'It Stings!' Which Patriots Are To Blame for Loss at Raiders?
For as many words used to describe the New England Patriots perplexing 30-24 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 15, nearly as many fingers are being pointed in assigning culpability for the game’s baffling ending.
On the final play of regulation, running back Rhamondre Stevenson took a handoff from quarterback Mac Jones up the middle to the Raiders 32-yard line. However, in the face of a certain tackle, the second-year rusher flipped the ball back to wide receiver Jakobi Meyers who caught it at the Raiders 40-yard marker.
Meyers would inexplicably attempt to lateral the ball back to quarterback Mac Jones, only to have his attempt intercepted by Las Vegas defensive end (and ex-Patriot) Chandler Jones, who returned it 48 yards for the game-winning touchdown.
If either Meyers or Stevenson had simply fallen to the ground or run out of bounds, the game would have gone to overtime.
The Raiders were enthralled, while the Patriots fanbase was appalled.
However, within the Patriots locker room, the blame is being directed inward.
"Just trying to do too much, trying to be a hero, I guess," said an emotional Meyers following the game.
"I thought I saw Mac open. I didn't see Chandler Jones at the time. I thought [Mac] was open and tried to get it to him, and let him try to make a play with it. But the score was tied, so I should have went down."
While Meyers’ decision to lateral was hardly defensible, his was not the only egregious misstep during the series. Stevenson put the onus on his shoulders, acknowledging that the laterals began with his own improvised choice to give the ball to Meyers.
"The coaches gave us a play just to kind of run the time out, just get down,” Stevenson said. “I feel like I should have done just that. The playcall is just a draw play and nothing more, nothing less than that. I'm supposed to know the situation, I'm supposed to know how much time is on the clock. Critical situations. I failed to do that today."
Ironically, New England’s last line of defense between Chandler Jones and the end zone was Mac Jones, who fell victim to one of the NFL’s most potent stiff arms. Still, the Patriots quarterback admitted to failing in his efforts to tackle the veteran Raiders defender.
"I got to tackle the guy,” Jones said postgame. “It's on me and it's my fault. If I tackle him, we play for overtime. Not good enough by me."
Ultimately the responsibility for the team’s success or failure lies within the lap of coach Bill Belichick. For the first time in recent memory, the Patriots have appeared to be ill-equipped for situational football on several occasions. Sunday’s snafu was the latest example of New England’s players being inadequately prepared for the circumstances.
Clearly unhappy with the outcome, Belichick said the Patriots made a "mistake" on the play, while attesting to the need for improvement
“We have to eliminate those mistakes and we just gave up some big critical plays,” Belichick said. “We need to eliminate those and keep making the good ones and stop making the critical bad ones.”
When asked if the Patriots would have considered a ‘Hail Mary,’ which would have required Jones to throw a near 60-yard pass for a last second score, Belichick responded by saying:
“Taking a shot at the end zone? We couldn’t throw it that far.”
At 7-7, New England must now face the daunting task of turning the page and moving forward. The process will commence when the team returns to the practice fields to prepare for their Week 16 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals. As team captain, Jones know that he must keep team morale as high as possible.
“It stings, and it’s going to sting, but we’ve got more games to play,” Jones said. “We’ve got to turn the page and keep fighting and don’t quit. That’s the one thing we can’t do is quit. Just attack each day and come together as a team and do everything we can to become a better team.”
The Pats and Bengals are set for a 1 p.m. ET kickoff on Saturday, Dec. 24 at Gillette Stadium.
Follow Mike D’Abate on Twitter @mdabateNFL and Listen/Subscribe to his daily podcast: Locked On Patriots
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