Count DeVante Parker among those who believed Keelan Cole did not get both feet down on his late touchdown against the Patriots.
The New England wide receiver took to Twitter on Sunday to dispute Cole’s game-tying score, which came in the final minute of the Patriots’ 30-24 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium.
“That was not no damn td,” tweeted Parker, who missed the game with a concussion.
The NFL couldn’t say with certainty that the touchdown call was correct, but replay officials did not find “clear and obvious” evidence to overturn it. Thus, the call stood. The Raiders tied the game at 24-24, then won it when linebacker Chandler Jones picked off an ill-advised Jakobi Meyers lateral with no time remaining and returned it 48 yards for a touchdown.
“Had the ruling on the field been incomplete,” NFL vice president of officiating Walt Anderson said in a postgame pool report, “we would not have been able to change that either.”
Parker watched Sunday as Patriots quarterback Mac Jones struggled through one of the worst games of his NFL career, completing 13 of 31 passes for 112 yards in the loss. Thirty-nine of those yards came on a late completion to Meyers that set up Rhamondre Stevenson’s 34-yard go-ahead touchdown run with 3:43 remaining.
Stevenson’s 172 rushing yards powered the Patriots’ offense as they erased a 14-point halftime deficit with 21 consecutive points. New England had a chance to lock down a signature victory but cratered late, surrendering a fourth-and-10 conversion before Cole’s controversial touchdown. The Patriots still had an opportunity to win in overtime, but Stevenson and Meyers chose to lateral in an attempt to keep the final play of regulation alive rather than allowing time to expire.
Both players blamed themselves for the Raiders’ game-winning touchdown, as did Jones, who said he should have been able to tackle Chandler Jones after the linebacker grabbed Meyers’ backward pass.
The 7-7 Patriots will look to fight their way back into playoff position when they host the 10-4 Cincinnati Bengals next Saturday.
