No Confusion: Patriots Wanted To Kick Off To Start Overtime Vs. Jets
BOSTON (CBS) -- Make no mistake: The Patriots wanted to kick the ball off to start overtime on Sunday.
After their 26-20 loss to the Jets, Bill Belichick said there was no confusion when they elected to kick the ball to the New York Jets to start overtime. While it may have appeared that special teams captain Matthew Slater made a giant boo-boo when he told Clete Blakeman the Patriots wanted to kick the ball away after winning the coin toss, that was not the case.
"We thought it was the best thing to do," Belichick said in his postgame press conference.
"Before we went out for the toss, coach told us if we won we wanted to kick off," Slater explained in the locker room. "As a player you ask three or four times to make sure you get it correct. We won the toss, we chose to kick off like coach instructed us to."
After some brief interrogating on the sideline, Slater knew the plan heading out to midfield.
"I asked him three or four times to make sure I'm not the guy that goes out there, 'Yeah, we want to kick off!' I asked him three or four times and he looked at me like I was concussed because I kept asking him. That's what we wanted to do," explained Slater. "You never question coach's decision making. He's the best in the business and we trust him fully."
The very bold move came after the Patriots made another fourth quarter comeback against their AFC East rival, trying the game with less than a minute to go. When regulation was over and the teams were knotted up 20-20, the Patriots got to call the overtime coin toss.
Slater called correctly, going with heads, but then a rather odd exchange occurred.
Referee Clete Blakeman asked Slater, "You want to kick?" Slater responded, "We want to kick, that way."
There was some confusion after, as Blakeman announced the Patriots had chosen to kick and Slater asking the ref, "Hey, we won. Don't we get to choose?"
Blakeman simply responded, "You elected to kick."
Slater said that confusion was over which side of the field New England would be kicking to -- not the decision to kick off.
"Because we won the toss and chose to kick off, they got to choose which way they wanted to receiver," he explained.
The only remaining confusion is that among Patriots fans, asking one very tough question: Why kick off in the first place?
Overtime rules state the game ends once the first touchdown is scored. Had the Jets only kicked a field goal on that possession, the Patriots would have gotten a chance. But the Jets got the ball at their own 20 and a few plays later, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick hit Eric Decker for a six-yard touchdown pass to give New York the 26-20 victory.
The New England offense had struggled all day, so Belichick may have wanted to start the extra frame with the day's most successful unit on the field. But kicking away to the Jets never gave his offense a chance to get things right in overtime.
Belichick is known for making bold decisions at key moments in games, and this one came back to bite him and his team. Now the Patriots have to move on and regroup, as they'll need a win next week in Miami to clinch the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC.
