Belichick saved his timeouts until after the two-minute warning against the Cardinals in Week 1 this season and had it work out again; the Patriots nursed a two-point lead, sweating out a potential game-winning Chandler Catanzaro 46-yard field goal attempt — a dangerous game for a guy who had been 16-of-18 on kicks between 40 and 49 yards up to that point. Catanzaro missed, bailing out Belichick yet again.
That’s a relatively minor fault, though, and Belichick often puts his team in the best position to win with his fourth-down and late-game decisions. The famous fourth-and-2 call against the Colts ended up going against the Patriots but made sense given the quality of the two legendary offenses in that game at the time. While the numbers in a vacuum were inconclusive, Belichick rightly chose to back his already-legendary quarterback with the game on the line instead of his defense.
The guy who pulled the intentional safety and the dropkick out of mothballs is still lurking on the sideline, though, and it would be foolish to assume he won’t try something unconventional if he thinks it will work. His creativity and aggressiveness make him the most trustworthy coach in close situations in the postseason.
That’s a relatively minor fault, though, and Belichick often puts his team in the best position to win with his fourth-down and late-game decisions. The famous fourth-and-2 call against the Colts ended up going against the Patriots but made sense given the quality of the two legendary offenses in that game at the time.
While the numbers in a vacuum were inconclusive, Belichick rightly chose to back his already-legendary quarterback with the game on the line instead of his defense. The guy who pulled the intentional safety and the dropkick out of mothballs is still lurking on the sideline, though, and it would be foolish to assume he won’t try something unconventional if he thinks it will work. His creativity and aggressiveness make him the most trustworthy coach in close situations in the postseason.