Be Honest, How Many Of You Wanted To Kick A Field Goal Instead Of Going For It?

Kdo5 said:

At the time I was all for going for the TD as I thought it might be our last chance. But Bill probably should have taken the points there. He is supposed to have the more logical outlook on the situation as opposed to me, the fan.

He knew our defense had solved its problems and the Broncos offense couldn't do a thing. He should have made played it smart..gotten the FG around what was it? 5 mins to go? Then let the defense get Brady the ball back.

4th and 1 is tempting though. If it were say...4th and 5/4th and 10, Bill may well have taken the FG,

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Another poster brought up the irony of Amendola's excellent effort there. Had it been 4th and 3, we probably kick the damn FG. You could tell by looking at Belichick that he was spinning the scenarios in his head, and I think the fact that it was only 4th and 1 pushed him into going for it.

LightSkinSmurf said:

I understand the thought process behind it. I just completely disagree. That 2 point conversion was in the back of my mind long before we even got to that point. I was terrified that it might come down to that.

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If we're being totally honest, I was right there with you. I actually said out loud that we'd probably score a TD at some point but end up missing the two. I honestly didn't even allow myself to get too excited when Gronk caught the TD at the end, because it seemed so unlikely to me that we'd get the 2 point conversion. Part of the challenge of stopping a two point conversion from only two yards out is not knowing whether they're going to run or pass, and that mystery was solved for Wade Phillips and the defense before they even lined up.

As mentioned many times, both the 4th and 1 call and the 2 point attempt proved how much we missed any semblance of a running game. Those were two of the most important situations that we saw all year, and couldn't do anything due to a lack of creativity and the fact that DEN was just pinning their ears back and rushing without any fear. The fact that they often dropped 8 into coverage was my concern when people would say "Brady doesn't need a running game," and has actually proven to be the blueprint for beating us in the past. It's almost like many here totally forgot what they've seen so many times in the past.

If you have anything of a tough defensive front that can get pressure by only rushing 3-4, you have the luxury of dropping 7-8 guys into coverage and beating this team. We've seen it plenty of times. Some silly stats that show how effective Brady has been when passing for 50+ times has never meant **** to me, aside from the fact that he's proven to be more successful that other teams/QBs. It certainly didn't make me feel more comfortable about being one-dimensional and having no running game whatsoever, and I'm sure that Belichick won't allow that to happen again.

I almost feel like that if we had run for the 2 point conversion we would have had a better chance because no one, I mean no one on this earth, would have expected that.

Bill lacked confidence and it showed.

pheenix11 said:

I almost feel like that if we had run for the 2 point conversion we would have had a better chance because no one, I mean no one on this earth, would have expected that.

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This crossed my mind too. Even more so tho, I wanted the ball to go to gronk on that last play. He was one of the few guys on offense doing something. He was trying his hardest to carry us and he was open on the last play. Honestly at that point Id probably lob the ball up to gronk even if he had 20 guys on him. If I lose the game because my best player couldn't haul the ball in so be it.....

LightSkinSmurf said:

This crossed my mind too. Even more so tho, I wanted the ball to go to gronk on that last play. He was one of the few guys on offense doing something. He was trying his hardest to carry us and he was open on the last play. Honestly at that point Id probably lob the ball up to gronk even if he had 20 guys on him. If I lose the game because my best player couldn't haul the ball in so be it.....

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That was the most "uncreative" 2 point attempt that I've ever seen from this team, in any year. One would think that we'd have dozens of 2 point calls that would've been much better than that.

The fact that we failed to pick up 1 yard or 2 yards at such crucial times sucked.

supafly said:

That was the most "uncreative" 2 point attempt that I've ever seen from this team, in any year. One would think that we'd have dozens of 2 point calls that would've been much better than that.

The fact that we failed to pick up 1 yard or 2 yards at such crucial times sucked.

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It really was. Like I said in a previous post I had a bad feeling about that 2 point conversion waaaaaaay before it even came down to it.... But the actual play just made it a million times worse. I guess that's sports tho. Even when you're the best damn franchise in sports you have endings like this sometimes.

Nearly 6 mins on the clock,,,I was screaming at the television '''''kick the F Field goal '''' in front of my son who asked me to stop swearing !!!!! Our Defense at that point were playing lights out. It's easy to say it now but with 3 Timeouts and the 2 minute warning and 6 mins on the clock this was an easy decision for me. God it hurts to lose like this. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhbhbhbhhh. That's me letting it all out. Bring on 2016.

Even if the Pats made the 2 point conversion it would've only tied the game. A FG at 6 minutes, a stop (which they got) and a TD (which they also got) puts them ahead.

I wanted them to kick the fg. I love taking risks but our defense had only given up 6 points in the second half. We kick three there then we are down 5. We stop them and get the ball back we now know we have 4 downs to get 10 yards the whole drive to win the game, not we have to score a td and a 2 point conversion..........sucks but Bill is already getting ready for next year so I will focus on that as well. JUst sucks we are short two draft picks!!!

The problem is it was 1 freaken yard to get so I can totally understand going for it. However, a play action when the rush was destroying Brady all game?..I didn't get that at all.

honestly. I wanted to kick the FG.

We had now reason to think we would get down there again. It was 4th and 1 - pretty easy decision if you ask me.

There was no guarantee we got more than one more possession, or that the Broncos wouldn't put together a few first downs. The second 4th down was down at the goal line - again easy decision to go for it with only 2 minutes to go.

It just worked out badly - and you down know hoe the game plays out if we kick the field goal.

varjao said:

It was two 4th downs they didn't get it, had BB choose to kick we would not even need the TD in the last drive, only another FG, 21x20.

Too many time on the clock, I'm surprised BB took that risk against that defense and with our offense on life support.

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Weren't they down eight though? They would've needed either two more field goals in the final six or another touchdown. Am I mathing wrongly?

In hindsight I think at the 6 min mark a field goal would have been the right move, BUT at the time I was definitely thinking 'go for it, go for it'.........B/C at that point in the game that was their first trip in the red zone without the benefit of a turnover. I viewed the possession as possibly their best chance to get a TD.

On the 2nd fourth down attempt FG still wasn't in my mind b/c the reality is that we without a doubt needed a TD.

1.) Even if you were counting on another possession I would still rather give the team two opportunities for the TD instead of just one.

2.) What if Manning did get a first down and ran out the clock after this possession. I'd rather lose going for it than the defense not being able to get hte ball back. I'd be pondering all offseason what would have happened if they went for it. Though now we know and it's not much better, instead of left wondering "why didn't amendola hold onto the ball (on 3rd down)".

At the time I was like "No kick a field goal, kick a field goal!" But then when I saw them line up I said "Ah **** it, go for it! It's just one yard!"

In hindsight I would've rather had the field goal. If the Pats were only down 7 I would've been okay with going for it. Scoring two touchdowns on Denver, back-to-back (scoring a TD, then a 2pt conversion) was not going to be easy the way the game was going

Brewskies said:

Bill lacked confidence and it showed.

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Exactly. I thought the "arrogance" thread was pretty silly, because it was clear to me that it was the exact opposite. Belichick didn't think his offense could drive down the field again, and it's pretty easy to see why given that they needed two fourth down conversions to actually do it.

It's football 101. You take the points.

Think of it this way. If it were the Broncos in that situation, and they had a choice to kick the FG or go for it, wouldn't you have been hoping they went for it? Because with the time on the clock I would know if the the Broncos kicked the FG and took the points there's a good chance they'd be driving against the Pats D for a late TD, leaving no time left on the clock for Brady to work with.

I wanted to go for it but I can see now why that was probably the wrong idea. But then, I'm not a big name coach getting paid millions to know the right answer here. I feel like those credentials should generally put your decision making pretty close to hindsight. Belichick should probably have known that 6 minutes was a lot of time and he could bet on his defense for a stop. Still, it is hard to say for certain that having those 3 points would have necessarily allowed us to win the game. And it definitely isn't what lost the game for us, so its minor at best.

It wasn't a conference championship game or anything, but the Lions were faced with a similar situation early in the season against the Bears.

Here is the setup..........

Lions have the ball
Down by 7
Had all 3 Time Outs
2:50 left in the 4th quarter
Face a 4th and 4 at the Bears 6 yard line

.....and they kick a field goal!

I was absolutely SHOCKED!!!! How could they pass up a chance at a tie for the more uncertain shot at a win?!?!? Well, it worked out. They got the ball back and scored the go ahead TD with 25 seconds left in the game.