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Midway through Thursday night’s loss to Buffalo, the Patriots started their final first-half drive at their 42-yard line with 1:20 remaining.
After opening with two runs around a completed pass, the Pats allowed 10 seconds to run off before using a timeout ahead of a third-and-1 play inside Bills territory. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson had been stuffed for no gain on the play, though it was initially unclear whether the Patriots had moved the chains. Then, after the timeout, they ran a successful quarterback sneak on the third-and-1 and burned their final timeout with 32 seconds left.
The sneak marked the third run call in four plays against the Bills, who were allowed to sit back in deep, soft coverage for the remainder of the possession to prevent a touchdown. With 33 yards and 32 seconds to reach the end zone, the Pats gained just four yards and attempted a field goal. That kick, a 48-yarder, hit the crossbar with 0:10 left and the Patriots trailed 17-7 heading into the break.
On Friday morning, Bill Belichick said he approved of the timeout usage and play-calling that led to a disjointed finish to that critical drive.
“Yeah, just making sure we had the situation there. Initially, it looked like we had a first down and then we didn’t,” Belichick said of the timeout before third down. “So, should’ve identified it quicker.”
Belichick denied the offense was playing for a field goal at that moment.
“No,” Belichick said, “the thinking was to get a first down and try to score.”
The Patriots were then held scoreless until Folk drilled a meaningless 39-yard field goal with 1:57 left in the game, by which point Buffalo led by 17.
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