During the AFC Wild Card Game against the New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel took multiple penalties in a row that caused the game clock to start at the start of the play clock, not the snap. In a recent appearance on the Dan Hellie's “Helliepod” podcast, Vrabel recalled Patriots head coach Bill Belichick “losing his mind” on the sideline when they used the so-called “loophole play” during the fourth quarter.
“Stretch (Titans assistant John Streicher) does a fantastic job upstairs,” Vrabel said. (h/t PatriotsWire) “He's committed to being my eyes upstairs … He's like, ‘You've got to see Bill. Bill's losing his mind.'
“It's all relative, you know what I mean? I was like, ‘Hey, we've got to finish this game off and we'll see what happens.”
There's no doubt Belichick was visibly upset at the Titans' coach on the sideline, even though he had used the same stalling tactic earlier in the season during a victory over the New York Jets.
The Titans drained nearly two minutes off the clock before returning possession to the Patriots, giving them less time to try and spark a comeback to advance to the Divisional Round.
The Titans ended up sealing the victory when Tom Brady threw a pick-six in the final minute of regulation.
Since several coaches took advantage of the loophole play this past season, the NFL decided to ban it, making a rule change prohibiting teams from taking back-to-back offensive penalties. With that being said, Belichick will never get his revenge on Vrabel and the Titans.
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