New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) is pressured by New York Jets’ Sheldon Richardson (91) and Leonard Williams (92) during the second half of an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 27, 2015, in East Rutherford, N.J. Since 2012, teams receiving the ball to start OT have scored an opening-drive touchdown (thereby winning the game while denying the opponent a possession) about 16 percent of the time.
Advertisement
Vikings’ 2016 schedule will be set after Sunday’s game
Over that period, Minnesota is 1-10-1 versus the Packers with their only win a thrilling victory 37-34 during week 17 in 2012. Cory Redding rambled 36 yards with one of the fumbles for a score, and Jerraud Powers took another 5 yards for a touchdown.
By DENNIS WASZAK Jr.
Two Palestinians killed after ‘stabbing’ Israeli soldier
Police said they had “spotted a man who aroused their suspicions and approached him to check”. A nearby security guard apprehended the attacker who was then taken into police custody.
Bill Belichick still doesn’t get what the big deal is.
I won’t quit, says defiant Van Gaal after United draw
Asked about the constant media speculation over his job , Van Gaal told BT Sport: “I can not have any influence on that”. But I am am fully confident in the board and more importantly in my players.
Brady, meanwhile, said he wasn’t bothered by Belichick’s choice to kick. The Patriots now need to win next week against Miami to clinch the top seed while the Jets have won five straight games. “We’re on to next week”.
Bill Belichick’s unusual overtime coin toss decision earned him plenty of unflattering press – including the Daily News’ back page – since the Patriots’ 26-20 overtime loss to the Jets, but the veteran head coach remained steadfast that he made the correct choice. But once he said they wanted to kick, whatever followed didn’t matter, according to National Football League officiating chief Dean Blandino.
Wind was a factor in those two instances, but that doesn’t change a set of inarguable facts that were staring Belichick in the face on Sunday.
Belichick is known for making unorthodox decisions, and many of them work out.
Overtime rules dictate each team must possess the ball at least once.
How does New England go about accomplishing those goals, which, at times, differ?
Referee Clete Blakeman flipped the coin, the Patriots won and chose to kick off to the Jets. “[Coach Belichick] told the ref that if we won the toss, we wanted to kick off. So when we won the toss, we told the ref we wanted to kick off”.
Many (incorrectly, it turns out) assumed Slater meant to say receive instead of kick.
“Then we get picked, beat on two flag patterns”.
Slater acknowledged that he was simply trying to get clarification from Blakeman on not being able to choose the direction of their kick.
The Dolphins had a first-and-goal at the 5 with 40 seconds left, but after three consecutive incompletions, rookie center Jamil Douglas appeared to snap the ball prematurely, and quarterback Ryan Tannehill was sacked by three Colts. The Bills won in NY earlier this season and Ryan would like nothing else than to knock out the team that fired him. They had a good defense.
“It’s bittersweet”, Richardson said.
“I had a ton of confidence”, Fitzpatrick said. Look at the Denver game from a couple years ago, or the Denver game from this year, where we had the ball, got stopped, gave it to them with good field position and they ended up scoring a touchdown. No. 2, if we didn’t win the toss then we had the preferred direction.
Out of his normal weaponry, all Brady had at his disposal on Sunday was tight end Rob Gronkowski. The Patriots could’ve wrapped up home field advantage with a win against the Jets. Brady went 22 of 31 for 231 yards, one TD and an interception by Darrelle Revis. NY led New England 10-3 at halftime.
“We fought”, Brady said. “We just didn’t play good enough defense”. Three plays after that, Fitzpatrick threw a pass in the back corner of the end zone that Eric Decker caught for the winning touchdown.
Advertisement
“These last five weeks, they’ve all kind of been do-or-die games for us”, Fitzpatrick said. Tom Brady gets hit way too much and the wrong matchup in their first playoff game (someone like the Jets or Chiefs) could make it a one-and-done season for the champs.
