Raiders stun New England after ridiculous Patriots mistake on frantic final play

The Las Vegas Raiders blew a 14-point lead on Sunday then rallied for a stunning victory over the New England Patriots on an absurd final play.

They scored a controversial touchdown along the way. But first things first — that wild walk-off finish.

With 3 seconds remaining in regulation of a game tied 24-24, the Patriots had the ball at their own 44-yard line. Mac Jones handed off to Rhamondre Stevenson with New England apparently willing to settle for overtime. But they didn't get there. Stevenson ran through the Raiders' defense inside the Las Vegas 35-yard line. He then lateraled to receiver Jakobi Meyers, who ran back toward midfield and launched the ball toward the 50-yard line.

Chandler Jones was the only player near the ball when it landed. The only problem? He plays for Las Vegas. The Raiders defensive end caught the ball near midfield, turned around and planted Mac Jones to the turf, then ran untouched to the end zone for a game-winning touchdown as time expired.

Raiders 30, Patriots 24.

What was Jakobi Meyers thinking?

Meyers told reporters after the game that the plan before the play wasn't to lateral the ball and that he didn't see Chandler Jones when he tried to throw it back to his quarterback.

"No. I was trying to do too much," he said. "Trying to be the hero, I guess. I ain't see the dude back there, tried to throw the ball. I was just doing too much, should have just went down."

Head coach Bill Belichick simply summed the play up as a mistake.

"Obviously we made a mistake," Belichick told reporters.

Controversial touchdown 37 seconds earlier

The only reason the game appeared headed for overtime to begin with was courtesy of a controversial Raiders touchdown seconds earlier. With 37 seconds remaining, the Raiders had the ball at the Patriots' 30-yard line while trailing 24-17. Derek Carr took a shotgun snap then looked deep down the left sideline to Keelan Cole.

Cole made a remarkable catch in the back of the end zone while draped by defensive back Marcus Jones. He held onto the ball as he fell out of bounds for a game-tying touchdown.

But was it a touchdown? An overhead angle suggests that it wasn't — or that it shouldn't have been, at least. Cole's left toe appeared to land out of bounds as he came down with the ball, a circumstance that would nullify the score.

Replay officials didn't see it that way. The angle above was the closest overhead shot available, and it wasn't enough to convince officials beyond doubt that Cole was out of bounds. They upheld the touchdown, and walk-off chaos ensued seconds later.

The late rally arrived after the Raiders built, then blew a 17-3 halftime lead. Carr found Mack Hollins for a touchdown in the final seconds of the second quarter to end a first half highlighted by Patriots stagnation, and Las Vegas appeared on its way to a relatively easy victory.

New England struggled to move the ball in Matt Patricia's offense, and longtime Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was getting the best of his former team in his first matchup against New England as Raiders head coach

But the Patriots scored their first touchdown on a third-quarter pick-6 of Carr en route to a 21-0 run to take a 24-17 lead with 5:10 remaining. It didn't hold, and McDaniels scored a win over Belichick and his former boss punctuated by a finish was most certainly not part of the Patriot Way.