Dec 9, 2018 8 min read

The celebratory mob scene in the corner of the end zone broke out far from Ryan Tannehill, leaving him in the open field, running and screaming as he waved his arms. Since he couldn’t find anyone to hug, he flopped to the grass on his back, the job done and the game won.

“I collapsed — just the emotion of the whole thing,” Tannehill said.

Sixteen seconds from defeat, Tannehill threw a short pass and then watched his teammates save the season with the “Drake Escape.”

Kenyan Drake ran the last 52 yards as the Dolphins scored on a pass and double lateral on the final play Sunday to beat the New England Patriots 34-33. With that, Miami lived up to its nickname — the Magic City.

“They just made one more play than we did,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said.

And what a play. The Patriots were on the verge of clinching their 10th consecutive AFC East title when the Dolphins lined up at their 31 after a kickoff return trailing 33-28.

“We had them right where we wanted,” Tannehill said dryly. “Not really surprised with how things turned out.”

He threw a 14-yard pass to Kenny Stills, who lateraled to DeVante Parker, who quickly lateraled to Drake along the sideline. He cut toward the middle and found a seam, helped by a block from guard Ted Larsen at the 30.

Drake beat two Patriots to the corner of the end zone — defensive back J.C. Jackson and tight end Rob Gronkowski, who was on the field as part of New England’s prevent defense.

“Drake runs a 4.3, and Gronk probably runs a 4.6 or 4.7, so you feel good about that matchup,” Tannehill said.

Then came one last pass to punctuate the play — Drake reared back for a celebratory heave into the stands as the Dolphins’ bench emptied and teammates swarmed him.

“Football,” said Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, “is a crazy game.”

The Dolphins call the play “Boise” because it was borrowed from the Boise State playbook, and they had been working on it all year.

“You rep it in practice over and over,” receiver Kenny Stills said. “Sometimes it’s like, ‘Why are we doing this?’ And now we know why.”

It brought to mind other NFL last-second stunners, including Roger Staubach’s “Hail Mary”, the “Miracle in the Meadowlands” and the “Immaculate Reception”. The play was the longest from scrimmage to win a game with no time remaining in the fourth quarter since the 1970 merger.

Brady threw for 358 yards and three scores, but the stunned Patriots (9-4) lost in Miami for the fifth time in their past six visits. The Dolphins (7-6) came from behind five times to help their slim wild-card chances.

“We’re playing one week at a time right now,” Miami coach Adam Gase said. “Any loss could be the end.”

The Patriots’ Stephen Gostkowski missed an extra point for the first time in 38 tries this season early in the game, and also missed a 42-yard field goal try. But his 32-yarder to cap a 55-yard drive put the Patriots ahead 30-28 with 6:45 left.

Belichick opted to have Gostkowski kick a 22-yarder in the closing seconds rather than pin the Dolphins near their goal line. Instead, Miami returned the ensuing kickoff to the 31 — and on the next play pulled off a miracle.

Brady broke the NFL record for career touchdown passes including postseason and now has 582, three more than Peyton Manning. His scores covered 2 yards to Julian Edelman, 37 to Cordarrelle Patterson and 16 to Gronkowski .

Tannehill missed two plays at the end of the first half after a teammate stepped on his right foot . He returned to start the second half, and his 23-yard touchdown pass to Brice Butler put the Dolphins ahead 28-27 late in the third quarter.

But they managed only three first downs and no points thereafter — until the final play.

Kansas City 27, Baltimore 24: Harrison Butker atoned for a 43-yard miss as time expired with a 36-yard field goal in overtime to give the Kansas City Chiefs a 27-24 victory over the Baltimore Ravens and clinch a playoff spot. The Chiefs had rallied to score the tying touchdown with 53 seconds left in regulation before Butker missed his chance at a winner. The Chiefs held the Ravens on fourth down in overtime to finish off the win.

Cleveland 26, Carolina 20: Baker Mayfield outplayed Cam Newton, Jarvis Landry caught a touchdown pass and ran for one and the Cleveland Browns damaged Carolina’s playoff hopes with a 26-20 win over the Panthers, who dropped their fifth straight.

Mayfield bravely threw a 51-yard TD pass into traffic to Landry, who had a 3-yard scoring run in the third quarter and added a long run early in the fourth to set up a go-ahead touchdown.

L.A. Chargers 26, Cincinnati 21: Philip Rivers threw for 220 yards and Michael Badgley kicked four field goals — including a team-record 59-yarder — as the Los Angeles Chargers held off the Cincinnati Bengals 26-21.

Rivers completed 19 of 29 and threw a touchdown in what was not one of the team’s best games.

New Orleans 28, Tampa Bay 14: Drew Brees threw for one touchdown and ran another to help the New Orleans Saints rally from an 11-point halftime deficit to clinch their second straight NFC South title with a 28-14 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Brees shrugged off a pair of turnovers to throw a 1-yard TD pass to Zach Line, then scored on a 1-yard sneak as the Saints avenged a season-opening loss to Bucs and also rebounded from a defeat the previous week at Dallas.

N.Y. Giants 40, Washington 16: Saquon Barkley rushed for 170 yards including a 78-yard touchdown to surpass 1,000 for the season, Eli Manning threw for three scores and the New York Giants routed the Redskins 40-16 to effectively end Washington’s already-slim playoff hopes.

Barkley gashed the Redskins’ defense for 12.1 yards a carry to become the first Giants rookie to reach 1,000 and set a single-season franchise rookie record with his 13th touchdown.

N.Y. Jets 27, Buffalo 23: Sam Darnold one-upped fellow rookie Josh Allen, in rallying the New York Jets to a 27-23 win over the Buffalo Bills.

Elijah McGuire scored on a fourth-and-goal run from the 1 with 1:17 remaining, to cap a drive in which Darnold completed three of five passes for 52 yards.

Indianapolis 24, Houston 21: Andrew Luck threw for 399 yards and two touchdowns and T.Y. Hilton had 199 receiving yards to lead the Indianapolis Colts to a 24-21 road win over the Houston Texans.

The Colts (7-6) snapped a nine-game winning streak by the Texans (9-4), trimming Houston’s lead in the AFC South to two games with three games remaining.

Green Bay 34, Atlanta 20: Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes and set an NFL record for interception-free football. The Green Bay Packers beat the Atlanta Falcons 34-20 to win their first game under interim head coach Joe Philbin.

Aaron Jones ran for a 29-yard score in the third quarter, while the defense limited quarterback Matt Ryan after a game-opening touchdown drive to hand Atlanta its fifth straight loss and guarantee the Falcons a losing record for the first time since 2014.

San Francisco 20, Denver 14: George Kittle caught an 85-yard touchdown pass on the way to 210 yards receiving and became the 49ers’ first tight end to reach the 1,000-yard milestone, leading San Francisco past the sluggish, injury-plagued Denver Broncos 20-14.

Kittle finished just shy of Shannon Sharpe’s NFL record by a tight end of 214 yards receiving, not having a catch nor as many chances in the second half. Kittle had seven receptions in all on nine targets.

Detroit 17, Arizona 3: Darius Slay returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown and Detroit beat the punchless Cardinals 17-3, the Lions’ first win in Arizona since 1993.

Slay stepped in front of intended receiver Trent Sherfield, picked off Josh Rosen’s pass and raced down the left sideline for the score as the Lions (5-8) ended an eight-game losing streak in the desert. Arizona (3-10) avoided being shut out with Zane Gonzalez’s 22-yard field goal with 8:14 to play.

Dallas 29, Philadelphia 23: Dak Prescott threw his third touchdown pass to Amari Cooper on the first possession of overtime, and the Dallas Cowboys took a big step toward the NFC East title with a 29-23 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.

By winning the third overtime game in the past four seasons at A&T Stadium between these division rivals, the Cowboys won their fifth straight game and took a two-game lead over the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles and Washington.