Why wasn’t there a Hail Mary?
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 18: Mac Jones #10 of the New England Patriots warms up before a game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium on December 18, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images)
Instead of putting the ball on the ground, why didn’t the Patriots try throwing deep to the end zone? The ball was on the Patriots’ 45 yard line, making it a 60-65 yard throw to the end zone. Asked after the game why he didn’t chose to heave the ball deep, head coach Bill Belichick told reporters, “we couldn’t throw it that far.”
Many were quick to interpret this comment as a knock on Mac Jones’ arm strength. However, it’s simply not the case – in terms of what Belichick is saying being correct. Not only can Jones throw the ball that far, he’s done it on numerous occasions. A quick scroll through his college highlight tape will yield multiple examples, and he had a handful of throws in that territory last year as well. Unless there’s an injury situation that hasn’t been made public that would impact his max throw distance, there’s no ready to think he couldn’t have at least gotten the ball to the front of the end zone in that situation.
Now, it’s possible Belichick saw some other reason Jones couldn’t throw the ball that far – hence the ‘we’ in his answer. The first thing that comes to mind is concerns about protection, and worrying about whether or not the receivers would have enough time to get down field before Jones was under pressure.
However, this still doesn’t explain the decision away. The Patriots’ offensive line actually held up pretty well in this game, and the Raiders would have likely been in some sort of prevent defense, sending just three or four pass rushers. Even if they did send more, that would have left room for an intermediate safety option to potentially pick up yards after the catch, but starting that process further down the field.
Was it supposed to be a lateral play?
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – DECEMBER 18: Rhamondre Stevenson #38 of the New England Patriots laterals the ball during the fourth quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium on December 18, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images)
Ok, so no Hail Mary. But why a lateral play? The Patriots could have simply sat on the ball and gone to overtime. Lateral plays are typically for when the team is down and has to score to win the game, not when the game is tied.
Well, it turns out the lateral play wasn’t the call in the huddle. That’s what Rhamondre Stevenson told reporters after the game.
“The coaches gave us a play just to run the time out, just get down. There was only a couple seconds left. So, I feel like I should’ve just did just that and got down,” he said.
To his credit, Stevenson kept himself accountable after the game. “The play started off with me with the ball. If I didn’t pitch it back to him, Jakobi wouldn’t have had the chance to do that,” he said. “So, I take full responsibility for that, for the play. I just got to know the situation. Just got to know what’s going on in the game.”
So no, there was not lateral called from the coaches on the sideline. At the same time, it’s not a great sign that offensive players were so concerned about the game going to overtime, that this is what they resorted to.
Why did Jakobi Meyers throw the ball across the field?
Dec 18, 2022; Paradise, Nevada, USA; New England Patriots wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (16) looks to pass the ball against the Las Vegas Raiders at the end of the second half at Allegiant Stadium. Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
If a lateral play wasn’t called in the huddle, why did Jakobi Meyers make such an extreme play to throw the ball across the field? That also sounds like a bit of freelancing.
“I thought I saw Mac open. I didn’t see Chandler Jones at the time,” a visibly-emotional Meyers told reports after the game. “I just thought he was open and tried to give it to him and let him try to make a play with it. But the score was tied, so I should have just tried to go down.”
Meyers continued to take accountability, noting “Once he gives it to me, I’m smart enough to know the score was tied and to go down with it. Whether he gave me the ball or not, he gave it to me because he trusts me, and I’ve just got to be smarter with it.”
“I promise you I’ll learn from it. Just try to be better next time,” he added.
But why was it the wrong play, from a technical sense? Why exactly did the pass fail? Teams regularly make those kinds of throws in lateral situations – what made this one different?
There were two factors working heavily against Meyers here. First off, when teams design these scramble lateral plays, they usually leave a player on the backside of the play. That way, if the defense gets too sucked in towards the action on one side of the field, they can throw the ball back across for an open throwing lane. Jones wasn’t on the full back end of the play, but in the middle of the field.
Plus, that back side option is usually a wide receiver or running back, or in some cases maybe a tight end. On the rare occasion a team uses a quarterback in that spot, it’s almost always a mobile quarterback used to running with the ball. Jones was out of position as the outlet option on that play, and as expected looked lost and likely didn’t expect the ball to come his way – especially since there was no lateral call on at all.
Couldn’t Mac Jones have made the tackle?
Dec 18, 2022; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Chandler Jones (55) stiff-arms New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones (10) on the way to scoring a touchdown at the end of the second half at Allegiant Stadium. Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
The short answer here is, yes. Of course Jones could have brought down Chandler Jones, now allowing the botched lateral to result in a score and force overtime.
However, knocking Jones for this is an odd hill to die on. There were plenty of quarterback-related reasons to knock Jones’ performance on Sunday, him failing to make a tackle in that situation is hardly the biggest issue from that game. It’s not a play he’s supposed to make, while there were plenty such plays that he didn’t throughout the afternoon.
Any time winning or losing a game comes down to your 6-foot-3, 217 pound quarterback needing to tackle a 6-foot-5, 260 pound defensive end, things have simply gone wrong. If that’s the difference between winning and losing, there were bigger problems elsewhere.
Still, Jones took accountability for the missed tackle after the game. “I’ve got to tackle the guy. It’s on me, and it’s my fault,” Jones said. “Because if we tackle him – or I tackle him – then we play for overtime. It’s all on me. Got to make that, not good enough by me. It is what it is, just got to tackle him and play for overtime. So, it’s on me.”
So yes, it’s on him. But if not tackling Chandler Jones was Mac Jones’ biggest mistake in this game, that situation would have never presented itself in the first place.
