Belichick on overtime decision: ‘Much ado about nothing’
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick on the sidelines in the fourth quarter as the New York Jets take on the New England Patriots during a game on Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Credit: Lee Weissman
Bill Belichick still doesn’t get what the big deal is.
A day after New England lost an overtime thriller to the Jets, thanks to his head-scratching decision to kick off at the start of the extra session, the Patriots head coach seemed perplexed at all of the attention paid to his costly decision.
“[Referee] Clete [Blakeman] came over to me after the toss and said, ‘You got what you wanted here, right?’ I said, ‘Yeah, exactly,’ ” Belichick said, after fielding four questions on the topic.
“Seems like much ado about nothing for me. I can’t really understand what the issue is. Like, what are we talking about here? What should’ve happened that didn’t happen or whatever. I don’t know.”
The Patriots tied the score late in the fourth quarter and won the overtime coin toss. But Belichick elected to kick off instead of giving the ball to Tom Brady and the offense. The Jets marched 80 yards downfield in five plays, capping the dramatic upset win with a 6-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Eric Decker.
“The bottom line is field position,” Belichick said. “Good field position, you don’t have to take it as far, you get a stop, get a field goal. It’s really more a field-position consideration.”
