The Patriots suffered one of the more head-scratching losses in recent NFL history on Sunday against the Raiders.
With the game knotted at 24, New England had the ball with about 10 seconds remaining in regulation, seemingly destined for overtime. Running back Rhamondre Stevenson took a third-and-10 run up the middle of the field and then decided to lateral it back to wideout Jakobi Meyers. He then lateraled it in the direction of Mac Jones, but the ball was snatched by Raiders pass rusher Chandler Jones who took it 48 yards to the house for the game-winning touchdown in a downright shocking fashion.
Given that the game was tied and the Patriots weren't trailing, you may be wondering why on earth they'd even attempt a lateral in that situation because it puts what ultimately ended up happening on the table. Had they just run the ball and bled the clock, they would have lived to fight another down in overtime.
So, was this Bill Belichick getting too cute by telling his players to try last-second magic, or did those players freelance? By the sound of things, it appears to be the latter.
"The coaches gave us a play just to kinda run the time out, just get down," Stevenson told reporters postgame, via NESN. "There was only a couple seconds left. So, I feel like I should've just did just that and got down."
He added: "The play call was just a draw play, nothing more, nothing less than that. I'm supposed to know the situation. I'm supposed to know how much time's on the clock and critical situations. And I failed to do that today, so it is what it is."
For his part, Meyers also said that he "was just trying to do too much and trying to be a hero."
"The play started off with me with the ball," Stevenson said. "If I didn't pitch it back to him, Jakobi wouldn't have had the chance to do that. So, I take full responsibility for that, for the play. I just gotta know the situation. Just gotta know what's going on in the game."
Not only was this loss a gut punch by the way it ended, but it also put a serious dent in New England's playoff hopes. Entering Week 15, the Patriots were clinging to the final playoff spot in the AFC as the No. 7 seed. With this loss along with the Chargers win over Tennessee, the Patriots have now dipped to the No. 8 seed and are on the outside looking in at the postseason with three weeks left in the regular season.
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