Las Vegas Raiders Shock New England Patriots on Ludicrous Walkoff Touchdown

On one of the wildest final plays of NFL history, the Las Vegas Raiders delivered the New England Patriots a flabbergasting 30-24 defeat in Week 15. Tied at 24-24 with no time left on the clock, Raiders defensive end Chandler Jones snatched a lateral from Patriots wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, survived a flimsy tackle from Patriots quarterback Mac Jones, and rumbled for an incomprehensible 48-yard game-winning touchdown. Establishing intention and motivation on a play so absurd may be beyond the limits of human logic, but let's give it a shot. The comedy of errors begins with an ill-fated lateral from running back Rhamondre Stevenson, who must have lost track of time and believed his intended target Meyers might have a shot to step out of bounds with a second on the clock (he didn't). Instead of admitting defeat and playing for overtime, Meyers appears to panic, extends the play by running backwards 10 yards, and doubles down on Stevenson's error with an even more preposterous lateral. The rest is history.

The ramifications and subplots of the play are endless. That's former Patriot Chandler Jones scoring the game-winner, who blossomed into an All-Pro after being traded away for a second-round pick. That's former Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels serving as head coach for the Raiders, absolutely clowning his former mentor Bill Belichick. That's the Patriots' seventh loss of the season, knocking them out of the third and final Wildcard spot.

This is an iconic football folly, the scale of which the NFL seldom sees. This play will have a mean name. This play will appear on highlight reels between Jim Marshall's Wrong Way Run and the Miracle at the Meadowlands. This play will one day be set to circus music. Worst of all, the Patriots will have to spend all week answering questions about it.
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