3 Patriots to blame for the stupidest loss ever to the Raiders

Bill Belichick and Matt Patricia channeled their inner Jeff Saturday on Sunday

No matter how you slice it, it all comes back to coaching. Jones clearly hated the game plan, or the offensive play-calling, for that matter. As far as Meyers letting the moment get the best of him, Head Ball Coach Steve Spurrier can probably explain that better than anybody. “Danny, it’s not your fault … it’s my fault for putting you in the game,” said Spurrier famously to Danny Wuerffel.

Every time we proclaim someone to be a genius, a savant or some oracular spectacular, there is a chance those kids don’t have that electric feel, so it is time to pretend behind the smoke and mirrors, the unreliable headsets and the nefariously confiscated playbooks. Bill Belichick may have a hoodie to hide inside, but what to make of Matt Patricia’s No. 2 pencil and laminated play sheet?

What makes this loss so incredibly damning is not just the manner in which the Patriots absolutely blew it by ripping defeat out of the jaws of victory, but it came against one of their own in former New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. He is still figuring it out in his second stab at being an NFL head coach. McDaniels may never be a great head coach, but he did not lose this one.

Some 20 years later, the Raiders finally received their consolation prize for The Tuck Rule debacle.