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New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels opted to keep wide receiver Josh Gordon on the sideline for the final play of their loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 15. This has clearly led to some speculation regarding the decision.
McDaniels decided to place wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson into the game rather than Gordon. He claims that it was simply due to the situation they were in at the time, via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk:
“We had just kind of run quite a few plays in a row,” offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said Tuesday when asked about the situation by reporters. “I know there was a timeout there before that. Both of those guys have worked at that spot and in that type of a situation, and based on what we were doing, we made the choice to go with [Cordarrelle Patterson] at that point — no ulterior motive on that at all. Just put a fresh guy in to go in there and do something on the last play to see if we could get into the end zone, and it is what it is.”
Gordon had played in all but four snaps prior to being benched for the final play. Perhaps this may have played into McDaniels' decision to go with Patterson instead. The Patriots had a chance to tie things up on their last drive, however, they ultimately came up short. Despite his reasoning, it is difficult to justify not having their most talented receiver on the field in such a crucial situation. He finished the day with just one reception for 19 yards.
Regardless, the decision is indicative of how much New England's offense has struggled as a whole. Although they boast a bevy of weapons at their disposal, they have been unable to put it all together on a consistent basis. They will have two more games to get it figured out until the playoffs start.
