How wild was week 15? Wild enough that this stunning one-off finish doesn’t even take the top spot on this list.
In a madcap match that saw the Raiders squander another multi-touchdown lead, the Patriots found themselves at their own 45-yard line with three seconds left and it was a 24-24 tie. Which move do you name in this situation? No game – just one knee! Go into overtime and let Josh McDaniels’ Raiders beat themselves once again.
But no. New England opted to pass the ball to Rhamondre Stevenson in a shotgun draw. OK, just go down and go to overtime, right? nope After a big lead and zero seconds on the clock, Stevenson decided to play the ball sideways to Jakobi Meyers, and that’s where the Patriots went from irresponsible to irresponsible. Meyers, a former quarterback, unrolled a cross-field lob meant for Mac Jones … but landed right in the hands of Chandler Jones. The 6-foot-5, 260-pound ex-patriot continued to rock the stiff-armed quarterback into oblivion and rumble into the end zone for the most unfathomable walk-off touchdown you’ll ever see. I saw it live. I’ve seen the rerun about 7,000 times. I still can not believe it.
And I still can’t believe a team coached by Bill Belichick can be so clueless and fundamentally unhealthy. This is one of the dumbest plays I’ve ever seen. Completely unacceptable. It’s no exaggeration to say that a lack of situational awareness will cost the Patriots a postseason bid as they fell out of the current playoff picture with the loss.
When was the last time a team scored a game-winning TD on a fiddly recovery with no time remaining? Back in 1978, Raiders TE Dave Casper fell on the ball in the end zone to hit the Chargers with the famous “Holy Roller.” This franchise is familiar with the theater of the absurd.
The Patriots (7-7) are done. They can’t recover from that, especially given their remaining schedule: vs. Cincinnati, vs. Miami, in Buffalo. Good for the Raiders. They certainly didn’t live up to last season’s expectations with 6:8, but it’s hard to imagine how a game in front of a home crowd could be won in a more thrilling way.