Exclusive: Belichick reflects on 28-3 and if it impacted Patriots offseason

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.VA. — It all seemed a bit out of character for the Patriots and Bill Belichick.

Entering the offseason off a dramatic Super Bowl victory over the Falcons, the Patriots didn’t just rest on their laurels gazing adoringly at their five Lombardi trophies. In fact, they did the opposite.

In the first five days of free agency, the Patriots made three trades (tight end Dwayne Allen, receiver Brandin Cooks and end Kony Ealy), signed cornerback Stephon Gilmore to a $65-million contract (which included $40 million in guaranteed money), and added two more free agents in running back Rex Burkhead and defensive tackle Lawrence Guy. A month later, the Patriots signed Bills running back Mike Gillislee to a restricted free agent offer sheet the Bills couldn’t match.

Did Belichick see something in the 28-3 third-quarter Super Bowl deficit that concerned him? Did he view the Super Bowl almost as a loss when it came to building the team for 2017? BostonSportsJournal.com asked him before Wednesday’s practice with the Texans in an exclusive conversation.

“No,” Belichick said. “I didn’t think 28-3 was indicative of the game. The score was the score, but, I don’t know, they didn’t convert many third downs, we gave them a touchdown on a pick six, we fumbled going in, we couldn’t pick up a third-and-1, we gave up a third-and-10 for a touchdown…”

Belichick, as usual, was right. The Falcons converted just 1-of-8 third downs in the game, although a Malcolm Butler defensive pass interference penalty came on third down, but that play was technically wiped out by the penalty. It came with 8:36 left in the third quarter and set up the Falcons' score that made it 28-3 on the next play.

Quarterback Matt Ryan was sacked on the Falcons’ first two third-down opportunities, and on four of their eight attempts overall.

Tom Brady threw an interception from the Atlanta 23-yard line that was intercepted by Robert Alford and returned 82 yards for a touchdown to give the Falcons a 21-0 lead with 2:21 remaining the first half.

The Patriots faced third-and-1 on the opening possession of the game when LeGarrette Blount was tackled by linebacker Deion Jones for no gain, partially because center David Andrews couldn’t make his block on Jones because a Falcons player fell on foot. Blount also fumbled at the Atlanta 29-yard line early in the second quarter. That turnover turned into the game's first score.

Ryan hit tight end Austin Hooper for a 19-yard touchdown against man coverage from Patrick Chung on third-and-9 to make it 14-0 in the second quarter.

“If we had just done a few things, maybe it’s 10-6 at the half and then we’re not talking about 28-3,” said Belichick. “But it was 21-3, 28-3 because it was, but I didn’t feel like the game was out of control or out of hand. The score was, but I didn’t feel like we were not competitive.”

This offseason, Belichick did two things that were mostly out of character for him. He traded a first-round pick for a receiver in Cooks who only had two more years of contract control, and that included a fifth-year team option. Belichick had never drafted a receiver in the first round (Chad Jackson, 36^th overall, was the highest in 2006), and draft picks come with four or five years of control.

And signing a defensive player like Gilmore to a megadeal on the first day of free agency hadn’t been done since 2007, when the Patriots inked linebacker Adalius Thomas.

Belichick said the moves didn’t come as a reaction to anything he saw in the Super Bowl. It wasn’t a refection of, perhaps, him thinking his team was too slow.

“Every year you try to build your team the best that you can, and so we did what we felt like was the best way to build our team,” Belichick said. “I mean, I don’t know what the options are going to be next year, but whatever they are, we’re going to do the best we can with them.

“To say that we wouldn’t trade for a player or we wouldn’t pay a player this much, or we wouldn’t do this or we wouldn’t do that, I mean I don’t know what those … I don’t have any of those rules. We do what we think is best for the team. I don’t know what that’s going to be, but once we analyze the situation and evaluate it, figure out what it is, if it makes sense, then we’ll do it. If doesn’t, then we’ll do whatever we think is better.”

This offseason, that included adding two starting-caliber running backs, a field-stretching receiver and a versatile tight end. Belichick said the moves had no correlation to some offensive sluggishness against the Texans in the divisional round (36 percent on third downs, 68.6 passer rating and two interceptions for Brady), and the Falcons.

“I mean, we moved the ball against Atlanta, so I wouldn’t say that was a problem,” Belichick said. “The problem was we missed some plays that would have resulted in a lot more points, but we didn’t (make them). I’d say they had problems stopping us.

"Houston, look -- Houston’s one of the top defenses in the league. Everybody has trouble moving the ball against them. We turned it over three times in that game, and fortunately we were able to score on a kickoff return. So I can’t sit here and say it was our great offensive performance. But hopefully we do better than that against them (in the future), but they’re a good team, give them credit.”

Belichick has always been the best in the league at identifying when to cut bait with a player one year too early, rather than one year too late. With Brady looking like he’s discovered the fountain of youth in his late 30s, and now into his 40s, Belichick said he doesn’t have to rethink his approach.

“Yeah, well, every player’s different so I think it’s a mistake to compare one player to another,” he said. “You compare that player to what you know about that player as opposed to somebody else because we’re all different.”