You kind of have to love Bill Belichick. Yes, his public persona is that of a humorless curmudgeon with terrible fashion sense and a penchant for dropping veteran players no longer useful to him. But the Patriots head coach always respects process over result — and that takes some serious courage.
Belichick was criticized last year after going for it on 4th-and-2 from his own 28 late in the fourth quarter of a Sunday night game at Indianapolis. The attempt failed and the Colts promptly drove for the winning score. It didn’t work then. But all Belichick cares about are the percentages. Sunday at San Diego he had the obvious option of punting from his own 49 on 4th-and-1 with New England up just 23-20.
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“Punt the ball, please,” NBC analyst Tony Dungy said after watching the highlights. But instead of heeding history, Belichick chose to go for it again — and BenJarvus Green-Ellis was stoned. This time, though, the defense had some room to work with and stopped San Diego’s potential game-winning drive.
