I was also a fan of Bill Belichick’s decision to go for it on fourth-and-1 to try to seal the game on New England’s final meaningful possession, the one that ended with Tom Brady fumbling a fourth-and-1 snap for the second time this season and losing the ball. I’ve covered Brady’s success on these plays in the past, and while he’s not 100 percent, he’s about as close as an NFL player can be in short yardage. You don’t want to risk him on every short-yardage conversion, but sealing a game seems like a good time to pull that off. And just like with the Falcons, poor execution doesn’t negate a proper decision. Belichick’s playing to the historical strength of his team (offense) and avoiding its recent weakness (defense) while doing the same thing in terms of what Atlanta is and isn’t good at. You give Atlanta better field position by not punting, but the reward of possibly ending the game is very obviously worth the risk.