The Chiefs have become very aggressive when it comes to going for it on fourth down. Quarterback Tom Brady realizes that the Patriots may have to take the same approach if they hope to advance to the Super Bowl.
“It could be,” Brady told reporters regarding whether the Patriots will be rolling the dice more often on fourth down. “I think situationally, however the game is going, I think sometimes you get in the games and offensively you’re doing really well and you feel like if we have that extra down, we can get it. Sometimes it’s not going as well and you feel like they’ve been stopping us and then you punt.”
Brady then questioned his questioners: “How many times did we go for it this year?”
Told that they went for it 14 times and converted only seven, Brady said, “Fifty percent. That’s not very good.”
It’s definitely not very good in comparison to the Chiefs, who converted 12 of 15 fourth-down opportunities during the regular season and three of four on Saturday against the Colts.
“We talk about a lot of scenarios before the game and so forth,” Brady said regarding the thought process for going for it on fourth down. “Whatever the situation presents, I think we’ll try to do what’s best or what we think is best or gives us the best opportunity to win. It’s one game. If you don’t win, that’s it. That’s what the playoffs are about. . . . They’ve got a great offense. We’re going to need to score a lot of points.”
To do that, the Patriots apparently will need to apply a different definition of the term four-down territory.