Patriots lose to Jets after electing to kick off to start overtime

New England Patriots Pro Bowl special-teams player Matthew Slater made a questionable choice when he went out for the overtime coin toss on Sunday.

The Jets beat the Patriots in overtime on Sunday when Pro Bowl special-teams player Matthew Slater told the referee New England wanted to kick off to start overtime after winning the coin toss. 

With the score tied 20–20 at the end of regulation, Slater correctly called heads to win the toss at the start of the extra session. Slater then said the Patriots wanted to give the Jets the ball first in OT. 

After the game, Slater said that coach Bill Belichick had told him that the Patriots wanted to kick. 

Slater says he checked a few times with Belichick to make sure he wanted to kick if they won the toss. "There's not much to it."

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) December 27, 2015

Belichick confirmed that was the plan. “We thought it was the best thing to do,” he said.

If the Patriots had chosen to receive, they could have won the game with a touchdown on their first drive in OT. Instead, the Jets got the ball first, and scored on a six-yard pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Eric Decker to win the game.

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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

The Jets are now 10–5 and can clinch a spot in the playoffs with a win next week against Buffalo.

- Kenny Ducey