Belichick upset near the end of the game?

[BradfordPatsFan]

What was BB so upset about in the fourth quarter? He was screaming at more than one official. Did anyone notice anything?

 

[taltos]

The whistle was being blown before Cassel's knee touched the ground and was reducing the amount of time that the Pats could take off of the clock.

 

[JFK]

The refs gave the rams their timeout before Cassel knelt. I believe Cassel was going to do a delayed Kneel Down.

 

[HaveYouSeenMyBaseball?]

He was upset because the ref blew the play dead prior to Cassell putting his knee down. Cassell was trying to milk the clock a few extra seconds but the ref just blew the whistle assuming he would take an immediate knee....

 

[theKrafty1tar]

What was BB so upset about in the fourth quarter? He was screaming at more than one official. Did anyone notice anything?

the refs stupidly blew the whistle to signal the end
of the play before Cassel ever took a knee

 

[ALP]

yea...about taht...

thats the first time ive ever seen that...i was thinking cassel forgot what play he was supposed to run...

 

[VJCPatriot]

yea...about taht...

thats the first time ive ever seen that...i was thinking cassel forgot what play he was supposed to run...

Nope it was the Zebra's who messed up. They blew the whistle too soon.

 

[CheerforTom]

On one hand I don't think BB should have freaked out about it so much since it was so inconsequential, but on the other hand it annoyed me that the refs blatantly blew it (literally) and seemed to be arguing with him.

Given that they were going to get the ball for one last play in a one score game it's just flagrantly stupid that the refs would ASSUME a certain play was going to be called.

 

[chech1965]

He was upset because the ref blew the play dead prior to Cassell putting his knee down. Cassell was trying to milk the clock a few extra seconds but the ref just blew the whistle assuming he would take an immediate knee....

Cassel should have just taken the ball and ran backwards 20 or 30 yards then slide....lol

 

[loofasisgeek]

You're joking about that "run backwards" thing, but I've always thought that made A LOT OF SENSE.

1:08 left to play

4 downs, opponent has 2 timeouts.

You need to bleed 8 seconds off the clock during two plays.

Hike the ball to Wes Welker and have everyone block... let him dance around and go backwards 30-40-50 yards. He could easily bleed 8 seconds on just one play. You save yourself 20 yards of field in case you need to do it again.

If you can bleed those 8 seconds and cause them to use their timeouts, knee, knee- you win!
That's MUCH MUCH better than punting.

You don't think that's a big deal? Ask Bill why he was so pissed at the end of the game.

It's like that play last year when Westbrook went down instead of going in for a touchdown. In some cases, you do weird things to make sure you win.

 

[groundgame]

Give Belichick his due, he made sure he chewed-out the entire refreeeing crew in an F-Bomb laced tirade.

 

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

Yeah, Hansen is a better punter when he's got a long field in front of him anyway.

 

[jbb9s]

slippery slope with the delayed knee down. Just wait until Cassel take a knee and gets slammed and the story will be that they didn't blow the whistle fast enough.

 

[memento]

belichick always takes these things seriously. he's an angry angry man when it comes to football.

belichick knows the game could change off that last punt. not many coaches take special teams as seriously as belichick does. why do you think we have hobbs and welker risking life and limb on kick returns?

 

[patrickscribe]

In the sprit of running around the backfield, can't you kill a few seconds by throwing really really high and long and out of bounds, provided a receiver is reasonably close?

I also wonder in basketball when teams need to kill the last couple seconds and not get fouled why they don't just throw the ball straight up toward the ceiling and burn the time.

 

[Fencer]

I also wonder in basketball when teams need to kill the last couple seconds and not get fouled why they don't just throw the ball straight up toward the ceiling and burn the time.

I vaguely remember that being tried and not working in a Celtics/Pistons playoff game while Stackhouse was still with the Pistons ...

Generally when it works is when anything was going to work -- i.e., when the ball-handler is being left alone and the throw is just celebratory.

 

[patchick]

In the sprit of running around the backfield, can't you kill a few seconds by throwing really really high and long and out of bounds, provided a receiver is reasonably close?

The Pats rather cleverly ended a game that way on 4th down a few years back.

And in the London game today, didn't Brees take a lonnnnnnng galloping safety to keep SD from running a last play from scrimmage?

My question: why didn't the Pats simply run plays on that last possession?

 

[jmt57]

I remember hearing a story about Harry Agganis when he was the star QB at BU, I guess back in the 50's, where time was running out and he took the snap at the end of the game, went back, and ran around, back and forth, for about the last 45 seconds to seal a win. I have no idea if it's true or just one of those myths that grows bigger every year, but I always wanted to see somebody try something like that at the end of a game to run out the clock - just not in a game that involved the Pats though.

 

[godef]

On one hand I don't think BB should have freaked out about it so much since it was so inconsequential, but on the other hand it annoyed me that the refs blatantly blew it (literally) and seemed to be arguing with him.

Given that they were going to get the ball for one last play in a one score game it's just flagrantly stupid that the refs would ASSUME a certain play was going to be called.

You complain for the credit. Now he had the refs thinking they owed him one. Ya never knows.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

The Pats rather cleverly ended a game that way on 4th down a few years back.

And in the London game today, didn't Brees take a lonnnnnnng galloping safety to keep SD from running a last play from scrimmage?

My question: why didn't the Pats simply run plays on that last possession?

I was thinking that same thing. About the most satisfactory answer that occurred to me was, "if we kill three downs and then punt, there's little chance of them returning that for a TD." I think if the Pats had been almost anywhere else on the field, it wouldn't have been an issue (much closer, and you're in Gostkowski FG range; much further, and you pretty much have to run some plays in case you have to punt on fourth down).