The New England Patriots fell to the Las Vegas Raiders 30-24 in devastating fashion on Sunday, losing on the game's final play as Jakobi Meyers' lateral was intercepted and returned for a touchdown by Chandler Jones.
Here are the three Patriots most to blame for the Week 15 loss, which dropped them to 7-7.
3. Matt Patricia and the offensive coaching staff
New England's unusual offensive setup and Patricia's inexperience in running an offense were evident once again on Sunday.
The Patriots got the ball down to the Raiders' two-yard line early in the second quarter. For many teams, they would've gotten into the end zone with four tries of only needing two yards. Not New England, though.
First, they ran Rhamondre Stevenson up the gut for a gain of one. Giving the ball to your power back there made sense, but they did it out of the shotgun for some reason. They worked out of the shotgun again on second down, which resulted in Mac Jones overthrowing an open Jonnu Smith in the back corner of the end zone.
The Patriots finally got into the end zone on third down when Jones floated a pass right to Meyers. But wait, it got wiped off the board because Bill Belichick called timeout before the play since he didn't like how the team was lined up. They operated out of the shotgun again when they came back from the timeout. The play was a quick slant to Nelson Agholor, which, of course, fell incomplete.
So, one more shot for the Patriots to get just one yard. But they couldn't decide on a play fast enough, forcing them to call a timeout. They finally weren't operating out of the shotgun when they came out of the timeout as Jones got into the end zone on a QB sneak for six. Yay! Oh wait, there was a flag–and it was on Smith for not lining up properly prior to the snap, negating the touchdown and forcing the Patriots to settle for three points.
The Patriots scored two TDs on that drive but neither counted because of self-inflicted wounds (timeout and false start)
They had to settle for a field goal instead. Brutal pic.twitter.com/B9aiZmaVL4
— BennyGIFs (@BennyGIFs) December 18, 2022
That situation encapsulated the mind-boggling incompetence of the Patriots' offense so far this season, especially in the red zone. They rank last in red zone efficiency, but the Raiders allowed a touchdown the 14 previous times the opponent got the ball within their five-yard line.
The Patriots had four chances to move the ball just two yards, and they ended up going back four yards against a team that is prone to letting opponents score in that situation. And they used two timeouts in the process. Sure, the execution wasn't there on one of those plays, but the difficulty to find a play to muster up just one or two yards shows the failure of those running the system more than those who play in it.
2. Mac Jones
The Patriots' second-year quarterback arguably played the worst game of his career on Sunday.
Jones completed just 13-of-31 passes for 112 yards with zero touchdowns and zero interceptions. He sailed several passes through the game, such as the pass to Smith mentioned earlier and a pass to a wide-open Meyers on a seam route before halftime.
Unlike many of the games in recent weeks, Jones didn't have his offensive line to blame, either. He wasn't sacked and was pressured only five times only 33 dropbacks.
Sure, Jones didn't have DeVante Parker and Meyers played fewer snaps than usual after coming back from a concussion, but he was just straight-up missing receivers. He had a -19.6 Completion Percentage Above Expectation, per Next Gen Stats, the worst of his career.
In a game where the defense pitched a strong performance and absolutely shut down one of the game's best receivers, the Patriots just needed their quarterback to do something more than complete 41.9 percent of his passes. No wonder why Bill Belichick didn't want him to throw a Hail Mary in the end.
1. Jakobi Meyers
You just can't throw the game away like that, man.
What makes Sunday's game-deciding play all the more frustrating is that Meyers is arguably one of the Patriots' better players. He led the team in receiving in 2020 and 2021 and has been their best receiver this season, too. He worked all the way up from being an undrafted free agent in 2019, who was just a couple seasons removed from playing quarterback, to becoming a legitimate NFL receiver.
What just happened?? The @Raiders win on the final play!! #NEvsLV pic.twitter.com/cmKNUuab1k
— NFL (@NFL) December 19, 2022
Now, Meyers will be associated with committing one of the biggest blunders in NFL history. To his credit, he absolutely owned his mistake when speaking to reporters after the game and clearly felt about what transpired as his eyes appeared to be watery.
But football can be a cruel game sometimes, no matter what your talent is or how hard you work.
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