The Dolphins ‘MIAMI MIRACLE’ gave the Patriots a taste of their own medicine - SB Nation

Unless somebody pulls off a Minneapolis Miracle-esque play this season, Kenyan Drake and the Miami Dolphins have comfortably secured the play of the year.

The Dolphins were down 33-28 with seven seconds left against the Patriots at their own 31-yard line, and they pulled off two laterals and a Drake scamper through the New England defense for a 69-yard touchdown.

The only quarterback in the NFL who could possibly get the football into the end zone from there is maybe Patrick Mahomes. But the Patriots had Rob Gronkowski in the game anyway because he is a big ogre who would theoretically bat down any Hail Mary attempt.

That did not happen. Instead, we got something much more exciting.

As the safety on the play, Gronk was the last line of defense. Even with this angle and that many yards to go, you’d think that he’d at least be able to get in front of Drake and make the play.

Instead, he forgot how to run and tripped.

It didn’t make a ton of sense for Gronk to be out on the field. The Dolphins were never going to attempt a Hail Mary, because they were simply too far. They were shocked that Gronk was out there, and glad.

Ryan Tannehill, talking about the last play: “I was like, ‘Gronk’s on the field. We got this.’”
— Christopher Price (@cpriceNFL) December 9, 2018

One #Dolphins player said they were surprised to see Gronk on the field for that final play. “We weren’t throwing a Hail Mary. They had to know that, right?” #Patriots
— Michael Giardi (@MikeGiardi) December 9, 2018

Perhaps the most surprising thing here, is that Bill Belichick was out-coached on the last play of a game that cost his team. And while these things may be true, Gronk should still probably be making that tackle. You could really point fingers in any direction.

As far as Drake goes, it’s funny that he was the player to get this particular touchdown. If you recall earlier in the season, the Dolphins were in overtime against the Bears in Week 6 when Drake fumbled the football at the goal line that Chicago recovered.

Eventually, the Bears missed a field goal, and the Dolphins won with a 47-yarder of their own. Drake was understandably relieved afterward.

Sunday, he put the Patriots in a similar position, though they were feeling heartbreak instead.

If we’re being honest, unless you’re a Patriots fan there is probably no other team you’d rather see this happen to. The Patriots have done a lot of winning the past two decades, including five Super Bowls (one of which came against the Falcons, a team that I support through the good and Make You Want To Vomit bad).

They can afford a moment of heartbreak in the regular season, because we’ll probably see them deep in the postseason, if not at another Super Bowl.

Let’s get to the other things from Week 14.

Patrick Mahomes is our first AND1 mixtape quarterback

Patrick Mahomes is perfect, outside of his affection for ketchup on everything he eats. He’s so good it’s just stupid.

Look at this fucking no-look pass:

That’s just one of many good passes that he made on Sunday. I know we all acknowledge how good Mahomes is, but it is well and truly insane that this 23-year-old in his first season as a starter is doing the things that he is doing.

More offense in the NFL is good, but what makes Mahomes special is his ability to make it look as easy as he does and flex like that mid-game.

The Buccaneers were having their way with the Saints for much of Sunday’s game. Then, the Saints remembered who they were and who their opponent was and put up 17 fourth quarter points for the 28-14 win.

In the middle of all that, Mark Ingram took Andrew Adams for a ride.

It’s honestly unfortunate that the Bucs had guys around to stop Ingram. With that momentum, there’s no telling how far he would have taken him.

Luckily for Adams, that’s not the most embarrassing thing to happen to somebody in that particular defensive backfield this year.

Still funny.

The Steelers wasted another awesome play in a loss

The Raiders have been Big Trash this season. Each Sunday there is usually a game that I had no idea went on, and that game usually involves either the Raiders or the Cardinals. But we couldn’t ignore the Raiders on Sunday, because they beat the Steelers in a very silly ending.

After the Raiders scored a late touchdown, the Steelers ran this amazing hook and ladder play with five seconds left to set up a field goal.

On the next play, Chris Boswell slipped on that notoriously bad O.Co field, and the Raiders got the dub.

That’s the second time in three weeks now that the Steelers have used a great play in a loss, with the other being their fake field goal touchdown to Alejandro Villanueva.

Hopefully they’ve got more tricks in the bag though, because they’ve been really good.

P.S., I can’t mention the Steelers-Raiders game without dropping in this absurd catch from Smith-Schuster earlier in the game.

The footwork was so good that even D4L would be impressed.

OK hold on, one more wild ending from Sunday

The Cowboys and Eagles went into overtime in a game that might end up deciding who wins the NFC East. A tie was looming with just two minutes to go in overtime, until this Dak Prescott pass bounced off of the Eagles’ Rasul Douglas for an Amari Cooper touchdown.

Amari Cooper’s season has been saved by the trade to the Cowboys. In five games with the Raiders, he had 22 catches for 280 yards and a touchdown. With the Cowboys, he’s got 40 catches, 642 yards, and six touchdowns.

Sometimes all people need is a change of scenery.

We didn’t need photo evidence to come to this conclusion. Adam Vinatieri has been around and kicking since before instant replay was used in the NFL. His career is just one year younger than both the Jaguars and the Panthers. He’s old.

But I did not expect this snowy beard:

Vinatieri should lean into the old man thing, and let the beard grow long. He’s turning 46 on December 28. If he plays a few more years, we’ll have a kicker who looks like Dumbledore.

Washington got absolutely waxed by the Giants

There’s nothing really that stands out from this game other than the fact that this happened:

Washington got two fourth quarter touchdowns thanks to Josh Johnson, making it a 40-16 final. Eli Manning threw for three touchdowns, Saquon Barkley had 170 yards on the ground and a touchdown.

The Giants have now won four of their last five, which is weird considering how terrible they looked earlier this season. This is all leading up to another year or Eli Manning, which doesn’t seem like the best idea.