After the Patriots took a 14-0 lead over the Eagles and seemed to be in control of the game, New England went for the jugular.
They did it with a maneuver last seen in the final game of Doug Flutie’s football career, with the Patriots: A drop kick.
This drop kick came in the form of an onside kick. It didn’t work, giving the Eagles the ball at their own 41. They turned the field position into a touchdown, and then scored another 28 more in a row before the Pats scored again.
After the game, coach Bill Belichick was asked about the decision.
Asked to explain the reasoning for the play, Belichick offered this rejected line from a Dr. Seuss book, “I think everything we did, we’re trying to do what we think is best.”
Asked whether more air was supposed to be placed under the attempt, in order to make it a jump ball, Belichick said, “We don’t have time for all that.”
It’s not the only topic on which Belichick wasn’t chatty. He was asked this question: “There was a third-and-three where pass interference was called, but Jamie Collins signaled that he tipped it. Would you have had any problem if he called a timeout and had you challenge the play? Did you guys talk about that at all?”
Answer: “No.”
All things considered, Belichick wasn’t nearly as prickly as he could have been following an upset loss over a team that had surrendered 45 points in back-to-back games. Indeed, he was pretty much the same as he always is.