Four months removed from joint practices and the preseason finale, Bill Belichick, Josh McDaniels and a long line of connections met again at Allegiant Stadium.
The Las Vegas Raiders outlasted the New England Patriots there on Sunday, 30-24, after a toe-dragging touchdown gave way to a lateral and a recovery for another as time expired.
Here’s a glance back as the AFC East visitors return home with a 7-7 record and dwindling wild-card playoff hopes.
“I was trying to do too much,” Meyers told reporters after the game. “… Trying to be a hero, I guess.”
There were a number of things that went wrong during the play, but Meyers’ decision-making process was the most obvious one.
He forced the issue as if the Patriots were in desperation mode while trailing instead of just going down or out of bounds and letting the contest go into overtime. To throw the ball that far to his teammate only made things worse.
Yet the quarterback didn’t want to blame his wide receiver.
“It’s on me,” Jones told reporters when speaking about his tackle attempt. “That’s my fault … I love Jakobi. It’s not Jakobi’s fault.”
As we attempt to soak in what happened in the closing seconds, let’s take a look at the key aspects of the whole game:
RECORDS
The Raiders are 6-8. The Patriots are 7-7.
WHAT IT MEANS
The Raiders still have a heartbeat in the AFC playoff race with three games to go. With Kansas City winning in overtime at Houston on Sunday, the Raiders will officially go another season without winning the AFC West title. It was the Chiefs’ seventh straight division crown.
TURNING POINT
This is crazy. The Raiders were dead n the final minute, but scored on a controversial touchdown pass from Derek Carr to Keelan Cole to tie the game and then Chandler Jones won the game on a ridiculous decision by New England.
NOTES
The Raiders’ streak of giving up touchdowns on 32 consecutive goal-to-go situations in the regular season ended when New England had to settle for a field goal with 11:51 left in the second quarter. The Patriots had a first down at the Las Vegas 2. New England entered the game with the NFL’s lowest red-zone touchdown percentage at 38.9%. … Koonce’s blocked punt in the second quarter was the Raiders’ first since Nov. 2, 2014 when Denico Autry blocked one against the Seattle Seahawks that Brice Butler recovered for a touchdown. … New England’s Josh Uche has 10 1/2 sacks in his past seven games.
INJURIES
Patriots: C David Andrews was helped off the field midway through the fourth quarter.
Raiders: G Dylan Parham (knee) and LB Darien Butler (rib) were injured.
WHAT’s NEXT
The Raiders play their final road game of the year, at the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday for a prime-time Christmas Eve game. Kickoff is at 5:15 p.m. The Steelers are 6-8 after a 24-16 at the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
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