Josh McDaniels knows Mac Jones as well as almost any coach in the NFL, and the Las Vegas Raiders head man apparently believes the Patriots quarterback had enough arm to attempt a Hail Mary on Sunday.
Bill Belichick disagreed, of course, as New England opted to run the ball on the final play of regulation in the desert. We all know what happened from there, with the decision to hand it off to Rhamondre Stevenson setting off a chain of events that led to perhaps the most embarrassing moment of Belichick's Patriots tenure.
The Patriots head coach quickly shot down talk of a potential Hail Mary on that final play, saying (emphatically) that Jones doesn't have the arm strength to throw the ball the 55 or 60 yards needed to get it into the end zone. McDaniels, who worked alongside Jones in the QB's rookie season -- McDaniels' final campaign as Patriots offensive coordinator -- told Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer the Raiders were prepared for a pass into the end zone.
So much so, in fact, that Vegas put 6-foot-4 receiver Mack Hollins on the field for the final play to potentially disrupt a jump ball in the end zone.
"We were playing for the Hail Mary," McDaniels admitted to Breer. "Because there's 3 seconds to go, they can't run two plays, so we were playing for basically the ball to be thrown in the end zone. That's why Mack Hollins was out there, that's why we called what we called."
McDaniels also explained the Raiders have a defense for last-second lateral plays called "Desperado," but that's typically reserved for when teams have the ball behind their own 40. Jones, for what it's worth, took the final snap at the New England 45-yard line.
"When (Stevenson) lateraled the ball, it all of a sudden became what amounts to a Desperado for our team," McDaniels told Breer.
In that situation, Chandler Jones' assignment was to "cover" the deepest skill player, who was Mac Jones.
"Talking in basketball terms, I'll go box someone out," Chandler Jones told Breer Sunday night after the game.
It's a subtle reminder that for as bad as the Patriots' coaching and execution was, the Raiders were ready to execute on what became the most important play of the game.
As for Belichick's assertion that Jones doesn't have enough arm for a Hail Mary from that spot, the quarterback seemingly disagreed with his coach Monday.
