The Las Vegas Raiders were stunned in Week 14 by the Los Angeles Rams, who manufactured an improbable comeback to win 17-16. The Rams had Baker Mayfield, who joined the team on Tuesday, leading the way as they scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull off the miraculous victory.
Los Angeles had to go 98 yards with 1:45 remaining in the game and zero timeouts. They had mustered 154 yards and three points before the fourth quarter, providing little hope of making a comeback. But, things clicked for Mayfield, combined with some bonehead mistakes from the Raiders and it culminated in an unexpected Rams victory.
That loss snapped the Raiders’ three-game winning streak and essentially dashed their playoff hopes. But, they have to feel good about the tables being turned in Week 15 as they were on the right side of a miracle this time around.
Las Vegas opened up a 14-point lead heading into halftime on the New England Patriots before melting, once again, in the second half. The Patriots scored 21 unanswered points, which started with a pick-six by Kyle Duggar early in the third quarter. That was followed up by two Nick Folk field goals before the Patriots finally scored an offensive touchdown thanks to Rhamondre Stevenson’s 34-yard run.
A successful two-point conversion gave the Patriots a 24-17 lead, which was erased by Derek Carr hitting Keelan Cole for a 30-yard touchdown. That score will be under scrutiny for a long time as video replays pretty clearly showed Cole did not get two feet down inbounds, but the referees upheld the call on the field anyway.
The referees seemingly making the wrong call was far from the craziest thing that happened. With a tie game and the clock nearing zero, overtime seemed like a certainty. That was, until Stevenson and wide receiver Jakobi Meyers tried to play hero ball.
Stevenson lateraled the ball to Meyers, going against the game plan of just running a draw and going into overtime. Meyers then attempted to throw the ball back to quarterback Mac Jones, but Raiders’ defensive end Chandler Jones was there. He intercepted the pass and went 48 yards to the house for the game-winning score.
According to NFL on CBS, this was the first time since 1978 that a game ended on a fumble recovery for a touchdown. Coincidentally, the last time it occurred, it also involved the Raiders as Dave Casper recovered a fumble in the endzone to give the then-Oakland Raiders a 21-20 victory over the San Diego Chargers.
While some of what occurred in the Holy Roller game was definitely quick thinking on the player’s part, it would almost certainly be deemed a penalty today. What occurred Sunday was all legal, but nothing the Patriots did would be considered smart.
While still mathematically alive, it is highly unlikely the Raiders will run the table against the Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs for the remainder of the season. Alas, they did everything in their power to keep that hope alive with an improbable comeback of their own against the Patriots on Sunday afternoon, giving Josh McDaniels another victory over his former mentor, Bill Belichick.
