Meyers explains his intent on costly play in Patriots' loss to Raiders

The New England Patriots suffered one of the most excruciating losses in recent NFL history on Sunday.

They had the ball on their own 45-yard line with no timeouts and 10 seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter. Instead of throwing a Hail Mary or just taking a knee to force overtime, the Patriots ran a draw play. Rhamondre Stevenson lateraled the ball to Jakobi Meyers, who threw it back toward the line of scrimmage and into the hands of Raiders linebacker Chandler Jones.

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Jones ran over Patriots quarterback Mac Jones to complete what was officially scored as a 48-yard fumble return touchdown. The Raiders won 30-24 as a result to drop the Patriots to 7-7 and outside the playoff picture in the AFC.

Here's a replay of the stunning ending to the game:

What was Meyers thinking on that play?

"I thought I saw Mac open. I didn't see Chandler Jones at the time," Meyers explained. "I just thought he was open and tried to get it to him and let him try to make a play with it. But the score was tied, so I should have just went down. 

Was Meyers surprised to receive the ball in that situation?

"It's not even about Rhamondre. Once he gives it to me, I'm smart enough to know it's tied and go down with it," Meyers said. "Whether he gave the ball to me or not, he gave it to me because he trusted me. I got to be smarter with it."

Here's more reaction from Meyers:

Meyers had a clutch 39-yard reception in the fourth quarter that set up a touchdown run by Stevenson that put the Patriots ahead 24-17 with 3:43 remaining. Meyers then caught a pass on the ensuing 2-point conversion try. Those two guys, who have been among the Patriots' best and most valuable offensive players all season, should have been the heroes of the game.

But the final play undid all of that, and it might end up costing the Patriots a playoff berth.