Bill Belichick got a taste of his own medicine on Saturday night as the Titans’ Mike Vrabel used something he learned from his time in the Patriots organization against his former coach in the 20-13 road win.
Tennessee was set to punt with 6:30 left on the clock in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t until the clock hit 4:44 that New England got the ball.
So, how exactly did that happen?
Vrabel used what Belichick referred to as a “loophole” in the rulebook earlier on in the season, committing a string of delay of game and offsides penalties to run down the clock.
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While Belichick may have been livid about the whole ordeal, it’s not at all against the rules.
Teams are allowed to use penalties to reset the play clock and drain it down to the final five minutes. Then, a Patriots encroachment penalty took even more time off of the clock.
The Patriots coach used the same technique in a victory over the New York Jets in 2019.
“No, no. It was just the way the rules are set up,” Belichick said at the time. “We were able to run 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.”
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While the Patriots hope for a longer run in the postseason next year, the Titans advance to face the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. CST.