LAS VEGAS — The final minute of each half Sunday featured a disastrous New England Patriots breakdown.
There was the lateral-lateral-touchdown sequence in the game’s closing seconds, of course, that gave the Raiders a walk-off 30-24 win at Allegiant Stadium. But the Patriots also committed a costly error as time wound down in the first half.
With 36 seconds left before halftime, a protection lapse allowed Las Vegas linebacker Malcolm Koonce to block a punt by Michael Palardy, giving the Raiders prime field position at the Patriots’ 20-yard line. They scored a touchdown four plays later to take a 17-3 lead into the locker room.
What happened there? Why was Koonce able to come in unblocked? Why did safeties Jabrill Peppers and Adrian Phillips look distracted, seemingly unaware Joe Cardona would snap the ball when he did?
Longtime special teams Matthew Slater offered an explanation after the game.
“We had a little bit of miscommunication with the clock,” Slater said. “The play clock was winding down. In that situation, we want to bleed the clock, and they bumped the clock. So that’s unfortunate the way that that happened. You wish they would have bumped the clock sooner, but Joe’s thinking, ‘I’ve got to go.’ The communication was a little bit delayed because of the tardiness of the bumping of the clock. Sucks.”
By “bumped,” Slater meant the officials added extra time to the play clock. Since there were only a handful of seconds remaining on the game clock, the Patriots wanted to drain as much clock as possible before Cardona snapped the ball to Palardy in order to limit the Raiders’ ability to score before the half.
“I don’t know what happened the play before for them to bump it, but I heard Bill (Belichick) and (special teams coordinator) Cam (Achord) yelling, ‘Bump it!’ Then they bumped it,” Slater said. “Obviously, in that situation, we want to let the clock bleed out, but it’s just unfortunate. That’s nobody’s fault. That’s just miscommunication at the wrong time between the refs and our coaches, and it is what it is.”
Peppers could be seen pointing toward the in-stadium play clock just before the snap. Slater said some members of the punt team had realized more time had been added while others — evidently including Cardona — did not.
“The play clock was already down to, like, four (seconds), so our guys are thinking, ‘We’ve got to go,’ ” Slater said. “And then they bumped it late, so half of our guys were, I think, assuming the clock was getting bumped and we were going to let it keep bleeding — including myself — and then obviously Joe’s doing his job. He’s doing what he’s supposed to. He snaps the ball because the clock’s down.”
Belichick wouldn’t offer his perspective on the play during his postgame news conference, simply calling it “another mistake.” The Patriots have committed far too many of those in all three phases this season.
