Bill Belichick didn’t think Mac Jones could make 55-yard Hail Mary throw

There were a lot of ingredients that led to the wrecked recipe that turned into the Patriots’ disastrous finish. One of the reasons that Rhamondre Stevenson and Jakobi Meyers were throwing the ball backward on the ill-fated laterals was that Bill Belichick didn’t think his quarterback could throw the ball forward far enough for a Hail Mary.

The ball was snapped on the Patriots’ 45-yard line, 55 yards from the end zone. After dropping back and accounting for the likelihood that the receivers would have been in the end zone, not on the goal line, Mac Jones would have had to sling the ball about 60 yards in the air. There’s no wind to help or hurt a throw at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Jones has one pass over 50 yards in his career – a 75-yard touchdown to Kendrick Bourne – and on that one, Jones threw the ball 30 yards in the air and Bourne ran the last 45 after the catch.

Belichick didn’t think Jones could get the ball far enough on a pass when asked if a Hail Mary had been an option.

“Couldn’t throw it that far,” Belichick said.

Jones deflected the same question back to his coach.

“I think Coach Belichick makes the coaching decision there,” he said. “So we put a lot of emphasis on it and work really hard at it. Just got to do better execution as players.”

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