NFL closes loophole that Mike Vrabel used to defeat Patriots in playoff game

Bill Belichick was on both sides of this loophole.

Bill Belichick had two very different experiences with a certain NFL loophole in the 2019 season.

The loophole essentially allowed teams to manipulate the game clock by committing multiple dead-ball fouls while the clock was running. Belichick cheerfully used it in a 33-0 victory over the New York Jets. Although he was happy with the victory and usage of the loophole — he also believed the NFL should get rid of it.

“It was just the way the rules are set up,” Belichick said. “We were able to run a quite a bit of time off the clock without really having to do anything. It’s a loophole that’ll be closed and probably should be closed. But right now, it’s open.”

That same loophole came back and haunted Belichick while playing the Tennessee Titans in the playoffs. Patriots Wire’s Henry McKenna summed it up perfectly.

The loophole goes like this: If a team wants to punt the ball to their opponent but they want to bleed clock before doing so, they can take intentional delay of game penalties and false start penalties before ultimately making that punt. That team will move backward in terms of field position, assuming the opposing team accepts the penalties, but the penalties reset the play clock and let game clock run. The Patriots did it to the Jets. And the Titans did it to the Patriots. Using that tactic, Tennessee ran nearly two minutes off the clock before punting the ball to New England with four minutes left in the game.

New England went three-and-out on that drive. They got the ball once more, but had just 15 seconds on the clock. Quarterback Tom Brady forced a short pass and threw a pick-six. Game over.

The NFL has officially closed that loophole and approved two other changes for the game going forward.

Belichick will always find loopholes, but this one hurt him and he got his wish of removing it.

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