The New England Patriots lost to the New York Jets 26-20 in overtime on Sunday following a mind-boggling decision to kick after winning the coin toss before the extra period.
Patriots special teams captain Matthew Slater called heads and won the toss, but he elected to kick.
One of my favorite sequences in NFL history. "We wanna kick off…wait we won, we get to choose!" pic.twitter.com/2I5WvOtxHq
— KFC (@KFCBarstool) December 27, 2015
The New York Jets seemed shocked by the Patriots’ decision, but they happily received.
Here is a transcript of the conversation between Slater and official Clete Blakeman:
Here is the transcript of the coin toss at MetLife. Seems like Slater just made a mistake. Game-changer. pic.twitter.com/ajuyE0u2Ml
— Kevin Seifert (@SeifertESPN) December 27, 2015
Slater said after the game that he was told to kick if the team won the toss, which they did. That proved to be a horrible choice.
Following a touchback on the kickoff, the Jets drove 80 yards and ended the game on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Eric Decker. The loss drops the Patriots to 12-3 on the season while the Jets improve to 10-5, further solidifying their wild card chances. The Patriots now lose ground in the race for the top seed in the AFC playoffs.
