"There was strong consideration given to going for two there," Belichick acknowledged Monday in his weekly day-after-game conference call, "and as it turned out that would have been the right thing to do to go for two. "
But that doesn't necessarily mean Belichick was wrong at the time.
As he explained Monday, the time remaining in the game (12:48) was a primary factor in kicking the extra point instead. Essentially, Belichick figured there would be more points scored in the game (he wasn't banking on his offense producing three straight three-and-outs) and thus the traditional chart that coaches sometimes use when determining whether to go for two was passed over.
"At that point, if you had told me that those were going to be the final points scored in the game until a minute to go; it just didn’t look like that’s the way the game was going at that point. But as it turned out, whether you’re up by 12 or you’re up by 13 with less than two minutes to go in the game, it doesn’t really make any difference. You’d be better off to be up by 14 than up by 13 or 12 for that matter," he said. "That’s why I’m saying the closer you get to the end of the game, the more you can rely on the chart."
