"What did you want us to do....kick a field goal?"

[hail2skins]

Remember when Belicheck sneered this reply to Larry Weisman after Larry asked about Belicheck going for it on fourth down in the later stages of the 52-7 game against the Skins?

Has Belicheck given any other explanation as to why he didn't kick on 4th and long yesterday from the 31, instead of some lame mumble about field position? Granted, a 49-yarder is far from a gimme, and hindsight is 20/20, but the game was decided by three points.

I honestly don't know what coaches are thinking sometimes. Belicheck's decision as well as Tomlin's decision to still go for 2 from the twelve-yard line early in the 4th quarter are real head-scratchers. And these guys get paid how much?

Yeah Bill, maybe you should've tried the field goal more often this year.....perhaps it would've given you more confidence in your kicker.

[SUSkinsFan]

I was sitting on my buddies couch saying "that decision is going to come back and bite him in the ass". I am SO glad I was right.

[909997]

gostski wasnt gonna make the 49 yard feild goal

[Siven]

Remember when Belicheck sneered this reply to Larry Weisman after Larry asked about Belicheck going for it on fourth down in the later stages of the 52-7 game against the Skins?

Has Belicheck given any other explanation as to why he didn't kick on 4th and long yesterday from the 31, instead of some lame mumble about field position? Granted, a 49-yarder is far from a gimme, and hindsight is 20/20, but the game was decided by three points.

I honestly don't know what coaches are thinking sometimes. Belicheck's decision as well as Tomlin's decision to still go for 2 from the twelve-yard line early in the 4th quarter are real head-scratchers. And these guys get paid how much?

Yeah Bill, maybe you should've tried the field goal more often this year.....perhaps it would've given you more confidence in your kicker.

Ok, and settling for field goals ended up costing the Chargers a shot at victory in the AFC championship game.

What's your point? if there is any.

[Mass_SkinsFan]

There has been some suggestion in the Boston sports media that the decision not to attempt the field goal may have been due in part to Belichick's displeasure with Gostkowski because of the out of bounds kickoff that happened earlier.

[SUSkinsFan]

There has been some suggestion in the Boston sports media that the decision not to attempt the field goal may have been due in part to Belichick's displeasure with Gostkowski because of the out of bounds kickoff that happened earlier.that's even worse then thinking he can't make it. To punish the kicker like that because he made a mistake is an IDIOTIC decision.

[wysknz1]

With the highest scoring offense ever and the fact that the NY offense wasn't exactly putting up points, I had no problem with the call. OK so it failed, BUT what if?? It's still the kind of play calling I like. Go for the win not to lose....sound familiar??

[hail2skins]

Ok, and settling for field goals ended up costing the Chargers a shot at victory in the AFC championship game.

What's your point? if there is any.

Let-me-explain-slowly. The-Patriots-lost-the-game-by-three-points. If-they-had-made-the-field-goal, the-game-probably-goes-into......oh, never mind.

Yes, trading field goals for touchdowns was normally a bad formula for teams playing the Patriots this season. But kicking those field goals did keep the Chargers in the game. I do fault Norv for NOT going for it on 4th and 10 with about nine minutes left in that game......but the Chargers were a bit further out (at least the 36) then the Pats were yesterday, down by 9, and it got to a point where you had to do something.

My point was that the cocky attitude displayed by Belicheck bit him in the butt yesterday. And as far as field goals not being helpful......tell that to Bill Parcells, who settled for five FGs in a 15-13 win against a pretty formidable 49ers team in the NFCCG in early 1991.

Mass_Skins, thanks for the local media perspective. Although that would be like Coughlin not letting Tynes attempt the nearly 50-yarder in OT against the Packers just because he had missed two earlier.

[Stophovr6]

People always say hindsight is 20/20.

I say hindsight is a *****.

[hail2skins]

With the highest scoring offense ever and the fact that the NY offense wasn't exactly putting up points, I had no problem with the call. OK so it failed, BUT what if?? It's still the kind of play calling I like. Go for the win not to lose....sound familiar??

Dude, 4th and short...say, five or less......maybe I buy it. But its 4th and 13!! Belicheck makes some lame statement about field position. If you go for it, you're probably going to throw it past the first-down marker. If you don't convert, the Giants get the ball at the 31. If they miss the FG, they get it at the 39. BFD!

[michael_33]

I think it cost them the game....IMO

Or at worst,the game goes to overtime...

If they had a 2 or 3 TD lead and then do it like they did before that is one thing..?But at 7-3 and to not do it to make a 7 point lead is not just errogant but stupid...

Field position...It would have been a 48 yard FG...You miss and they have it at the 38 yard line....You go for it on 4th an 13 and miss and they have it at the 31 yard line....

UH.......so your going to not risk grabbing 3points to stretch the lead and put pressure on your opponent,to try to get a 1st or a TD on 4th and 13..?

Plus with the amount of pressure that Brady had been under the "WHOLE GAME" you don't EVER assume you can win by 30+points every game!

I got to tell ya....Gibbs calling 2 timeouts in a game to give a FG kicker a closer shot is no longer the DUMBEST decision in football IMO!!

[A Real Mench]

gostski wasnt gonna make the 49 yard feild goal

gostowski would have tho, gostski is washed up :rolleyes:

[pjfootballer]

that's even worse then thinking he can't make it. To punish the kicker like that because he made a mistake is an IDIOTIC decision.

Perfect example in the 2 weeks before when Coughlin put Tynes back in to kick the game winner after shanking 2 in a row.

[pjfootballer]

With the highest scoring offense ever and the fact that the NY offense wasn't exactly putting up points, I had no problem with the call. OK so it failed, BUT what if?? It's still the kind of play calling I like. Go for the win not to lose....sound familiar??

Take the 5 yard delay and punt if you have no confidence in your kicker.

[pjfootballer]

gostowski would have tho, gostski is washed up :rolleyes:

Neither Gostski or Gostowski would make it. But GOSTKOWSKI would. :silly: :rolleyes:

[Redskin4ever]

I thought it was the wrong call, and I remember telling people at the time they should kick. But I will offer up this defense of the call. That is exactly the type of play calling they did all year and it worked. They were far and away the best team in the league because they kept applying the pressure. They never settled for field goals, they always went for it because converting there is putting a lot of pressure on the Giants.

Again, not the call I would have made, but it is consistent with what they have done all year. You don't change when you get to the Super Bowl.

[mel25]

I thought it was the wrong call, and I remember telling people at the time they should kick. But I will offer up this defense of the call. That is exactly the type of play calling they did all year and it worked. They were far and away the best team in the league because they kept applying the pressure. They never settled for field goals, they always went for it because converting there is putting a lot of pressure on the Giants.

Again, not the call I would have made, but it is consistent with what they have done all year. You don't change when you get to the Super Bowl.

not to say that they didn't consistently go for it on 4th down, but from what i remember it was usually shorter distances and a lot closer to the end zone. would you say that they consistently went for it with distances like 13 yards and that far from the end zone? that's what seemed crazy to me. and they didn't even try to just pick up the first down, they went for the TD. that was some madden type stuff right there.

[hail2skins]

http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/extras/askreiss/02_05_08/?page=2

Concerning the 4th and 13 – did Belichick lack confidence in Gostkowski or was he worried that the defense could fail if it had to defend a shorter field?
Dave

A: I thought this was a puzzling decision, Dave. Teams that went for it on fourth-and-13 or more this season were 4 of 22 (18.2 percent). Teams that kicked a field goal from approximately 47 yards or more were 88 of 158 for a 55.7 percent success rate. The numbers dictate you kick the field goal, especially when you're playing inside a dome. Surely, it could be viewed as a lack of confidence in Gostkowski. Maybe Gostkowski was hurt. Maybe Belichick didn't like the way Gostkowski struck a second-quarter kickoff out of bounds. Maybe Belichick lost track of the situation. There are a lot of possibilities, and I wish I had the answer for you. Belichick explained that he felt the field goal was too long, but didn't say why. Maybe the fact Gostkowski had a season-long of 45 factored into his thinking. I'd wrap it up by saying it was a decision that hurt the Patriots, but one we'd probably not be talking about if the team held on to win.

[jnhay]

There has been some suggestion in the Boston sports media that the decision not to attempt the field goal may have been due in part to Belichick's displeasure with Gostkowski because of the out of bounds kickoff that happened earlier.

I was thinking the same thing.
that's even worse then thinking he can't make it. To punish the kicker like that because he made a mistake is an IDIOTIC decision.

Bad kicking is rarely an accident. If he can't keep a kickoff in bounds how is he going to get it between the uprights?


I think Belichick figured that Gostowski wasn't good enough to make the field goal, and they were in good enough position that the risk was worth it.