On Sunday, Patriots receiver Jakobi Meyers chucked a backward lateral 20 yards into the hands of Raiders defensive end Chandler Jones, who stiff-armed Mac Jones and rumbled for the winning touchdown.
The epic error may have stuck a fork in New England’s playoff hopes.
In the remaining weeks, the Patriots will play the 10-4 Bengals (at home), 8-6 Dolphins (home) and 11-3 Bills (away). Per OddsChecker, New England is a 3.5-point underdog against Cincinnati.
With a 7-7 record, New England must win at least two — and probably all three — final games to steal the seventh and final seed in the AFC playoffs. If it wins only two, the playoff scenarios get complicated.
Per the New York Times Playoff Picture, New England has a 27% chance to make the postseason.
To win all three games, and thus guarantee themselves a spot in the playoffs, the Patriots must jump-start a lousy offense.
Against the Raiders, QB Mac Jones was 13-for-31 passing for 112 yards behind an offensive line that gave him little time to throw. New England must lean on RB Rhamondre Stevenson and quick screen passes. Giving Jones 30 pass attempts may not be an intelligent approach because the second-year QB lacks consistency.
Unless it lets a receiver explode as it did on Thanksgiving, New England’s defense has much less to worry about. Matthew Judon, Josh Uche, Jack Jones, Jonathan Jones, Kyle Dugger and Devin McCourty have combined to form a top 10 unit.
As head coach Bill Belichick famously said in 2014, there is nothing the Patriots can do about the past and nothing they can do about the future. They are on to Cincinnati.
