When a team gets dominated the way the Patriots did in Super Bowl LX, no single decision makes the difference. But one particularly bad decision by Patriots coach Mike Vrabel deserves scrutiny.
When the Patriots finally scored their first touchdown of the game to make the score 19-6 in the fourth quarter, Vrabel sent his extra point team onto the field, rather than leaving his offense on the field to attempt a two-point conversion. That was a big mistake.
Mike Tirico noted on the game broadcast as he called the Patriots’ extra point that a two-point conversion would have given the Patriots a clearer path to tie the game and perhaps force overtime.
“He’s gonna go for one here,” Tirico said as the Patriots’ extra point team lined up. “Go for two and make it 19-8, an 11-point game. A touchdown, two point and a field goal would be the math to make it a tie game. Instead they try the extra point, Borregales knocks it in to make it a 19-7 game.”
The difference between trailing by 11 and trailing by 12 in the fourth quarter is significant. An 11-point deficit allows the trailing team to settle for a field goal if necessary and still have a chance to tie the game with a touchdown and two-point conversion. A 12-point deficit requires the trailing team to score two touchdowns.
Vrabel, the NFL’s 2025 Coach of the Year, has not been asked about his decision to kick the extra point. It’s a decision that’s hard to explain.