The New England Patriots broke their 12 quarter touchdown drought on Sunday evening by scoring two of them, but it wasn’t enough as a late sack in the endzone of Mac Jones for a safety would seal a 21-17 Las Vegas Raiders win at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Vegas (3-3) never trailed, and a Dylan Carlson 25-yard field goal was the only scoring of the first quarter. The Raiders built a 10-0 lead on a 12-yard touchdown pass from Jimmy Garoppolo to former Patriot Jakobi Myers early in the second. New England got on the scoreboard on their ensuing possession on a 43-yard field goal by Chad Ryland. After another good drive deep into Vegas territory late in the half, Jones would overthrow a wide open Hunter Henry and Trevon Moehrig-Woodard intercepted it at his own 12-yard line. That led to another kick from Carlson to extend the advantage to 13-3 at the break.
Some better play calling by New England than in previous weeks allowed them to move the ball again with the opening possession of the third quarter. A direct snap to Ezekiel Elliott for a two-yard touchdown run was the first Patriots TD in 12 quarters (197 minutes, 42 seconds). It was the first touchdown as a Patriot for Elliott. Brian Hoyer came in to play quarterback for Vegas for an injured Garoppolo in the second half, and Hoyer immediately responded and led his team down the field that included a 48-yard pass to Tre Tucker. Carlson hit his third field goal of 30-yards. After Carlson made it 19-10 early in the fourth, Rhamondre Stevenson sliced it to a two-point deficit by scoring the second TD for the visitors on a 1-yard run to cap off a 75-yard drive. The Raiders had to punt the ball back to the Pats with 2:30 left to play, and New England had a chance from their own 9-yard line only needing a field goal to possibly steal the win. On a second down play, DeVante Parker was open deep down the left sideline and Jones made a good pass but Parker had it go off his fingertips which most certainly would of been a huge gain. After a delay of game penalty to back them up to their own 4 and facing 3rd and 15, Maxx Crosby sacked Jones in the endzone for a safety to wrap up the victory for Vegas.
Jones went 24-33 for 200 yards passing and one interception in the loss for 1-5 New England. Stevenson carried 10 times for 46 yards, and Elliott had 34 yards on seven attempts with each of them scoring a touchdown. Kendrick Bourne had 10 receptions for 89 yards. Jabrill Peppers and Jahlani Tavai had seven and six total tackles respectively, with Tavai adding an interception of Garoppolo. Henry also left the game early in the second half due to injury and didn’t return. Garoppolo finished 14-22 for 162 yards with one touchdown and one interception in his first half played. Hoyer was 6-10 for 102 yards. Josh Jacobs rushed for 77 yards on 25 totes. Michael Mayer and Meyers both had five catches for 75 and 61 yards respectively. New England is back at Gillette Stadium next Sunday at 1 p.m. when they take on their AFC East rivals from Buffalo.
Story by Chris LessnerÂ
