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Another year, another fourth-down question

 10.25.10 at 1:08 am ET
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Patriots coach Bill Belichick elected to go for it on fourth down in a pivotal situation. (AP)

Patriots coach Bill Belichick elected to go for it on fourth down in a pivotal situation. (AP)

It wasn’t exactly analogous, but the situation bore an uncanny resemblance to the most controversial play of the Patriots’ 2009 season.

As the Patriots returned from the two-minute warning, they were clinging to a 23-20 lead, but the Chargers were storming back. The Pats had just been stuffed twice on both second-and-1 and third-and-1, continuing a day of relative offensive futility that would ultimately conclude with New England amassing its fewest yards (179) since 2002.

And so, the Patriots faced a fourth-and-1 from their own 49-yard-line. They could either punt in hopes of pinning the Chargers deep in their territory or go for it in hopes of gaining a yard and, in so doing, potentially positioning themselves to run out the clock. Of course, if the Patriots failed to convert on fourth down, they would turn the ball over to the Chargers near mid-field, leaving San Diego needing just 15 or so yards to get into field goal range.

Conventional wisdom suggests that a team punt the ball and trust its defense. But for the second straight year, the Patriots and coach Bill Belichick elected to go for it on fourth down, just as they had done against Indianapolis in 2009, when they elected to go for it on fourth-and-2 while holding a 34-28 lead with just under two minutes left. And, just as was the case in the Colts game, the Patriots failed to convert, with BenJarvus Green-Ellis getting stuffed for a loss of a yard.

The Chargers got the ball, and positioned themselves for a 45-yard field goal before a penalty pushed the attempt back to 50 yards. When kicker Kris Brown‘s attempt gonged the right goalpost, the Patriots were able to escape with a 23-20 victory.

Even so, the question loomed as to whether the Patriots should have gone for it or punted on fourth down.

Members of the Pats did not express any doubts about the decision. Quarterback Tom Brady said that the offense, and not the decision, was to blame for the turnover on downs.

“I’ll go for it every time,” Brady told reporters. “If we get the first down, the game’s pretty much over. If you punt it back to them, they’ve got three timeouts with two minutes left, they’ve only got to go 60 yards. If you get the yard, it’s going to be pretty tough for them to win the game.

“We tried it. Didn’t execute it very well. Didn’t execute a lot of things very well,” Brady added. “It never should have come down to a fourth-and-1. It was second-and-1. We’ve got to do a better job when it counts.”

Belichick similarly felt no need to second-guess himself.

“I thought if we made it, we could end the game. They made a good play. Give them credit,” Belichick said in the postgame press conference.

Was it the right call for the Patriots to go for it on fourth-and-1 in Sunday's 23-20 win over the Chargers?

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  • Andrew

    I believe it was the right call to go for it given the flow of the game and the current time left in the game. The only thing I did not like was the play call. On fourth and 1, every team in the league should be running the silent count quaterback sneak. The odds that the qb cant get one yard will always be in the offenses favor especially given the fact the most quaterbacks are over six feet tall. Couple that with thier good given natural ability ( yes even one as slow as tom brady), I love the odds. Not only did I think it was the right decision, i really liked how the players bought into it. That shows a total trust between player and coach. Happy with a win no matter how we got it. Now all we have to figure out this week is how to stop Mr. Adrian Peterson.

  • Larryg

    I liked the team going for it, but like like the previous poster, hated the call. That defense was giving up jack squat on the ground. The more concerning play was their losing the onside kick. Their special teams were very dolphin like yesterday. This team very much reminds me of the 2004 team, every win was a heart attack. Even when they made the playoffs you werent really all that confident they would stay there very long. I like em!

  • http://www.lucas-mullen.info/sports Shawn

    Another call made out of stupid hubris instead of good football sense. The Pats were only saved this time because the Chargers are eternal chokers and they proved that reputation yet again. Worst case scenario out of a punt is that it goes into the end zone and the Chargers now have to drive from the 20 on a touchback instead of the 50. That is 30 extra yards. I’m certain that virtually any other team converts that 30 yard gift into at least a FG to force overtime. However, typical that because they won the game this time, it was the “right” call, but when they lost the game last year, it was the “wrong” call. Football genius, my butt.

  • Harry

    Dumb call. The Pats did nothing all game long on offense. The right play would have been to punt the ball away and try to pin the Chargers deep. All I have to say is thank God Kris Brown kicked off out of bounds. Otherwise, given Belichick’s history that same play might have happened around the 30 yard line instead of around midfield.

    Also, the Pats were completely unprepared (how I have no idea?)for the onside kick. It never should have gotten to 4th and 1.

  • Stephen G.

    It was a stupid call, period. Why give SD a short field that could’ve very easily turned into a TD instead of a failed FG?

    By punting, you pin them back inside the 20 and make them go 50-60 yds just to get into FG position. Plus our soft offensive line stinks, especially on the left side…Why you would go all in and run behind Matt Light is beyond me.

    All Belichick did there was increase the likelihood that SD would win. Got lucky with the bumbling Chargers pure and simple.

  • Gary D.

    Why would you want to give SD the short field, when a punt could potentially pin them deep in their own end? Guess it IS better to be lucky than good. Foolish call.

  • John S.

    I liked the call against Indy last year, but disagreed with it yesterday. We were up 6 last year, they still needed a TD when we failed to convert. Yesterday they were only up 3, and with the ball at the 49, SD was only about 15 yards away from being in field goal range if we didn’t make it.

    I also thought the play call was poor, but I didn’t see room for a sneak there. If they had spread the field maybe, but both teams were in goal line formation.

  • Vincent

    Absolute right call to go for it, just as it was last year in indy, but as was the case last year it was a horrible play call and horrible execution by the offense that cost them. Brady says it about as cut and dry as it gets and makes an inarguable point, it’s not the decision to go for it that put them in a tough position it was the execution, and based on that I’ll put my trust in a coach and qb that know a little more about football than the talking heads and the above posters.

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