Patriots: 3 plays that absolutely screwed New England in OT loss to Cowboys
1. Illegal Contact/Facemask No-Call on Jakobi Meyers
This, however, was arguably the most egregious of them all. When the game went to overtime, the Patriots won the toss and elected to receive. They gained 21 yards on five plays and were faced with a 3rd and 5 at their own 46-yard line.
Who was Mac Jones going to go to? The sure-handed Jakobi Meyers, of course, who had one-on-one coverage on the outside against cornerback Anthony Brown. Can’t fault that logic. Meyers had five catches for 44 yards, one of which was good for a two-point conversion, and also had a touchdown catch called back because of a holding penalty.
So you’d think the refs would return the favor … but they missed this blatant facemask/illegal contact on Brown:
It looks like Anthony Brown got away with a facemask penalty on Nelson Agholor😬😬 pic.twitter.com/Lm1N9s6A4Z
— National Football Post (@FootballPost) October 17, 2021
You saw that from your couch, so how did the ref RIGHT THERE on the sideline miss it? You can’t say that wasn’t a game-altering play, because the Patriots punted the ball after this and the Cowboys marched down the field to score the winning touchdown.
Instead of the drive being extended with an automatic first down in the form of a five- or 15-yard penalty, out came the punt team. At that point, you knew giving the ball back to Prescott and Co. was going to be the end. The Patriots defense was gassed, and it showed, because the unit allowed a seven-play, 80-yard drive that ended the contest.
That was it. The air sucked out of Gillette. Another deflating loss. It feels like it’s going to be a second straight tough year for this team after the kinds of defeats that have already been delivered in the first six weeks of the season.
