With one second left during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game between New England and Indianapolis, Patriots coach Jerod Mayo took a gamble that no NFL coach had made in more than 10 years.
With the Patriots trailing 25-24 and sitting at the 50-yard line with just that one tick remaining, Mayo only had two options: He could have Drake Maye attempt a Hail Mary or he could send Joey Slye out to try a possible record-setting 68-yard field goal.
In the end, Mayo decided to go with Slye and the gamble actually almost paid off with Slye’s kick falling just short.
Here’s a closer look at just how close the ball was to going through the uprights.
The reason sending out Slye was a gamble is because most NFL coaches in that same situation don’t go that route. Instead, they send their quarterback on to the field to attempt a Hail Mary. As matter of fact, the last time a team attempted a field goal when stuck in a situation where they were at least 50 yards away from the end zone with time to run just one play in the final seconds came all the way back in 2014 when Mike Zimmer sent Blair Walsh out to attempt a 68-yard field goal in a 16-14 loss to the Lions. Walsh missed.
Since then, there have been two other attempts of at least 68 yards in the NFL, but neither of those came on the final play of the game like the kicks by Slye and Walsh.
The problem with the field goal decision is that Mayo was asking Slye to do something that had never been done in the history of the NFL. The record for the longest field goal in NFL history is 66 yards, and Mayo was asking his kicker to top that by 2 yards. On the other hand, although a Hail Mary has a low probability of being completed, they do happen and we’ve already seen one in 2024 when Jayden Daniels threw a 52-yard touchdown pass to help the Commanders beat the Bears 18-15 in Week 8.
So why did Mayo go with Slye over sending out Maye for a Hail Mary?
“That was 100% me,” Mayo said of the decision to try the field goal. “Look, [Joey] Slye was hitting it well in pregame, and I felt that that was the best thing to do to help our team win the football game. Not sure what the numbers are on Hail Marys versus the field goal there, but that’s what I felt was right.”
The biggest number is zero: That’s how many 68-yard field goals have been made in NFL history. Having Drake Maye attempt a Hail Mary would definitely have been the higher percentage play. But that being said, Mayo’s decision doesn’t look as crazy in hindsight since Slye came just a yard or two away from making the improbable kick.
