Chris Mason: Bill Belichick’s 4th quarter was truly shocking

FOXBOROUGH — Early in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s Swiftapalooza at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots trailed the Chiefs by 17 points.

Bailey Zappe’s offense was faced with fourth-and-3 at its own 42-yard line. Given the game situation and the quarterback on the other sideline, if the Patriots had a chance, this was the time to make a stand.

Instead, Bill Belichick trotted punter Bryce Baringer out and waved the white flag.

Rather than playing to win, the winningest coach in Patriots history decided to avoid a potential blowout as his team fell to 3-11. Let that sink in for a moment. Who cares how many points a team loses by when it falls to 3-11? Eleven losses is eleven losses.

Ultimately, the Patriots only lost 27-17.

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“It’s not a question of not wanting to go for it, it’s a question of doing what you feel like is best at that point in time,” Belichick said.

Later in the quarter, Belichick was given an opportunity to remedy his misstep. Instead, he compounded the mistake.

Still trailing 27-10 on their next possession, the Patriots had a fourth-and-4 situation at their own 33-yard line. With 9:28 remaining, it was an obvious gotta-have-it situation for any team trying to win a game — and Belichick punted. Again. Then he pointed to injuries as the reason why.

“At that point, we had lost three starters,” Belichick said. “Worried about the pass protection. Worried about being able to execute in that situation. Felt like we were playing good defense. Get the ball back on a turnover, three-and-out, get the ball in better field position.”

Gone are the days of “next man up.”

Urgency was a serious issue throughout the fourth quarter, too. The Patriots weren’t operating with the tempo they needed to get back into the game.

“I think we could have went a little faster, definitely being down three scores in that last quarter,” running back Ezekiel Elliott said. “I don’t know. It’s not up to me.”

The Patriots cut Kansas City’s lead to 27-17 after Kadarius Toney gifted them an early Christmas interception, and with 4:00 remaining, Zappe got the ball back deep in his own territory. Down two scores late, the Patriots absolutely needed to run an efficient two-minute drill.

On first down, Zappe tucked a quarterback sneak to get out of the shadow of his own goalpost — and then huddled as the clock kept ticking. On second down, Elliott ran the ball for another short gain. Inconceivably, the Patriots huddled again. By the time they snapped the ball on third-and-4, they’d bled 74 seconds off the clock with two running plays. There was zero sense of urgency.

“I mean, we could have gone quicker,” Belichick said.

Eventually, they turned the ball over on downs, and Andy Reid showed Belichick the scoreboard mercy he was seeking. Though they couldn’t run the clock out, Patrick Mahomes knelt the ball four times in New England’s red zone and gave the Patriots the ball back with 35 seconds to play.

That’s how toothless Reid and Mahomes thought Belichick’s offense was. From there, Kevin Harris ran the ball and the rest of the clock out. Belichick finished his 11th loss of the season with a timeout in his pocket, but hey, it was only by 10 points.

With the 71-year-old coach’s job security under heavy scrutiny, it’s hard not to view his decisions through the prism of Ian Rapoport’s Saturday night report.

“Sources say not only has owner Robert Kraft not come to a firm conclusion on what will happen next with his head-coaching situation, but the way New England finishes could go a long way in determining what’s next,” Rapoport wrote.

As a team, the last place Patriots literally have nothing to lose. But rather than playing to win, Belichick played not to get blown out on Sunday afternoon. It was a shocking pivot from a coach that never used to care about optics, and the result was just a different kind of embarrassing.