Facing a third-and-long in a critical moment in Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders, the New England Patriots opted to keep the ball in the hands of first-round quarterback Mac Jones.
Seems understandable, right?
Well, Jones actually kept the ball because New England dialed up a naked bootleg for the signal-caller who ran a 4.72 40-yard dash before being drafted No. 15 overall in 2021.
Jones, who isn’t exactly known for his dual-threat ability or grace on the move like other quarterbacks in the NFL, took the snap at the New England 28-yard line with 3:03 remaining and the Patriots leading 24-17. The arch he took after the fake handoff to running back Rhamondre Stevenson prompted Jones to backtrack to the New England 18-yard line. From that point, Jones ultimately would have had to cover 20 yards on the ground in order to convert and reset the sticks. Instead, Jones gained two yards as he reached the New England 30-yard line before he took another step backwards and went down at the line of scrimmage. Raiders pass rusher Maxx Crosby, among others, was in fast pursuit of Jones, who went down with Las Vegas’ four defenders between him and the first-down marker.
You can check out the play here courtesy of CBS Sports’ Michael Hurley:
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was asked by Hurley on Monday morning whether that play was called because New England believed it could be successful or because the team wanted to ensure it kept the clock moving. The latter, especially after a questionable decision by Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy earlier in the day, would have made sense. That’s not what Belichick portrayed, however.
“Yeah, I think we definitely had a chance to convert it,” Belichick told reporters, per a team-provided transcript. “It’s a situational play that they’re playing for the run, kept the clock running, forced another timeout or keep the clock running, however you want to look at it.
“Crosby made a good play and they reacted to it,” Belichick continued. “Throwing the ball on third-and-10 or run another running play, those are your options.”
Given that the Patriots-Raiders game ended in unspeakable fashion Sunday, the bootleg by Jones is far down the list of reasons behind the loss. But it nevertheless was another questionable offensive call with what felt like a very low success rate.
