Do you believe in miracles? If you don’t — you may want to reconsider, because the Miami Dolphins just received one of epic proportions courtesy of an old friend. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick made a fourth-quarter appearance for yet another road game against an AFC West opponent and, unlike the last time the Dolphins inserted Fitzpatrick into the lineup, this time the wily old veteran was able to deliver the Dolphins their most improbable victory on this side of the Miami Miracle. This was the delivery on the pass that may have saved the Miami Dolphins’ 2020 playoff hopes:
Ryan Fitzpatrick completed this for a 34-yard gain #FinsUp pic.twitter.com/3YB17mPkar
— CBS Sports HQ (@CBSSportsHQ) December 27, 2020
The Dolphins spent essentially the entire football game chasing the Raiders — Las Vegas dictated the pace of play early on and did well to jump on top of Miami early, where the Dolphins’ offense once again struggled in the red zone to finish out drives and convert possessions into touchdowns in the first half. Miami rumbled out of the second half and punched the football into the end zone to tie the game at 13-13 but Las Vegas soon wrestled control of the football courtesy in large part of Raiders TE Darren Waller, who proved himself unguardable throughout the contest despite some strong reps from safety Eric Rowe.
But the Dolphins’ bend, don’t break mentality kept the game close entering the 4th quarter; as the Dolphins trailed 16-13 before turning to Ryan Fitzpatrick after sacks killed several consecutive possessions for the Dolphins in a one-score game. The decision comes for the second time this season after the Dolphins made their quarterback switch — and this one proved to have the winning touch after several dramatic swings. Fitzpatrick was 9-13 for 182 yards passing and a touchdown in less than a quarter of play; but it appeared to be all for not at times. Fitzpatrick scored several big throws to TE Mike Gesicki but the drive sputtered in the red zone and the Dolphins were forced to take a game-tying field goal from inside the 5 with 4 minutes remaining.
From there, the Dolphins’ bend, don’t break mentality failed them — Raiders QB Derek Carr rolled right on an extended play and managed to hit WR Nelson Agholor for an 85-yard scoring strike to put the Raiders back in front just 25 seconds later. But the Raiders missed the extra point, a costly error that would eventually catch up to Las Vegas in the end.
On the Dolphins’ subsequent possession, RB Myles Gaskin took a short slant from split out wide and, 42 seconds after the Raiders struck to recapture the lead, the Dolphins were back up in front as Gaskin romped 59 yards to give the Dolphins a 23-22 lead.
Keeping up?
Las Vegas did their best to milk the clock on their subsequent possession, which was aided by an egregious 51-yard pass interference call against Dolphins CB Byron Jones to put the Raiders in position to ice the game. But the Raiders elected to covet milking the clock instead of taking a lead that would have commanded a touchdown to be overtaken with Las Vegas intentionally going down inside the Dolphins’ 5-yard line on three consecutive plays before kicking a short field goal to retake the lead, 25-23 with just 19 seconds left.
And that’s where Fitzpatrick’s miracle comes in. Fitzpatrick, with Miami holding no timeouts and needing approximately 40 yards to get into field goal range with 0:19 remaining, dropped back to pass and heaved a shot down the left sideline to WR Mack Hollins. As Fitzpatrick released the ball, the Raiders got a full handful of his face mask, contorting Fitzpatrick’s head completely away from the throw — and yet Fitzpatrick’s toss floated into the waiting arms of Hollins, who rolled out of bounds and set up the Dolphins in position to kick a game-winning field goal for one of the NFL’s most improbable completions of the season.
Ryan Fitzpatrick’s 34-yard pass to Mack Hollins to set up a game-winning field goal had a completion probability of 10.9%, the 3rd-most improbable completion this season.
➤ Air Distance: 45.3 yards
➤ QB Under Pressure
➤ Sideline Distance: 0.4 yards#MIAvsLV | #FinsUp pic.twitter.com/EPLja4ZTUZ— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) December 27, 2020
“They call him Fitzmagic for a reason,” chuckled Tagovailoa in the postgame interviews.
Head coach Brian Flores confirmed that Tagovailoa will start for the Dolphins next weekend against the Buffalo Bills as Miami takes the field for a “win and in” scenario. But for tonight, the Dolphins will collectively exhale, soak in a miraculous win and enjoy the end result: the Dolphins’ first 10-win season since 2016 and their third in the last 15 seasons.
Leave a Reply