If someone not concerned as the greatest coach of all time had actually done something like this, picture the reaction. Imagine the reaction if someone not considered the biggest coach of all time explained the failure to call timeout with 22 seconds of stating absolutely nothing besides, “Yeah, well.”
On Sunday night, Belichick did his finest impersonation of Fangio impersonating Belichick in the closing moments of Super Bowl XLIX. It too didnt work.
That answer was followed by 22 seconds of silence (there was a stray harumph along the method), before Patriots P.R. director Stacey James required the next question.
The clock showed 29 seconds when the play ended.
Because Edelman was ruled to have actually landed in bounds (he perhaps didnt), the clock kept ticking. And ticking. And ticking. From 29 seconds all the way to 13 seconds till the next snap. After the play– a throw to the end zone that went through the hands of Edelman– nine seconds stayed.
With 36 seconds left in the early-season legendary in between the Patriots and Seahawks, New England had the ball 31 yards from paydirt and in turn from victory. Quarterback Cam Newton tossed the ball to receiver Julian Edelman, who caught it as the Seattle 13. The clock revealed 29 seconds when the play ended.
” Yeah, well.”
Its impossible to understand whether using the timeout would have resulted in a win. However, the majority of coaches would gladly take first and 10 from the 13 with 29 seconds on the clock and no timeouts over first and 10 from the 13 with 9 seconds and one timeout. Belichick could have had the previous, he settled for the latter, and the reality that all he might state in action was “yeah, well” is the closest hell ever come to confessing a mistake.
The Patriots could have had first and 10 from the 13 with 29 seconds and no time at all outs. Rather, they had 2nd and 10 from the 13 with 9 seconds and one time out. The next play (a 12-yard pass) set the stage for a one-snap, all-or-nothing effort to win the video game, its hard not to question what would have taken place if the Patriots had had more fractures at the end zone.
Getty Images
From 29 seconds all the way to 13 seconds until the next snap. The Patriots might have had first and 10 from the 13 with 29 seconds and no time outs. Rather, they had second and 10 from the 13 with nine seconds and one time out. Many coaches would gladly take very first and 10 from the 13 with 29 seconds on the clock and no timeouts over first and 10 from the 13 with nine seconds and one timeout.
Due to the fact that the Patriots ultimately had a possibility to win the game with a final play from the Seattle one, the decision to not call the timeout will draw less attention than it would have. The decision to not call the timeout certainly will draw less criticism and scrutiny because Bill Belichick is the coach who stopped working to call the timeout.
Last Monday night, Vic Fangio did his best impersonation of Bill Belichick in the closing moments of Super Bowl XLIX. It didnt work.
After the game, Belichick was asked about his choice not to call a timeout when the clock was turning with 29 seconds left.
Seattle took the timeout after the incompletion with nine seconds left. When the press reporter clarified the question to focus on the failure to call a timeout as 20 seconds eventually evaporated, Belichick used a two-word answer.
” Seattle took a timeout,” Belichick stated. “I indicate, what are you discussing?”
