Jakobi Meyers explains lateral decision in Patriots’ disastrous final play vs. Raiders
New England Patriots wide receiver Jakobi Meyers explained his ill-fated lateral decision against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 15.
Week 15 of the 2022 NFL season has been a doozy. On Saturday, the Minnesota Vikings had the biggest comeback in NFL history after beating the Indianapolis Colts 39-36 in overtime after trailing 33-0 at halftime. Then on Sunday, the New England Patriots lost in the most unimaginable way ever.
With the game tied 24-24 with just a handful of seconds remaining on the game clock, Patriots running back Rhamondre Stevenson ran on a draw play up the middle and picked up some significant yardage. When seeing his path blocked, Stevenson pitched the football backwards to wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, who ran backwards and attempted to throw a backward pass to quarterback Mac Jones. Instead, the football went to Raiders defensive end Chandler Jones, who stiff-armed the Patriots quarterback and ran to the end zone for a game-winning touchdown.
After the game, Meyers spoke to the media from his locker, where he revealed that the play was just supposed to be a draw play and that the decision to throw the lateral pass was his.
The video comes courtesy of Mark Daniels of MassLive.
Jakobi Meyers explains decision to lateral football in Patriots’ final play vs. Raiders
“Just trying to do too much. Trying to be a hero, I guess,” Meyers said, h/t Daniels. “I ain’t see dude back there, tried throwing the ball. I just was doing too much. I should’ve went down with the ball.”
Stevenson also spoke about the play in question, saying that the play was just to run the clock out and admitted that he should have just went down. Stevenson’s comments come courtesy of NBC Sports Boston.
“The play started off with me with the ball, so if I didn’t pitch it back to him, Jakobi wouldn’t have had the chance to do that,” said Stevenson. “I take full responsibility for the play. I just gotta know the situation, I gotta know what’s going on in the game.”
In the game, Meyers caught two-of-six targets for 47 yards. Stevenson, meanwhile, ran for 172 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries (9.1 yards per carry).
It was a tough way for the Patriots to lose, as they are now outside of a Wild Card spot after their loss and the Los Angeles Chargers’ win over the Tennessee Titans.
Meyers was accountable for his decision, and he stood by his locker to answer questions from the media afterward. He tried to make a play, but it just didn’t work out.
