Belichick explains Super Bowl trick-play call
Bill Belichick surprised the entire Super Bowl-viewing audience when he opted for a trick play to end the fourth quarter of the game.
The New England Patriots received the ball at their own 35-yard line with three seconds to go in a tie game. Instead of having Tom Brady drop back and haul a Hail Mary, or asking kicker Stephen Gostkowski to attempt a record field goal, Belichick dove into his bag of tricks.
The Patriots called for Brady to fake taking a knee, and Dion Lewis came out of the backfield with the ball and a cavalry of blockers ahead of him. Lewis only ended up gaining 13 yards on the play, but had it been successful, the trick play would have been the greatest call in sporting history.
"We thought we might be able to make a play on it," Belichick explained, according to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk.
"Atlanta - give them credit. They were alert on it. We got a few yards, but they were alert to the play. We thought maybe at the end we might be able to get outside and get down the sideline on it. They saw it quickly. We thought it was worth a shot in that situation."
Instead, the Patriots won the overtime coin toss and James White scored the game-winning touchdown the traditional way.