, I mean, we were able to put them on a long field," Belichick said in his Monday morning conference call. "We had just done that the series before, on the opening kickoff of overtime. So yeah, I mean, look. The longer it is, the harder it is to make that decision, and we certainly wouldn't want to come up short on fourth-and-5, and hand the ball [to Green Bay] a first down away from field goal range. So there's a trade-off there. I don't think it was heavily considered, no."
The Patriots' defense did force a three-and-out from Rodgers and Co. on that opening possession of overtime. Yet after Jake Bailey's punt was downed at the Green Bay 10-yard line, they weren't so lucky.
Rodgers threw deep to Allen Lazard for 22 yards on the second play of the drive, and he hit Randall Cobb for 11 yards on a third-and-1 three plays later. From there, back-to-back completions to Romeo Doubs picked up 17 more yards, and the duo of A.J. Dillon and Aaron Jones gained 15 more yards on four carries to get the ball to the New England 13-yard line. Mason Crosby came on for the chip shot, and the Packers came away with a victory.
Of course, had the Patriots gone for it on fourth down, picked up a new set of downs, and kicked the game-winning field goal, then Belichick's gusto would have been lauded around the football world. But if they had gone for it and not gotten it, the decision would have been pinpointed as the reason the Patriots lost a hard-fought, close game -- even if Rodgers was likely to drive for the winning score regardless. People do, after all, still get upset on the fourth-and-2 decision in Indianapolis in 2009, you know.
Whether he went for it or not, Belichick acknowledged that ultimately, Rodgers was just "too good."
"Yeah, he's a great player. I thought we defended some things pretty well. He was just, at times, too good," Belichick said Monday, repeating his main takeaway from Sunday evening. "There were other times where we could have done things better, could have coached better, could have played better. So, but, in the end, he made some great throws down the field."