They're calling it the Miami Miracle, but I think the New England No-No might be more accurate.
The New England Patriots had the Miami Dolphins pretty much where they wanted them, leading by five points with just seven seconds to go and that much time away from clinching the franchise's tenth straight AFC east title, which would have set a new NFL record.
But then the improbable happened. The Dolphins, out of time-outs, didn't go for the Hail Mary into the end zone, because it would have been a 70-yard throw that quarterback Ryan Tannehill couldn't make, so he threw the ball just 14 yards over the middle to Kenny Stills. But Patriots defensive back Jonathan Jones went for the ball, trying to swat it away or intercept it instead of lining up Stills for a tackle, and that set the chain of events that followed in motion like one of those dreams where you're being chased by a monster and can only move in slow motion in attempt to escape.
Stills had time to lateral the ball to DeVante Parker, and the sandlot play continued with a lateral to Kenyan Drake, and all of a sudden he was making a move to shake one defender, got a key block from a teammate and then he was at the Patriots twenty and streaking down the side line with just one player between him and a game winning touchdown and that was Rob Gronkowski, who stumbled as he made his move towards Drake and that was more than enough for Drake to blow by Gronk into the end zone for a 34-33 Dolphins victory and a mob celebration in the corner of the end zone, the entire Miami team piling on top of each other like they'd just won the super bowl.
None of this would have been an issue, by the way, if not for an unusual off day for kicker Stephen Gostowski, who missed a very make-able field goal and an extra point earlier in the game, which would have given the Pats a 9-point lead instead of a 5-point one, rendering the desperation lateral follies moot, but hey, that's part of the game.
To add insult to injury former Patriot Brandon Bolden ran for two touchdowns against his old team in the win, which will have many Miamians in the future claiming they were there to see it, even if they were not.
The NY Giants probably won't make the playoffs but they made sure Washington won't either, trouncing their inter-division rivals 40-16, with Saquon Barkley rushing for an astonishing 170 yards on the day. The Giants built up a 40-0 lead by the 3rd quarter, causing a mass exodus by Washington fans, who saw their squad drop to 6-7 on a season that started with promise but will end with nothing more than a playoff no-show and the same racist team name.
To the NHL and the Boston Bruins got a 2-1 overtime win against the Senators in Ottawa on a goal by defenseman Torey Krug, who one-timed a beautiful cross-ice pass from David Krejci after he'd circled around the back of the net. Tuukka Rask got the win in net and Brad Marchand scored in regulation for Boston, winners of two in a row after losing three straight.
The Montreal Canadiens were winners as well, 3-2 over the Chicago Blackhawks, Tomas Tatar scoring the game winner off a deflection with just over a minute left in regulation.
Burke Ski Academy alum Mikalea Shiffrin picked up her second win in as many days Sunday, taking the parallel slalom in St. Moritz, Switzerland. She beat Slovakian rival Petra Vlhova by 0.11 seconds in the final, and on Saturday Shiffrin captured first place in the super-G win, padding her lead in women's alpine World Cup standings.
Congratulations to Lee Smith, elected to baseball's Hall of Fame yesterday, the one-time Red Sox closer who pitched for many other teams as well and is third all-time in career saves. But the shocker joining him in Cooperstown is former White Sox outfielder and DH Harold Baines, who played 21 seasons, mostly in Chicago, and amassed 2,866 hits, but did not have the kind of advanced statistical numbers that put him anywhere near the careers of many other players of his era who did not make it into the Hall, including Steve Garvey, and good luck winning an argument saying Baines was a better player than him.
