If there’s a team who has had something on the New England Patriots (other than the Giants in the Super Bowl), it’s the Miami Dolphins. It was the Patriots who were victims of Miami’s experimental Wildcat formation in 2008, a rare moment where Bill Belichick was outcoached by Tony Sparano. And while the Patriots have beaten the Dolphins more often than not (like any other team) over the Brady/Belichick era, the Dolphins put up a respectable run against the Patriots.
The latest chapter in this AFC East rivalry took them to Hard Rock Stadium. The Dolphins still having playoff hopes, kept things competitive with the Patriots, who are trying to get a first round playoff bye. Normally, it’s the Patriots who close out tough games at the end but on this day, it was the Dolphins getting the last second win. And the Dolphins did it with one of the most exciting, but rarely executed, plays in the game; a multiple lateral free-for-all in a quest to the end zone with no time left on the clock.
IT'S A MIRACLE IN MIAMI pic.twitter.com/PvNMIaXBAB
— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) December 9, 2018
The pass from Ryan Tannehill connected with Kenny Stills. At that point, the Patriots are fine with that because Stills was still 50 yards away and the Patriots only job is to keep them out of the end zone no matter what. Stills tossed the ball off to DeVante Parker, who moved up a few yards until he got the ball to Kenyan Drake. Drake, the catalyst of the play, used his speed and elusiveness to get around multiple players, including Rob Gronkowski, to score the game winner.
It may have been 10 years since the Wildcat game but the Miami Dolphins have once more outsmarted the New England Patriots. That’s extremely rare, and New England will quickly forget about that and focus on the Steelers, but when it does happen it’s usually a big deal. The Dolphins will enjoy this one.