This one’s going to sting for a good bit. You could sense that in the dazed looks of New England Patriots players after the Miami Dolphins…
This one’s going to sting for a good bit.
You could sense that in the dazed looks of New England Patriots players after the Miami Dolphins pulled off their miraculous 69-yard hook-and-lateral touchdown with no time remaining to secure a 34-33 victory at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.
Seven seconds separated the Patriots from a win and their 10th consecutive AFC East title. They had gutted their way through the outing despite disjointed play on offense, defense and special teams, seemingly putting themselves on the right end of a seesaw battle that featured eight lead changes.
But instead they collapsed.
The Dolphins pulled off the improbable: A 14-yard Ryan Tannehill pass to Kenny Stills, who then lateraled the ball to DeVante Parker, who then lateraled to Kenyan Drake. As Drake weaved through traffic, it appeared as though he would lateral to someone else. Maybe the Patriots expected that, because none of the defenders converged upon him as he traveled 52 yards to the end zone for the stunning, game-winning play.
“The way it ended, it sucked. Never really been a part of anything like that,” a wide-eyed Rob Gronkowski told reporters after the game. The big tight end had been on the field as the deep safety assigned to defending a Hail Mary pass. But the Dolphins changed things up, and Gronk admittedly was caught off guard. He made a late move toward Drake, took a bad angle and tripped in the process. Drake scored.
“I didn’t think it was going to get to me,” he said. “Saw the guy trucking down the field. You saw what happened from there.”
Gronkowski added, “Just gotta make that tackle.”
But there were other missteps, including Stephen Gostkowski’s missed extra point and 42-yard field goal, as well Brady taking a sack at the Miami 9 as the clock ran out in the first half.
