Trailing 20-10 with just under five minutes to play in the season opener against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, Mike Vrabel had a decision to make. Keep the offense on the field for a 4th-and-5 at the New England 49-yard line, or punt the ball away and play the field position game.
There was no hesitation; Drake Maye and company remained on the field. That was, until rookie left tackle Will Campbell was flagged for a false start. The ensuing 5-yard loss made the Patriots’ first-year head coach change
his mind.
Instead of attempting a conversion, Bryce Baringer punted the ball away — a kick that traveled only 21 yards before sailing out of bounds. As Vrabel explained after the game, that short punt was a crucial part of the strategy falling apart.
“I made a decision on 4th-and-10 with close to five minutes to punt and would like a better punt,” he said during his post-game presser. “We had them stopped, and that was the plan, and that didn’t work. Then they hit one, and we just didn’t have enough time there at the end to do anything. That was the decision that I thought was best for us at the time, and that didn’t work out.”
Equipped with good field position, Las Vegas went on to burn three minutes off the clock and move the line of scrimmage ever deep in New England’s territory. When Vrabel’s squad was back on the clock with 1:48 left, the game was effectively out of reach.
Could the outcome have been different with a different fourth-down call? That remains anybody’s guess. For the Patriots’ coach, however, that one play was not the main issue in that particular sequence and the eventual 20-13 loss overall.
“Situationally, we’ll have to continue to improve,” he said. “We moved the ball. We made the kick. We tried the onside. You just can’t get down two scores late in the game.”
