The Seattle Seahawks rolled the dice and came up empty by attempting to go for a two-point conversion late, but New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick missed on an even bigger gamble in the final minute of the game.
The Patriots didn’t want to score too quickly on their final drive against the Seahawks. Whoops.
Tom Brady says the Patriots didn’t want to score too fast on first down and wanted to “get it very close but not in.”
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After getting to the 2-yard line with about 1:24 to play, the Patriots ran the play clock down to its final second and Tom Brady bulldozed ahead with a sneak. After the game, Brady told reporters that he wasn’t attempting to get into the end zone on the play.
“It was just some situational football. We were trying to get it very close but not in,” Brady said, via ESPN’s Mike Reiss.
The play forced the Seahawks to use their final timeout, but LeGarrette Blount fumbled on second down, Brady’s fumbled the snap on third down, and a pass to Rob Gronkowski on fourth down fell incomplete.
It’s impossible to know if one more play would’ve been enough, but the downs ended up being more crucial to the Patriots than the time.
“We were definitely trying to score, but I’d say managing the clock was part of it,” Belichick said.
Both Carroll and Belichick took risks and neither worked out, but Seattle’s gamble came after a touchdown and not before it. And it’s a big reason why the Seahawks managed to pull out the win.
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