You go for the onsides kick 100% of the time in that situation. You only have one time out and one first down wins the game for the Pats. You have to give yourself every chance to get the ball. If we have 3 timeouts left then you kickoff
I think it comes down to not being better in the red zone. We walk away with one TD out of those first 4 FGs and it's a different game. Hell, if you want to get specific about it if we were even maybe 8 yards closer Folk probably makes that game winning FG. It comes down to poor-clock management, burning our TOs early and lack of hustle.
If we kick off and give up a first down everyone jumps on Rex how do you not onside kick... plus the Pats don't give us as much cushin as they do with a min left and having to go 90 yards... we came up short it sux but at least we had the shot
Really the blown coverage in the first drive of the game was huge as was the inexcusable 3rd and 19 touchdown where we didn't blitz on either play, really just baffling to watch, its been the same shit nearly every game this year where there's only so much scheming you can do until the talent level gets exposed big time, very unfortunate.
You don't need to have great talent to not lose a back 30 yds. downfield or to keep a man in front of you 3rd. and goal on the 19. Fundamental football cannot be covered up by a scheme or a blitz. Looking for blame beyond the player who messed up is a waste of time. I guess that's the nature of fandom but these guys have been playing football since junior high. They should know how to play by now even if they can't run a 4.4.
The problem is Rex knows these guys are terrible. You know he does. Was anyone surprised we got beat for that TD in 3rd and 18?
I agree but I think it's even stronger than that. I think if we kick deep, the Pats definitely go hard for the 1st down (probably run into the line twice and then go all out on third down). The Pats were content to run it three times because it left us with a little over a minute left and bad field position. If we kick it deep, the field position totally changes and we would likely have plenty of time to get into field goal range. The Pats are always aggressive in situations where they can end the game and I can't imagine them not going all out to get that first down (which we all know they probably get).
Field position isn't more important than increasing your chances of getting the ball. It's a luxury at that stage of they game and certainly not the primary factor that drives the decision. Regardless of what NE would have run if we kicked it off, kicking it off would have absolutely been the wrong decision. You have to make those choices based on what gives you the best chance to win not what the opponent may do based on being in a different situation. Rex finally makes the right call and his fans actually criticize it. Insane.
Except that I wasn't criticizing it, but actually defending it, lol. edit: Just to clarify, I thought it was a really tough call, but overall, I agreed with the onside Kick. I was explaining why kicking off would likely not have resulted in things playing out similarly.
I was. Any athlete who is in the NFL, top player or not can keep a guy in front of them in that situation. Not every team has great players at every position. You adjust to the talent or lack of it. There was no excuse for that play or the first TD. Coaches tell a player what to do but sometimes they don't do it. That is the nature of the game and the frustration of coaching. I'm sure the DB's are hearing it today looking at the film. The Pats have Revis but Brady makes them go. Being smart about the game is what a player who doesn't have elite talent uses to stay in the league. Most players fall fall into that category. Next year these close games will end up in the win column no matter who is the coach or gm if the players are smart about the game.
Works both ways, Gronk and Edelman each dropped passes that would have gone for at least 30 yards along with a handful of other drops. Neither team looked like an NFL caliber unit executing out there last night, but that's why the games are played. You never know who will show up on any given play, let alone any given Sunday (Thursday).
This is my thought, Rex knew that if they failed the onside kick, New Englands field position would be good enough where they would feel comfortable "giving up", running 3 times and punting, had the Jets pinned New England deep, Brady would have come out slinging, and in my opinion, that would have been much worse for the Jets, I honestly feel like that same logic should have applied even after the OS recovery, but the running call was definitely safer when you can pin them inside their 20 with a punt + guaranteed time off the clock.
