The Miracle in Miami, also known as the Miami Miracle, was an American football play that took place at the end of a game on December 9, 2018, between the Miami Dolphins and the New England Patriots. Down 33–28 with 7 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Dolphins completed a 17-yard pass and two lateral passes resulting in a 69-yard touchdown by running back Kenyan Drake.[1][2] It is the first walk-off game-winning touchdown in NFL history to involve multiple lateral passes, and the first multi-lateral touchdown since the River City Relay in December 2003. After the game, the play was known by several names, most commonly the "Miami Miracle"[3][4] and the "Miracle in Miami".[5][6]
 Hard Rock Stadium, the site of the game. | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | December 9, 2018 | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Stadium | Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Patriots by 9 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Pete Morelli | ||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 66,087 | ||||||||||||||||||
| TV in the United States | |||||||||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts, and Evan Washburn | ||||||||||||||||||
History
Desperation lateral attempts have been used before in American football. In the history of the NFL, only twice has a team successfully converted a lateral pass for a touchdown at the end of a game. The first was on January 8, 2000, when the Tennessee Titans pulled off the Music City Miracle with a lateral pass from the Titans' tight end Frank Wycheck to wide receiver Kevin Dyson for a 75-yard touchdown against the Buffalo Bills. The second touchdown was the River City Relay on December 21, 2003, where the New Orleans Saints successfully completed three lateral passes culminating in a 75-yard touchdown by Jerome Pathon against the Jacksonville Jaguars. However, kicker John Carney missed the extra point, resulting in a 20–19 loss by the Saints.
Pre-game
Entering the game, the Patriots were leading the AFC East with a record of 9–3, while the Dolphins had a record of 6–6. A Patriots' win would clinch them their 10th consecutive AFC East title. After the Patriots struck first with a touchdown, there would be a total of eight lead changes, but Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski would miss not only the extra point on the aforementioned first touchdown, but a field goal attempt later on. Leading 30–28 after an unsuccessful attempt to score a touchdown in the waning seconds, he would score another field goal to put them up 33–28 with 16 seconds left to play.
The play
Trailing by five points with seven seconds to go, the Dolphins had the ball at their own 31-yard line. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill threw a pass over the middle that was caught by wide receiver Kenny Stills, who lateraled the ball to the right side of the field that was caught by DeVante Parker at midfield. Parker then tossed the ball to running back Kenyan Drake, who ran the ball 52 yards for a touchdown to win the game 34–33. The Dolphins declined to kick the extra point, per the rule change for the 2018 season following the Minneapolis Miracle.
One of the keys to the play was the Dolphins left guard Ted Larsen diligently following the play 40 yards downfield and springing a vicious block on the Patriots' Patrick Chung, who otherwise might have tackled Drake.[7]
Broadcaster calls
- Commentators Ian Eagle and Dan Fouts called the game for CBS's NFL coverage.
Eagle's call of the play:
Seven seconds left. Tannehill will throw it... and this will end it after the shovel. Or will it? Miami running around. Circling. Oh look out! Gronkowski! Didn't have the angle! Touchdown! Oh ho Kenyan Drake! A miracle! Miraculous in Miami! Stills... to Parker, to Drake! A lateral... heard around the world.
- Dolphins radio announcers Jimmy Cefalo, Bob Griese, and Joe Rose:[8]
Tannehill. Last shot. Back to throw. They throw it down, they try to pitch it, they do. To Parker, Parker pitches it, and it's Drake. DRAKE! 30, 20, GRONKOWSKI'S GONNA TACKLE! OH! THAT'S IT! HE GOES INTO THE END ZONE! TOUCHDOWN! UNBELIEVABLE! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? THAT IS UNBELIEVABLE! I DON'T BELIEVE WHAT I JUST SAW! There are no flags and the game is over!
Tannehill throws down the middle caught by Stills, laterals, back to Butler. (sic) Or rather Parker, who flips it to Drake, he runs across the 40 of New England, angling inside to the 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, He's gonna win the footrace to the end zone! The Dolphins are going to win it! On the lateral! Once then twice! And Drake takes it in! And the Patriots stand stunned in disbelief!
Reactions
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was criticized after the game for substituting out safety Devin McCourty for tight end Rob Gronkowski, who missed the final tackle leading to Drake's touchdown.[10] Retired NFL players Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi, as well as McCourty and Patriots safety Duron Harmon, argued that since the Dolphins were too far away from the end zone to try a conventional Hail Mary pass play, Gronkowski, who has historically been used to defend against long passes in late-game situations, should not have been substituted in for a defensive back on the play.
The play received worldwide media attention, travelling as far as Australia, where the play appeared on both newspaper websites and on nightly news coverage. Reports of the match and, in particular, the play, also appeared in the UK and Ireland.
Aftermath
At the end of the week following this game, the best possible record that the Patriots can obtain is 12–4, while the Kansas City Chiefs, the current favorite to claim the first seed in the AFC playoffs and reach Super Bowl LIII, are 11–2. If the Chiefs win two of their remaining three games, the Chiefs will claim the AFC West along with the first seed and home field advantage through the entirety of the playoffs.
Statistics
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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| Patriots | 6 | 21 | 0 | 6 | 33 |
| Dolphins | 7 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 34 |
at Hard Rock Stadium, Miami Gardens, Florida
- Date: December 9
- Game time: 1:00 p.m. EST
- Game weather: 84 °F (29 °C), mostly cloudy
- Game attendance: 66,087
- Referee: Pete Morelli
- TV announcers (CBS): Ian Eagle, Dan Fouts and Evan Washburn
- Recap, Gamebook
| Game information | ||
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Officials
- Referee: Pete Morelli (#135)
- Umpire: Steve Woods (#54)
- Down Judge: Steve Stelljes (#22)
- Line Judge: Jeff Seeman (#45)
- Back Judge: Keith Ferguson (#61)
- Side Judge: Boris Cheek (#41)
- Field Judge: Anthony Jeffries (#36)
- Replay Official: Brian Matoren
See also
References
- ^ Knoblauch, Austin (December 9, 2018). "Ryan Tannehill on Miami Miracle: 'Pretty amazing'". NFL.com. NFL Enterprises, LLC. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
- ^ "Miracle in Miami: Dolphins Stun Patriots with Last-Second Touchdown". Boston: WBZ-TV. December 9, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
- ^ Armando Salguero asalguero@miamiherald. com. "A behind-the-scenes look at the Miami Dolphins after the Miami Miracle". miamiherald. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
- ^ "MIAMI MIRACLE: Kenyan Drake, Dolphins Stun Patriots". www.miamidolphins.com. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
- ^ Hoffman, Benjamin (December 9, 2018). "Dolphins Shock Patriots With a Miracle in Miami". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
- ^ King, Peter (December 10, 2018). "FMIA Week 14: On Mahomes, Midway Monsters And The Miracle In Miami". ProFootballTalk. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
- ^ Beasley, Adam H. (December 9, 2018). "Kenyan Drake was the hero. But Ted Larsen might have been Dolphins' real MVP Sunday". Miami Herald. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
- ^ "Dolphins Home Radio Call of the Miracle in Miami". YouTube. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
- ^ "Patriots Radio Announcers React to Stunning Loss vs. Dolphins". YouTube. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
- ^ Yang, Nicole. "2 former Patriots were critical of the Patriots' decision-making against the Dolphins". www.boston.com. Retrieved December 10, 2018.