Fins Deal Pats Heartbreaker, Boys Stay Hot, And More!
Take a deep breathe, relax, now let it all out again…
That was in the most simplistic way to describe it…unf****** believable. If you happened to miss the conclusion of the Patriots-Dolphins game on Sunday, don’t worry, we’ll be getting to that shortly.
Elsewhere, Aaron Rodgers broke Tom Brady’s pass attempts with an interception mark, Derek Carr and Baker Mayfield play spoiler, the Colts snapped the Houston Texans’ nine-game winning streak, and Mark Sanchez was as Mark Sanchez as it gets in 2018.
Week 14 was a beauty, with improbability throughout as the Saints won a game they trailed by 11 at the half and looked equally as poor as they did last week by 14 points, a 25-point turnaround.
Even a rookie quarterback matchup in Buffalo between Josh Allen and Sam Darnold was a highly entertaining game.
With Week 14 brining the thrills, we can only hope for more in the final three weeks of the regular-season.
Here is my recap of Week 14 of the NFL season.
Dolphins Use Double Lateral Play To Keep Playoff Hopes Alive
When Kenyan Drake saw Rob Gronkowski as the lone man to beat on his way to the end zone, “Sorry, Gronk” was what popped into Drake’s mind as he raced to pay dirt on a miraculous final play to give Miami a season saving win.
The Miami Dolphins used a double lateral walk-off touchdown to stun the New England Patriots 34-33 on Sunday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium to deny New England of a 10th Consecutive division title.
Just as Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins had envisioned, Kenyan Drake scoring on a 69-yard touchdown reception with no time remaining to win the game happened.
The Dolphins trailed 33-28 with seven seconds remaining in the game at their own 31 yard line.
Ryan Tannehill tossed a completion for about 15 yards to Kenny Stills, who went on to flip the ball to Devante Parker, who then flipped the ball to Kenyan Drake. Drake got a head of steam after making line backer Kyle Van Noy miss on a tackle as he cut back to the middle of the field, and he soon was given a huge block by offensive guard Ted Larsen on a pursuing Patrick Chung.
The block cleared Drake, who soon raced to the corner of the end zone to beat Rob Gronkowski — who was in on the play for a Hail Mary — for the improbable game-winning score.
Drake’s 69-yard touchdown is the longest play to end a game with a winning score since the NFL Merger in 1970.
The play entitled “Boise”, which was famously used by Boise State back in 2007 Fiesta Bowl vs. Oklahoma, was a hook and ladder play that most teams prepare for, but Bill Belichick and New England in particular looked unprepared for the play from a personnel standpoint as they had Rob Gronkowski back in the end zone at the start of the play for a Hail Mary.
It’s a nightmare for the New England Patriots, who with under two minutes left looked well on their way to winning a game they didn’t play their best football on the defensive side of the ball and left a number of points on the field with missed kicks and a mental error by Tom Brady at the end of the half, as he took a sack with no timeouts remaining inside Miami’s 10 yard line.
The loss drops New England to 9-4 on the season and 1-5 in their last six trips to South Beach, a house of horrors for Tom Brady, who is now 7-10 in Miami in his career.
The loss likely ends New England’s quest for a No. 1 seed, as they would need to win their final three games and have the Kansas City Chiefs lose two of three and the Los Angeles Chargers one of their final three games.
For Miami — who improved to 7-6 after their wild win — the chase for the postseason continues. Despite injuries up and down their roster, Adam Gase’s team is well in the hunt, but they’ll need help to get there.
The Miami Dolphins will visit the Minnesota Vikings next Sunday.
Meanwhile, New England will look to bounce back with a road game in Pittsburgh late Sunday afternoon against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Amari Cooper Plays Hero In Cowboys Win Over Eagles
The Dallas Cowboys felt surrendering a first-round pick was necessary in acquiring Amari Cooper. Six games into his Dallas Cowboys career, making the Cowboys front office look like geniuses.
The Dallas Cowboys edged the Philadelphia Eagles in overtime 29-23 on Sunday afternoon at AT&T Stadium to gain firm control of the NFC East.
Amari Cooper’s 15-yard touchdown from Dak Prescott on the first and only possession of overtime gaveDallas their fifth straight win.
Dak Prescott threw for a career-high 455 passing yards to go along with three touchdown passes, and it was Cooper who was a recipient of all three.
The former Oakland Raider torched the Philadelphia Eagles banged up secondary for 10 receptions for career-high 217 receiving yards and three touchdowns.
Since joining theDallas Cowboys, Cooper has hauled in 40 receptions for 642 receiving yards for six touchdowns.
On Sunday the Cowboys blew several leads to the defending Super Bowl champs, who after getting shutout in the first half, used two second half turnovers created by their defense to tie the game at 9-9 in fourth quarter before tying the game twice after two Dallas touchdown scores.
Carson Wentz threw for 228 passing yards and three touchdowns, but he never got the ball back as the game shifted to overtime.
The Dallas Cowboys (8-5) had their season in peril after losing to the Tennessee Titans at home coming off a bye week, but with five consecutive victories that loss has been put in the rear view mirror.
It all started with a 27-20 victory in Philadelphia back in Week 10 that displayed their character and attitude as a football team and has since carried over into continued success.
With Philadelphia falling to 6-7 on the season, they’ll be playing for their season over the final three weeks that includes a road game at Los Angeles next Sunday vs. the Los Angeles Rams and a home game the following week vs. the Houston Texans.
On the other side,Dallas is in the driver’s seat, with two of their final three games against below .500 teams.
Bears Put Clamps On Goff, Rams Offense In Chicago
The Chicago Bears identity on defense is just as well known as Los Angeles’ on offense. When those two units collided with each other on Sunday night, it was Chicago’s that overwhelmingly won the battle.
The Chicago Bears shutdown the Los Angeles Rams in a 15-6 victory on Sunday night to bounce back from a loss a week ago.
It was a defensive masterpiece by the Chicago Bears, who intercepted Jared Goff four times and sacked him for a safety.
In a low-scoring affair and hard-hitting affair, the Chicago Bears defense limited one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses to 214 total yards of offense and 3-for-12 on third downs.
Khalil Mack picked up his 10th sack of the season, but it was defensive tackle Eddie Goldman’s sack in the end zone for a safety on Jared Goff in the third quarter that keyed Chicago’s win.
After Goldman’s safety gave Chicago a 8-6 lead, Mitchell Trubisky — who returned after missing the past two games with a right shoulder injury — led Chicago on a nine play, 81 yard touchdown drive that ended with a two-yard touchdown pass to offensive lineman Bradley Sowell to put Chicago up 15-6.
The Bears season-high four interceptions were a result of the team taking advantage of Sean McVay’s lack of commitment to run game with Todd Gurley — who finished with a season-low 28 rushing yards on just 11 carries.
In cold weather against the rugged Bears, the Los Angeles Rams looked like a shell of themselves, and certainly not the team that exploded for 54 points in a wild Monday night win over Kansas City a few weeks ago.
Los Angeles (11-2) no longer control their own destiny, falling back into the No. 2 seed behind the New Orleans Saints, who with an identical record as Los Angeles, owns the tiebreaker over them.
Chicago (9-4) will look to finish their season strong as they will face two divisional foes over their final three games of the season, with their next being a home game against the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field.
Mahomes, Kansas City Survive Baltimore Ravens At Arrowhead
Just how good is Patrick Mahomes? He’s had two games with six touchdown passes this season, but he may have had his most impressive performance on Sunday.
The Kansas City Chiefs edged the Baltimore Ravens 27-24 in overtime to tighten their grip on the No. 1 seed in the AFC.
With the game on the line, Patrick Mahomes connected on a incredible game-saving fourth and nine pass, throwing against the the grain and connecting on a line to Tyreek Hill for 48 yards.
A few players later after the completion, Mahomes did it again on fourth and three as he found Damien Williams on a five-yard touchdown pass to tie the game.
A wildly entertaining final few minutes of regulation ended in chaos as the Chiefs got a strip sack on Lamar Jackson to set up a potential game-winning 43-yard field goal by Harrison Butker, only to see Butker miss wide right as time expired.
Kansas City marched into Ravens territory on their first possession of overtime, coming away with a 27-24 lead after a 35-yard field goal by Butker.
The Chiefs had their trouble with Baltimore, who rushed for 198 yards and chewed up 31 minutes of time of possession. But it was Kansas City’s defense making a stand to end the game as Robert Griffin III — who entered the game on the drive after Jackson went out of the game with a injury — was unable to convert on a fourth and 22 play to keep Baltimore’s chances alive.
Patrick Mahomes finished the game with 377 passing yards and two touchdowns as he offset a interception thrown in the third quarter.
It wasn’t the most stat pleasing game for Mahomes, but considering the circumstances, in cold weather against the best defense statistically in the NFL with the offense without Sammy Watkins and adjusting to life without Kareem Hunt, the second year quarterback had a MVP-worthy performance.
Kansas City (11-2) is in prime position to have home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs after Sunday as they saw New England and Houston lose, creating breathing room on both teams.
The Chiefs will end their season with a pivotal matchup on Thursday night vs the Los Angeles Chargers, followed by a visit to Seattle to face the Seattle Seahawks and then a home finale vs. the Oakland Raiders.
What was your biggest takeaways from Week 14 of the NFL season? Leave your comments below
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