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

[BradyFTW!]

I thought going for the points was a borderline no-brainer, rare situation coaching mistake by Belichick IMO. Given how thoroughly the D was shutting down Denver's offense, I felt confident that we would get the ball back, and it would've been pretty great to be driving for the win instead of a shot at the tie.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

At that point, they needed a TD, but the Offense had scored only one TD all day and even that was courtesy of a turnover deep in Denver territory.

Brady had spent most of the game either running for his life, throwing the ball into the dirt to avoid a third pick or getting knocked on his butt.

They were in the Red Zone (the 14, I believe).

There was little reason to be confident that they would get into the Red Zone again. But there was reason to believe that the D could get another stop and that the Offense would somehow be able to get the ball inside the 40 and give Gostkowski a chance to redeem himself with a long FG if they could score a TD at that point.

I think it was the right call, at the time, given all of the above.

Reply and state your argument the other way if you want to do so, but there's no reason to hit "Disagree," as I know that most of you disagree with me on this.

 

[neuronet]

I wanted the points. Our Defense was playing great with 6 minutes to go.

 

[Ring 6]

I wanted to take the field goal, personally. This isn't hindsight. I felt that way before we went for it and failed. I'm curious about what your thoughts were during those drives.

I agreed with going for it. After the game was over and I knew what would happen later, I was against going for it.

 

[doesntmatter1]

I instantly wanted the field for multiple reasons. I didnt like the idea of needing a 2point conversion and felt that a field goal w/ 6 min to go would eliminate that from the equation. And even if we had tied at that point we still would have had to rely on the d to stop them from scoring again within 6 minutes and we had all our timeouts.

Let gostowski kick. It felt somewhat similar to 07 sb when we bypassed a 50 yard fg

 

[eom]

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.

there's absolutely no question you go for it on those 4ths --- I never even considered otherwise during the game, or even afterwards until I saw stuff like this on the board.
btw, why are you assuming he makes all 3 fg?

kicking the fg is just wrong, and the usual mmqbing

frankly, it's kind of obnoxious when people come out of the woodwork 2nd guessing things when they don't work out, but never 2nd guessing the successes

 

[eom]

To me it seemed like you take the points with 6 minutes to go. Manning wasn't doing much, our defense was actually playing quite well.

and then you still need a td, anyway, only you're on your own 20 rather than broncos 16.
so, I guess in imaginationland when you're down 5, assuming the kick is even good, it's easy to waltz down the field + score that td, but when you're down 8 in reality it can't get done.

it's bad enough that they lost, but these threads are nonsensical - let it go.

 

[GodBrady]

frankly, it's kind of obnoxious when people come out of the woodwork 2nd guessing things when they don't work out, but never 2nd guessing the successes

It's not obnoxious. It's not "second guessing". There were many people who felt this way at the time of the decision, including me. Down eight points, you need to score twice to win the game. It doesn't take hindsight to realize that.

Hindsight is "oh, Brady had Gronk open on the 2PC, he should've thrown it to him, he was wide open." That is forgivable, because the margin for error on a 2PC is so small. It's tough to decide whether to throw a pass in real time with Demarcus Ware barreling down your throat. I don't fault Brady for that play.

In fact, the 2PC is exactly why I wanted to take the FG earlier in the game anyway: there's no margin for error on a 2PC. Look at how many times you see a team go 3-and-out in any given game. Despite three attempts to pick up a first down, they often fail miserably. A 2PC is one shot. There are no do-overs. That's it.

 

[libra957]

By not taking the field goal, they made their lives more difficult.

 

[SVN]

Belichick had no confidence in the offense whatsoever.

All the more reason to take some points and build some confidence. BB I think overestimated manning.He thought like he played manning of old where he needed TDs. Even if they had converted and scored TD ,they wouldve have to still score a 2pt conversion and if missed , again need another possession to tie the game. And best case, if they had tied it, BB had to hold manning and denver for 4 odd mins which he didnt think would happen when 6 mins left in the game. I bet with osweiler BB kicks the FG.

 

[eom]

All the more reason to take some points and build some confidence. BB I think overestimated manning.He thought like he played manning of old where he needed TDs. Even if they had converted and scored TD ,they wouldve have to still score a 2pt conversion and if missed , again need another possession to tie the game. And best case, if they had tied it, BB had to hold manning and denver for 4 odd mins which he didnt think would happen when 6 mins left in the game. I bet with osweiler BB kicks the FG.

looool whole lotta people living in their imaginations in this thread.

 

[eom]

if they ATTEMPT the fg they lose that game, so what's the complaint?

 

[eom]

It's not obnoxious. It's not "second guessing". There were many people who felt this way at the time of the decision, including me. .

and those people were wrong at the time of the decision.
there's all kinds of fans screaming at their tv on sundays wrong about a lot of things

and it's v++ obnoxious every week this happens

 

[SalemPats]

I understood the call to go for it at 4th and 1 with 5 min left needing a TD. I was actually thinking FG, but i was not objecting the call. In hindshight if DA didn't get those 2-3 extra yards it might have been better for us as the FG made more sense. Oh well, hindsight is 20/20

 

[GodBrady]

and those people were wrong at the time of the decision.
there's all kinds of fans screaming at their tv on sundays wrong about a lot of things

and it's v++ obnoxious every week this happens

Do you know the Patriots had to score twice to win the game? Or are you too busy inundating this thread with useless sanctimonious posts to acknowledge that? If you don't want to discuss it, stay out of the thread and get off your high horse.

 

[Horace's Ivories]

i honestly wasnt thinking FG at the time

 

[DShero]

When we got stopped I immediately said to myself "Take the points". Maybe that would have been the wrong decision strategically given the field position and our lack of getting into the end zone for most of the game, but I had no doubt we would get the ball back with plenty of time on the clock and driving for a win puts more pressure on the defense than driving for a tie at best with a 2pt conversion. I wanted to take the points but I'm also not a 4x Super Bowl winning head coach. So in the end I have no issue with the decision.

 

[Kontradiction]

I thought they should have taken the points and stated as much. With the way the defense was shutting down Denver and with the frequency the Pats were getting into field goal range at the end of the game, going for it was the smart thing to do. Instead, they hit the panic button and called a particularly ****ty play on 4th down to boot. Yeah... play action when the OL couldn't block a JV high school squad throughout the entire game. Great call!

 

[SVN]

looool whole lotta people living in their imaginations in this thread.

Well..thats what we do .

 

[The Brandon Five]

if they ATTEMPT the fg they lose that game, so what's the complaint?

Huh? They got back to the red zone two more times after that.