Bill Belichick Had Little To Say About Patriots’ Clock Management Vs. Seahawks

Ultimately, the New England Patriots ran out of time as they fell to the Seattle Seahawks 35-30 on Sunday night.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had no answer for why the Patriots let 16 seconds wind down after wide receiver Julian Edelman caught an 18-yard pass from quarterback Cam Newton to put New England on Seattle’s 13-yard line down five points with 29 seconds left in the game and a timeout.

“Seattle took a timeout,” Belichick said. “I mean, what are you talking about?”

They didn’t. The Patriots hurried to the line and next snapped the ball with 13 seconds left on the clock. Newton threw an incompletion high and through Edelman’s hands, then Seattle took a timeout.

“Yeah, well,” Belichick said, followed by 15 second of silence.

He never continued.

The Patriots’ next snap came with nine seconds left, when Newton completed a 12-yard pass to wide receiver N’Keal Harry, who was tackled inbounds.

New England took its final timeout at that point with three seconds left in the game facing first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Newton lost a yard on a keeper, and the Patriots lost.

“We had one play to score, and we tried to go with what we thought was our best play,” Belichick said. “What else is there to think about?”

The Patriots previously were effective in short-yardage situations near the goal line, converting for scores on two 1-yard runs by Newton and a 1-yard passing touchdown to fullback Jakob Johnson.

The Patriots’ clock management could be questioned at the end of the game, but they still wound up with three chances to score, and it was a minor miracle they were back in the game to begin with after trailing by 12 points with just over two minutes left in the game.

Newton said after the loss that he would like to have his incompletion to Edelman and his run at the end of the game back.

“Seattle made a good play,” Belichick said. “I give them credit. They deserved to win.”

Newton believed he could have bounced his run to to the edge or dove over the pile for the score. The Seahawks improved to 2-0 on the season, while the Patriots now have a 1-1 record.

Thumbnail photo via Joe Nicholson/USA TODAY Sports Images