FOXBORO, Mass. — The New England Patriots’ offense never was given a last-gasp effort to win in Week 4. Why?
The Patriots used just one timeout on the Carolina Panthers’ game-winning final drive Sunday, and it came immediately before their 47-yard field goal attempt.
The Panthers started the drive with 3:04 left in the game, and the Patriots had all three timeouts. The Panthers clearly were trying to both win the game and drain the entire clock. So, why did head coach Bill Belichick allow them to do just that, and did he consider taking a timeout after running back Jonathan Stewart ripped off a first-down run immediately before the two-minute warning?
“No, I mean, I thought it was going to be a long kick,” Belichick said. “It looked like the way they were handling it was it was going to be a long kick, so we tried to force as long of a kick as we could.”
A 47-yard field goal isn’t exactly a chip-shot, but it’s a reasonable kick. The Panthers potentially could have driven down the field for a touchdown if the Patriots had used their timeouts. Instead, Belichick bet that his defense could stop the Panthers before they reached field goal range. Penalties on cornerback Stephon Gilmore and safety Patrick Chung thwarted any possibility of that happening.
Thumbnail photo via Stew Milne/USA TODAY Sports Images
