{"id":742653,"date":"2026-02-10T14:55:33","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T14:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/742653\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T14:55:33","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T14:55:33","slug":"bizarre-mike-vrabel-super-bowl-2026-decision-questioned-during-patriots-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/742653\/","title":{"rendered":"Bizarre Mike Vrabel Super Bowl 2026 decision questioned during Patriots loss"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Patriots finally had some life, a reason to believe that they still had a chance in Super Bowl 2026 despite getting dominated the entire game<\/a> up until that point.<\/p>\n

A questionable decision by head coach Mike Vrabel then hurt their odds at a comeback.<\/p>\n

Fifty-seven seconds after the Seahawks went up 19-0, the Patriots scored their first points of the game on Drake Maye\u2019s 35-yard touchdown pass to Mack Hollins with 12:27 left in the fourth quarter on Sunday.<\/p>\n

But rather than go for a two-point conversion to try to cut the deficit to 11, the Patriots sent kicker Andy Borregales out to kick the extra point and make it 19-7.<\/p>\n

\"PatriotsPatriots head coach Mike Vrabel gestures during Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8, 2026. REUTERS<\/p>\n

A successful two-point conversion would\u2019ve put the Pats in position to kick a field goal for one of the two scores they needed to tie the game, along with a touchdown and a second two-point conversion. A 12-point deficit meant New England \u2014 barring an unusual score like a safety \u2014 still needed two touchdowns against the stifling Seahawks defense to have a chance to win.<\/p>\n

Social media users quickly realized the math wasn\u2019t mathing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy didn\u2019t Vrabel go for two there?! 11 points is a big difference from 12 points\u2026,\u201d Barstool Sports\u2019 Steven Cheah wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"PatriotsPatriots wide receiver Mack Hollins (13) catches a touchdown against the Seahawks in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LX on Feb. 8, 2026. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cGoing for two seems like a no-brainer here. Surprised they kicked the PAT,\u201d CBS\u2019s John Breech wrote<\/a>. \u201cMaybe Vrabel didn\u2019t have time to think because he was in such shock that his team scored.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat are we doing after the TD \u2066@Patriots? Have to go for two there. Then TD and Two point and you\u2019re a FG down. Now\u2026.still two TDs down,\u201d Kevin Kelley, an Arkansas state champion high school football coach, wrote<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Patriots forced a Seahawks punt on the next possession, but Maye threw an interception to ex-Giant Julian Love on second-and-3 from New England\u2019s 44-yard line with less than nine minutes left.<\/p>\n

Seattle then kicked a field goal with 5:35 left to go up 22-7 en route to a 29-13 victory.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Patriots finally had some life, a reason to believe that they still had a chance in Super…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":742654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7,838,249,6,84,261,9,505,41484],"class_list":{"0":"post-742653","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-mike-vrabel","10":"tag-new-england-patriots","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-nfl-playoffs","13":"tag-seattle-seahawks","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-super-bowl","16":"tag-super-bowl-2026"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116046918578131105","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=742653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/742654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=742653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=742653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=742653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}