Bedard: When you lose a possible season-killing game like the Patriots did in Vegas, everyone gets the blame

When you lose a game like that — 30-24 to the Raiders after leading 24-17 with less than a minute to play — on a play like that, it leads to a lot of emotions, starting with stunned, WTF disbelief.

Don't take our word for it, ask Julian Edelman.

And it still doesn't make any sense. 

"Let me get this straight ... the six-time Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots, coached by Bill Belichick, scored 21 straight points to take a 24-17 lead against the Raiders, a team that basically has implosion as its middle name this season ... then let the Raiders tie the game with 32 seconds left, and then threw the ball to the other team on a lateral with overtime waiting for a game-winning, walk-off touchdown?"

Yes, that's what happened. No, it's still not believable.

But it did happen, and it dropped the Patriots to 7-7 and out of the final AFC playoff spot with three games ahead against teams with a  combined record of 29-11.

More pain.

Then, quickly, the anger comes as there is the need to blame someone. And who you blame really just reflects your long-seeded beliefs about this team.

If you're an "In Bill We Trust" guy, then you'll blame the players, like Jakobi Meyers for that lateral, Mac Jones for his 42 percent completions and, likely, the refs for not overturning Keelan Cole's game-tying touchdown.

If you've had your fill of Belichick, especially after he ran Tom Brady out of town, then you vilify his coordinators — son Steve Belichick and adopted son Matt Patricia — and demand that Robert Kraft step in immediately to save the team from Belichick.

As with most things, the blame for this debacle – and this game was basically a microcosm of a season from hell — resides somewhere in between. But the bottom line is this: in a loss this bad, everyone is to blame. That means Belichick, his coordinators, the players ... everyone.

Let's start with the final play and work backward.

 • The blame for the final play falls on the players, both Rhamondre Stevenson and Jakobi Meyers. Multiple players after the game said the playcall was a simple draw. While I would have preferred a Hail Mary — and I do not believe Belichick's explanation that Jones didn't have the arm strength for it, I think he was backing the playcall — the draw was acceptable. Josh McDaniels backed off his secondary before the play and if you've seen the Raiders play defense at times, a draw had at least some chance of scoring. Get blockers in front of Stevenson, and anything could be possible. Plus, you never know if you get a facemask or another infraction for an untimed down.

Belichick and the coaches don't need to tell professional football players that, on a non-lateral play, exactly what they need to do. This isn't like sending your kids up to get ready for bed, when you have to tell them step by step what they need to do, or else they'll end up walking around the bathtub naked with no water on. It can remain unsaid — there's like 35 huge freaking scoreboards in the stadium — that the game is tied, if it isn't there, just go down and go win the game in overtime. Stevenson first, and then Meyers just momentarily lost their minds. It happens. Even to the Patriots, who gave up a similarly bizarre play to lose at Miami on a kickoff a few years ago.

 • On the Cole touchdown, Marcus Jones might be an inexperienced rookie, but he is expected to execute the playcall. It appeared to be, and it would make the most sense, if the Patriots were in some form of quarters coverage where the one requirement of every defensive back is to not allow a receiver to beat them deep in their quarter of the field. Jones let Cole speed right by him, which gave him the opening to score a touchdown (yes, it was controversial, but it still only would have been third down with 32 seconds left if the call was ruled incomplete; blame the Patriots for getting flexed out of Sunday Night Football, which would have had definitive angles on the play).

 • I'm sure there's a lot of complaining about Steve Belichick's calls on the final drive — we'll get to him on an earlier play — but the Raiders were out of timeouts. The call there is to play conservative coverage, hope they throw short and you can tackle in bounds, and that your pass rush gets there once in a while to cause a sack or possibly a turnover. You don't try to force the issue until the Raiders are inside the 25. The Cole touchdown came from 30. Carr didn't get sacked once on that drive, and your players need to make one close-out play. They did not.

• The Patriots' defense already got one three-and-out late and the offense got the ball with 3:12 left and the Raiders having just two timeouts and the two-minute warning. The Patriots had to a) get Vegas to burn their final timeouts, b) get one first down to effectively end the game. After picking up 3 yards on first down, the Patriots were poised for two runs to make a first down. Patricia had to call runs on the first two downs to burn the timeouts. It's not his fault that RT Conor McDermott went offsides on second down, leading to 2nd and 12. And the third-down naked bootleg ... again, the goal is run as much clock as possible. It's a safe play with some potential ... Maxx Crosby made a nice play. The penalty killed that drive.

• The Patriots allowed a blocked punt with a running clock at 35 seconds with the playclock running down. Yes, the coaches could have taken their final timeout, but a delay of game penalty could have been fine at the New England 47-yard line. Adrian Phillips and Jabrill Peppers were still adjusting protection when the ball is snapped. Clearly someone called for the snap and everyone was not on the same page. Can't tell you how many times the players rep these in camp and regular-season practices. This is basic stuff the Patriots never get wrong. 

 • The Darren Waller touchdown to make it 10-3 came on 2nd and 20. You can fault Steve Belichick for being way too aggressive with his coverage call, which appeared to be Cover 1 (one deep safety, tilting to Davante Adams) instead of 2-man. It appeared that playcall caused Devin McCourty to be irate coming off the field.

 • Then there was Mac Jones, who completed just 42 percent of his passes for a pathetic 3.6 yards per attempt. It wasn't all the playcalls in this one (Jones' intended air yards was a solid 9.1; it was 5.4 in the screenfest vs. Arizona). Jones just flat-out missed passes, as exemplified by his -19.6 Completion Percentage Above Expectation via NextGenStats (meaning by how open his receivers were, Jones was supposed to complete 62 percent of his passes — drops would be part of that as well). That's the lowest CPAE he's ever had in his career and was the worst in Week 15 besides Arizona's Trace McSorley (-23.9). Let's also remind you that the Raiders are not good on defense, and the offense produced just two pass plays longer than 13 yards. That's everyone, but especially Jones, who wasn't sacked in the game.

Jones also was responsible for Jonnu Smith's false start on 4th and 1 at the Vegas 1. With 14 on the playclock at the snap, the QB has to make sure everyone is ready to go. Jones did not, and it likely had to do with his embarrassing display after Nelson Agholor failed to run through his route on third down, through the sideline meeting with Belichick, Patricia and Joe Judge. Jones, who threw out of bounds on second down to a wide-open Smith, was completely out of sorts, way too emotional in the moment, and it cost the teams points there. Jones is lucky that didn't get him benched coming out of halftime. Jones was way out of line at times in the first half. He's better than that and needs to be better than that for his teammates.

From soup to nuts, the entire game, from the clown car 17-3 halftime deficit, to the final 30 seconds of the game — and everything in between — was bad situational football. Sorry, I just can't lay the blame at just the feet of the coaches. There were plenty of plays out there for the players to make, and they didn't do that either.

That the Patriots are now staring a losing record in the face for the second time in three seasons, everyone owns that.

This was an organizational failure.