It’s not often Bill Belichick universally is criticized, but there sure are plenty of second-guessers Sunday night.
In the New England Patriots’ 34-33 loss to the Miami Dolphins, the Pats head coach made the perplexing decision to put Rob Gronkowski in at safety on the final play to protect a five-point lead. Ordinarily, the move is done to have a big body with a set of dependable hands in the end zone for a Hail Mary, but seeing as the Dolphins were on their own 31-yard line and quarterback Ryan Tannehill doesn’t have that kind of cannon, it was an odd decision.
The Dolphins proceeded to pull off a stunning two-lateral, 69-yard play that resulted in Kenyan Drake scoring the game-winning touchdown.
Not long after, ex-Pats Tedy Bruschi and Donte Stallworth both criticized Belichick for the move, and you now can add Rodney Harrison to the list.
The former New England safety was not a fan of Belichick’s move for one pretty big reason, and he made that clear during NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” halftime show.
Rodney Harrison tells it like it is. "Coach Belichick outsmarted himself having Rob Gronkowski on the field for a 70-yard hail mary and keeping his best defensive player on the sidelines, Devin McCourty."
— Ian Browne (@IanMBrowne) December 10, 2018
Gronkowski slipped while trying to force Drake out of bounds, but considering he never has to make those types of plays, there’s only so much blame you can shoulder him with given the situation Belichick put him in.
