Patriots fall to Dolphins 34-33 on insane final play
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| Mark Brown/AP |
Well...that was pretty awful.
With the Pats up 33-28 late in the fourth quarter, the Dolphins had to go 69 yards in seven seconds to score a touchdown, and they did it. Kenyan Drake ran through the Patriots defense to hand them a 34-33 loss, which is one of the most shocking in recent memory.
This one had the makings of a shootout in the early going, as the Patriots and Dolphins both scored on their opening possessions. However, Stephen Gostkowski missed an extra point to make it a 7-6 game.
The Patriots then went up 13-7 after newly acquired linebacker Albert McClellan blocked his first punt of the day. He blocked another punt towards the end of the second quarter to set the Patriots up inside the red zone with less than a minute to play, but the Patriots failed to score, making it 27-21 at halftime.
The Dolphins took a 28-27 lead late in the third quarter when Ryan Tannehill hit Brice Butler for a 23-yard strike. The Patriots then answered with a Gostkowski field goal to make it 30-28.
And then, well, you know what happened.
Brady, who was declared "Noodle Arm" just a couple weeks ago, was brilliant once again. The future hall-of-famer was 27-of-43 for 358 yards and three touchdown passes.
It was encouraging to see a vintage performance from Rob Gronkowski. The big tight end caught eight passes for 107 yards and a touchdown. The score wound up being his first catch in the red zone all season.
Up next - another pivotal December match up with the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field next Sunday.
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