Four days after a brilliant special teams play gave the Patriots a thrilling win over the Jets, a series of special teams gaffes led to an eventual 33-26 loss to the Vikings on Thursday.
The first mistake – and without question the most costly – came with 10:41 left in the third quarter when Minnesota’s Kene Nwangwu returned a kickoff 97 yards to the house to tie the score at 23.
Nwangwu deserves credit for making something out of nothing and turning on the jets, but the Patriots deserve blame for failing to bring him down despite several chances.