LAS VEGAS – New England Patriots wide receiver Jacoby Meyers stood stunned in the locker room after the team’s 30-24 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium, not crediting his role in the shocking play that ended the game with no timeouts. left
Meyers’ careless lateral was caught by Raiders defensive end Chandler Jones and returned 48 yards for a touchdown as Jones steamrolled quarterback Mack Jones, the last line of defense, en route to the end zone.
“Just trying to do a lot, trying to be a hero, I guess,” Meyers said. “I thought I saw the Mac open, I didn’t see Chandler Jones then, I thought [Mac] was open and trying to get it to him and let him try to play with it. But the score was tied, so I had to go down.”
Why the Patriots fumbled at all was a surprise, as players said it wasn’t what was supposed to happen.
The Patriots had the ball at their own 45-yard line with three seconds left and the score tied at 24. Meyers said the batch’s instructions were clear.
That would send the game into overtime.
But when running back Ramondre Stevenson went 23 yards on a tying play, he went sideways to Meyers around the Raiders’ 40-yard line. That was the catalyst for Meyers’ own mistake, more than 10 yards behind him.
“It’s not his fault,” Meyers said of Stevenson. “He gave me the ball because he trusted me. I have to be smarter about it.”
Stevenson took responsibility, saying: “The coaches gave us a game to run out of time, just go down. I feel like I should have done just that. The game is simply a draw, nothing more, nothing less. that. I’m supposed to know the situation, I need to know how much time is on the clock. Critical situations. I didn’t manage to do that today.”
When Chandler Jones huddled on the sideline, he only had one player to beat: Mack Jones. The Patriots quarterback felt he cost the Patriots a game by not converting the touchdown.
“I have to fight the boy. It’s on me and it’s my fault. If I beat him, we’ll go to overtime. Not good enough on my part,” he said.
Coach Bill Belichick said the Patriots made a “mistake” on the play and that a Hail Mary wasn’t an option because he didn’t think they could get into the end zone.
“We talked about situational football. We talk about it every week. Obviously, we have to do a better job,” he said.
The Patriots suffered a similar upset in Week 14 of the 2018 season, losing to the Dolphins on a special teams sideline late in regulation.
For a defensive snap in particular, Sunday marked the last defensive snap of the last game in regulation in NFL history. Another was the Patriots defense in Week 2 of the 1960 season; defensive back Chuck Shawnta had a 52-yard punt return against the New York Titans (who eventually became the Jets). It was the first victory in Patriots history.
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