FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots intended to put pressure on the Philadelphia Eagles with a rugby-style drop kick Sunday. It didn’t quite go as planned.
The tide of the game changed after that second-quarter kickoff, as the Eagles easily recovered the ball, then scored 35 unanswered points to win 35-28 at Gillette Stadium. That led many Patriots fans to question why coach Bill Belichick would get cute and call a risky play with a seemingly low chance of reward.
Belichick explained the decision Monday in a conference call with the media.
“A lot of times when teams have six guys up on the line of scrimmage like Philadelphia did, like we usually do, a lot of teams do that, then that leaves five players to cover the field and there is quite a bit of space back there, so if the ball gets into that space, it’s hard to set up a return, and it’s possible that it could roll around or not be handled and you can make a play on it. But it definitely puts pressure on the return team to handle that ball and get a good organized return.
“Like I said, the one they hit to us, I think it was the same kind of a play. They hit it a little bit deeper, so Keshawn (Martin) got to it, but we weren’t able to make the blocking adjustment quick enough, so it really wasn’t a very good return on our part. But I think that’s kind of the idea of that type of play is to disrupt the timing, put the ball in a location that’s not easy to handle and put the pressure on your opponents to be able to make the right decision adjust the blocking, handle the ball and so forth. I think the concept of that play is a lot different than the true onside kick where you kick the ball 10 yards. To me, it’s a totally different play.”
Belichick described two potential positive situations for the play while acknowledging the result was less than ideal.
“Well, I mean sure, if you knew for sure that at the end of the play that’s where the ball was going to end up and that’s what it would be, then yeah, of course it’s 100 percent obvious to say, ‘Yeah let’s do something else,’ ” Belichick said. “If the ball hits the ground and rolls around back there, and you recover it, then that’s something else. Or if it rolls back there and they get it on the 20-yard line, it’s one less play that (Josh) Huff has to return. So yeah, I mean, look, it’s easy to sit here when you know the outcome of the play and say, ‘Well yeah, we could have done something else.’ Sure, yeah, no question.”
The Patriots led 14-0 midway through the second quarter when safety Nate Ebner attempted the drop kick. Ebner didn’t hit the football quite hard enough, and Eagles special-teamer Seyi Ajirotutu quickly sniffed out the play and jumped on the ball at the 41-yard line.
The Patriots’ loss dropped them to the No. 3 seed in the AFC, though they still control their own destiny for a first-round playoff bye.
GIF via SBNation
Thumbnail photo via Stew Milne/USA TODAY Sports Images
