Lunatic Lateral: Where Does Patriots' Play Rank Among Dumbest in NFL History?
Upon further review, there are multiple layers of sheer absurdity to the New England Patriots' "Lunatic Lateral" that lost them a game and likely cost them the playoffs.
Why did Jakobi Meyers run backward? Why did he try to throw a 20-yard pass to his quarterback? Why didn't Rhamondre Stevenson simply run out of bounds? And, of course, why did future Hall-of-Fame coach Bill Belichick not just have Mac Jones take a knee in the first place?
It took a lot of moving parts for one of the dumbest plays in NFL history to unfold Sunday afternoon in Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium. In a league that has seen its share of iconic idiocy - and during a weekend featuring a team losing a 33-0 halftime lead - the Lunatic Lateral is destined to live in infamy.
On Thanksgiving 1993, Dallas Cowboys' defensive lineman Leon Lett attempted to recover a blocked field goal in the snow. Confused New York Jets' quarterback Mark Sanchez ran into his own blocker in 2012, authoring the "Butt Fumble" that presented the Pats with a touchdown. Quarterback Dan Orlovsky once accidentally-but-voluntarily ran out of the back of the end zone for a safety. DeSean Jackson celebrated a long touchdown catch in 2008 with a celebratory dropping of the ball at the 1-yard line for a fumble. Both Washington and the Colts have attempted preposterous fakes on special teams.
And in 1964 future Hall of Famer Jim Marshall scooped up a fumble for the Minnesota Vikings and ran the wrong way - more than 50 yards into his own end zone for a safety.
Of that bumbling batch, only Lett's gaffe (sorta directly) cost his team a game. Even it, however, wasn't as dramatic of a walk-off loss as what the Patriots orchestrated Sunday in the desert.
We'll forever reminder the play: Simply trying to get to overtime after surrendering a game-tying touchdown pass with :32 remaining, the Patriots handed the ball to Stevenson as the fourth-quarter clock hit :00. Stevenson ran to Las Vegas' 32-yard line, where he decided to lateral the ball to Meyers. The receiver took the ball backward eight yards to the 40 before - inexplicably - throwing a 20-yard lateral in the general direction of Jones back on New England's side of the 50. Technically a "fumble", the looping attempt was picked off by former Patriot Chandler Jones at New England's 48. After a leaping catch, the Raiders' defensive end stiff-armed Mac Jones and ran untouched for one of the wildest, wackiest, walk-off touchdowns in the history of professional football.
Admitted Meyers, "I was trying to be a hero."
End-of-game laterals - which ESPN's Scott Van Pelt has dubbed "Pitchy, Pitchy, Woo-Woo" - have become commonplace in the NFL. Sometimes, as the Patriots learned the hard way in Miami in 2018, they even work.
The big difference in New England's dumb dynamic? The Patriots were playing not from behind - desperate to make a play or lose - but from a position of neutrality. Literally doing nothing (i.e., a Jones kneel-down) would've taken them to overtime.
History will blame Stevenson. And, even more so, Meyers. Rightfully so. The running back was the first domino, and the receiver irrationally expected to throw a pass to his unathletic quarterback, who was then supposed to weave his way for a 55-yard touchdown run?
But the architect of the buffoonery was Belichick, the man with the second-most coaching wins and most Super Bowls in NFL history.
Why not just have Jones try a Hail Mary from New England's 45-yard line, where there was clear value in the risk-reward matrix?
"Taking a shot at the end zone?," Belichick said. "We couldn't throw it that far."
While scratching our heads over the fact that Jones is a Pro Bowl quarterback not trusted by his coach to throw a football 55 yards, let's get to the second step of stupidity. Fine then, why not just have Jones take a knee? That assures overtime. The hand-off to Stevenson expects him to, what, run 55 yards for a touchdown against the Raiders' prevent defense? If he's simply supposed to run and get down, why risk the hand-off, a fumble or perhaps an injury?
For what it's worth, Meyers accepted blame for trying to make a play. Stevenson accepted blame for not simply falling down. Even Jones accepted blame for not being able to tackle Chandler Jones.
Belichick, meanwhile, shrugged and accepted nothing, saying only that his team "needs to be better at situational football." What about situational coaching?
Again, if the Patriots had been trailing, then their Keystone Cops routine would've been understandable, even necessary. But even though they were in Las Vegas, there was zero reason for them to gamble.
With the botched opportunity to get to 8-6, 7-7 New England has to win its final three games against the Cincinnati Bengals, Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills to have a realistic chance at the postseason.
"It's football," said Raiders coach Josh McDaniels of the bizarre, bone-head ending. "The ball bounces crazy ways. It's not a predictable game sometimes, and obviously the ending was probably the most insane ending I think I've ever been a part of."
The Lunatic Lateral lost the Patriots a game. And won them a place among the dumbest plays in NFL history.
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