Bill Belichick Reiterates Controversial Fourth-Down Overtime Decision

The New England Patriots lost Week 4 to the Green Bay Packers. Players almost won the game, but it didn’t happen. It was a close one. NFL analysts discussed the mistakes Patriots players made, mentioning Bill Belichick and his controversial decision. They questioned his move, but Belichick had his reasons to do this.

Brian Hoyer and Bailey Zappe replaced Mac Jones on the field. They did a good job and the rookie was really efficient. On a third-and-5, Zappe threw incomplete to Hunter Henry. Head coach Belichick wanted to punt the ball back to Aaron Rodgers. Mason Crosby finished with a nice field goal. Belichick’s decision made people talk, but hey, he knows his job.

“Well, we were able to put them on a long field,” Belichick said. “We had just done that the series before on the opening kickoff in overtime. Look, the longer it is, the harder it is to make that decision. I certainly wouldn’t want to come up short on fourth-and-5 and hand them the ball a first down away from field-goal range. There’s a tradeoff there.

“I don’t think (going for it) was heavily considered.”

Bill Belichick keeps shocking the NFL world with his controversial decision

It was a difficult decision and there’s no going back now. The Patriots deal with great challenge in the last few seasons and coaches tried different strategies. Belichick opts for a conservative approach, especially when it comes to fourth downs. It seems like he won’t change his approach in the next few games. Why would he change it?

New England added another loss to the chart. Having a 3-1 record is far from ideal and players have to prepare for the Detroit Lions. Will Belichick have enough time to prepare his players for the Lions offense? Oh, New England has to win this one. There’s no other way out.

Belichick had to work without his starting quarterback. Losing Jones to an injury was an unexpected turn of events. The Patriots have to follow a familiar pattern and make things work. Will it work against the Lions?