Bill Belichick Pulls Artful Chess Move, Helping To Influence Missed Field Goal For Saints
FOXBORO (CBS) -- Home-field advantage can mean many things in the NFL. On Sunday at Gillette Stadium, it meant some familiarity with the conditions.
Bill Belichick called timeout with 13 seconds left in the first quarter, after his defense came up with a stop on a third-and-6 for the visiting New Orleans Saints. Instead of letting the final seconds of the first quarter tick off the clock, Belichick called timeout.
In doing so, he forced New Orleans to kick into the open end of the stadium, which traditionally presents more challenges with wind than the closed end of the stadium.
Whether the wind played a role or not, the resulting kick from Aldrick Rosas was not a good one. The wobbly kick took a sharp left turn on its way toward the goal posts, missing wide left.
The missed kick kept the score at 7-0 for the Saints.
The move surely looked smart, but then again ... Rosas missed a short kick of 36 yards into the closed end of the stadium in the second quarter.
Nevertheless.
With the Patriots' offensive struggling at the time of the timeout call, a decision like that one from the Patriots' head coach provided some much-needed help for a team that needed a boost.
