Bill Belichick says coach's challenge should be allowed under two-minute mark
You don't have to be a Vikings or a Bills fan to have an opinion on whether Buffalo's Gabe Davis caught the ball in Sunday's crazy 33-30 overtime game. Heck, you don't even have to be associated with one of those teams to discuss whether Davis' 20-yard "reception" should have been reviewed with 17 seconds left in regulation even though coach's challenges aren't allowed under the two-minute mark.
Enter New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who commented on the play on Monday and reiterated a stance that he has long taken: Coaches should be allowed challenge plays with under two minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
"I’m not in favor of adding more challenges, but challenging the plays," Belichick said in his weekly guest appearance on WEEI radio in Boston. "It’s just like in the Buffalo-Minnesota game. In that two-minute situation on the [Davis] catch on the sideline, that play could’ve been reviewed by the officials because it was under two minutes, and either it wasn’t or they missed it, or however you want to characterize it."
"I get the forward progress and things like that that you can’t challenge. I’m not talking about that," Belichick continued. "But I’m saying not having the ability to challenge a play that could impact the outcome of a game — even calls like holding, pass interference, and things like that — I don’t see why those plays can’t be reviewed."
This was a somewhat surprising move by the long-tenured Pats coach, who typically saves such discussions for private meetings with other coaches. But as it turns out, even Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell agreed with Belichick's take on the play.
"[The play] was right in front of me. I didn't think that was a catch," said O'Connell, who was actually drafted as a quarterback by Belichick in 2008, via ESPN. "In that mode, that needs to be something that either is from up top or possibly New York [at the replay center]. We didn't get any clarification on that. I did ask."
Nevertheless, the Vikings won Sunday's game and moved to 8-1 on the season. The Bills now sit at 6-3 and have lost two straight games.
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