The fake punt probably gave them a slight extra motivation, but in the end, it was the defense calls that blew the game.
In 1992, Brian "Rat" Ratigan shut down Mitchell, and Glenn Foley had nobody to throw to, thanks to some nasty pressure up front.
In 1993, Mitchell was always open, since the linebackers weren't doing their job of covering the TE on the underneath routes. We didn't really have a LB who excelled at pass coverage, and instead of taking one out, and putting in an extra safety (Brian Magee could have done the job), Rick Minter stubbornly kept the same scheme going.