Bill Belichick doesn’t have any regrets over passing up field goals in Sunday’s AFC Championship game in favor of going for it.
On two occasions, Belichick elected to go for it on fourth down while trailing by eight. Both times, the Patriots failed to convert. But Belichick isn’t second-guessing himself, particularly on his decision to go for it on 4th and 1 at the Denver 16 with 6:03 left.
“The number of possessions you have left and what you need to do,” Belichick said on Monday, via NFL Media’s Kevin Patra. “The number of opportunities we had to do that, not very many.
“At that time, there is no hesitation in doing that.”
Belichick also elected to go for it on 4th and 6 at the Denver 14 with two and a half minutes left. New England once again failed, though under more controversial circumstances this time.
“There was like two and a half minutes to go in the game, down by eight, fourth and five, or whatever it was,” Belichick said. “Yeah, we felt like the best thing to do was go for it at that point.”
Of course, it’s easy to second guess. Kick on one of those occasions and the late touchdown to Rob Gronkowski gives New England the lead. Kick both times and the last drive would have only required a field goal to win the game. However, simplifying it like that doesn’t take into account how field position and strategy were impacted for both teams. Besides, there were plenty of other reasons the Patriots didn’t come through in Denver.
