The Patriots had four shots at taking the lead in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 25-20 loss to Philadelphia on Sunday and three of those four possessions ended in failed fourth-down conversions.
One of those fourth-down calls was a 4th-and-17 from the Eagles’ 48 with 2:42 to go all three timeouts left after New England took a delay of game penalty.
Something Bill Belichick talked about during Monday’s media session:
“Yeah, well, I mean look, there wasn’t a lot of field position to be gained,” Belichick said. “We could have punted it – probably should have punted on 4th-and-17, but we’re on their side of the 50. It’s too long for a field goal. 4th-and-17 is a lot tougher than 4th-and-12.”
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The Pats did end up getting the ball back with a chance to win after the Eagles failed to pick up a fourth-down of their own. But the team’s comeback attempt fell short and they walked out of the season opener with a loss.
The Patriots are back at it on Sunday night against the Dolphins where they’ll face one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL.