3 Takeaways from Raiders' Week 15 Win vs. Patriots

Nobody could have predicted that the Las Vegas Raiders would beat the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon like that. After all, the game ended with one of the most improbable final plays in NFL history, one that needs to be watched multiple times to believe it happened.

Chandler Jones capitalized on a gigantic miscue made by the Patriots, notching a 48-yard fumble return touchdown to lift the Raiders to a 30-24 victory in walk-off fashion at Allegiant Stadium. Jones ended up with the ball because New England attempted an impromptu lateral play with no time on the clock, which didn't work out well.

With the game tied at 24, Rhamondre Stevenson ran 23 yards, but he wasn't going to get to the end zone. So he pitched it to wide receiver Jakobi Meyers, who then inexplicitly tried to get the ball backward all the way across the field to quarterback Mac Jones. It didn't make it there because Chandler Jones caught it and stormed all the way to the opposite end zone.

All of that came after Las Vegas tied the game on Derek Carr's 30-yard touchdown pass to Keelan Cole with 32 seconds remaining. The thrilling finish led to the Raiders securing their fourth win in five games to improve to 6-8.

Here are three takeaways from Las Vegas' Week 15 win.

If Stevenson (or even Meyers) had just fallen to the ground on the final play, Sunday's game would have gone to overtime. From there, either the Patriots or Raiders could have won, and nobody knows what would have happened. And we never will find out.

For whatever reason, Stevenson and Meyers both thought they could make something happen by pitching the ball backward and keeping the play alive. Instead, Las Vegas' defense stayed aware, and Jones created a remarkable turnover to win the game.

"It's probably the most insane ending I've ever been a part of," Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels said, per Mark Anderson of the Associated Press. "We'll take it. We'll take it for sure."

That play will go down as one of the most memorable moments from the 2022 NFL season (and in recent memory). When a game finishes like that, people are sure to be talking about it for quite some time, and for good reason.

There were a lot of exciting finishes around the league on Sunday, but none top Jones' walk-off TD that nobody saw coming.

Before the Raiders won the game, there was a bit of controversy with how they tied it. Cole made a remarkable grab in the back-left corner of the end zone on his touchdown catch in the final minute. But it was tough to tell from replay angles whether he got both feet in.

As a scoring play, Cole's TD snag was automatically reviewed by the replay officials. And there wasn't enough to overturn the call on the field.

"We looked at every available angle, and it was not clear and obvious that the foot was on the white," NFL senior vice president of officiating Walt Anderson told ESPN's Mike Reiss (h/t Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk). "It was very tight, very close. There was no shot that we could see—we even enhanced and blew up the views that we had."

It was a remarkable grab either way, and the game may not have had such an exciting finish without it. And Las Vegas needed a big play in order to have a chance after it endured some second-half struggles.

The Raiders blew a 14-point lead by allowing 21 straight points to the Patriots, who went ahead 24-17 in the fourth quarter. Cole's game-tying TD capped a nine-play, 81-yard drive that helped Las Vegas avoid what would have been a disappointing loss.

The Patriots' playoff chances took a big hit with their loss, as they dropped out of a postseason spot and are now one game back of the Miami Dolphins (8-6) for the No. 7 seed. As for the Raiders, they remain alive in the wild-card hunt, even if their odds remain slim.

Las Vegas is one of four 6-8 teams in the AFC sitting two games back of the Dolphins and one game behind the Patriots and Jets, who are each 7-7. But if the Raiders keep winning games and get some help from other teams losing, they could still sneak their way into the playoffs for the second straight year.

It will likely be challenging, though. Las Vegas goes on the road to face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 16. Then, it hosts the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs, a pair of teams that have already clinched division titles, in Weeks 17 and 18.

But the Raiders are building momentum, and they've clearly been getting some breaks to go their way in close games finally. So maybe they could keep this up and somehow get into the postseason.