San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Miami comeback beats the odds in Vegas
LAS VEGAS — With a defender dragging him down by his face mask, Ryan Fitzpatrick still managed to launch the pass that might have saved the Miami Dolphins season.
Just a little more FitzMagic. Fitzpatrick’s desperation heave to Mack Hollins set up Jason Sanders’ 44-yard field goal as the Dolphins drove the field in the final 19 seconds to move one step closer to a playoff berth with an improbable 26-25 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday night.
“The odds are pretty low there of us being able to complete something with the proper yardage,” Fitzpatrick said. “I didn’t know it was complete. My head was getting ripped off.”
Fitzpatrick led three scoring drives in the fourth quarter for Miami (10-5), with the final one the most unlikely after the Raiders (7-8) bypassed a gimme touchdown for a field goal. The move to play for the field goal backfired as the Raiders lost on a kick instead.
Coach Jon Gruden chose to run down the clock for a goahead field goal instead of trying for a touchdown, with Josh Jacobs going down on purpose at the 1-yard line and Derek Carr taking a knee to set up Daniel Carlson’s 22-yard field goal with 19 seconds left.
“I don’t regret it one bit,” Gruden said. “I just regret the results.”
One play was enough to move the Dolphins from their own 25 into field-goal range. Hollins was left open for a 41
yard pass that Fitzpatrick threw as Arden Key dragged him down by the face mask.
The penalty moved the ball down to the Las Vegas 26, setting up Sanders’ winning kick.
The Dolphins became the second team in the past 20 years to take over that deep in their territory in the final 30 seconds when trailing and drive for the winning score. Green
Bay did it to Detroit five years ago on a desperation pass from Aaron Rodgers to Richard Rodgers.
The Dolphins moved a halfgame ahead of Baltimore in the AFC playoff race and can clinch a wild-card berth with a win next week at Buffalo.
“I want to go,” said Fitzpatrick, who hasn’t made the playoffs in his 16-year career. “I want
to feel what it’s like. I feel like we have a special team. I’m proud I’ve been able to contribute to that.”
Fitzpatrick was only in the game for his late heroics Saturday because coach Brian Flores benched rookie Tua Tagovailoa in the fourth quarter.
“We just felt like we needed a spark, trying to win the game,” Flores said. “If we have to go to a relief pitcher in the ninth, that’s what we’ll do.”
As for the Raiders, they’ll be out of the postseason for the 17th time in 18 seasons.
49ERS 20, CARDINALS 12
The visiting San Francisco 49ers limped into Saturday’s game with no playoff hopes and a group that included thirdstring quarterback C.J. Beathard,
unheralded running back Jeff Wilson and several defensive backups.
Then they went out and pushed around the Arizona Cardinals anyway.
Beathard threw three touchdown passes, Wilson ran for 183 yards, and San Francisco put a dent in Arizona’s playoff hopes.
Because of the loss, the Cardinals (8-7) no longer control their own destiny in the playoff race. If the Chicago Bears win their final two games, they’ll reach the playoffs because of a tiebreaker over the Cardinals.
BUCCANEERS 47, LIONS 7
Tom Brady was so dominant in Detroit that he could’ve left Ford Field at halftime to get his favorite chicken wings near the University of Michigan’s campus and still made it back to fly to Florida with his team.
Brady was 22 of 27 for 348 yards and four touchdown passes in the only half he needed to play and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers went on to rout the Lions on Saturday, sealing a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 2007.
The Bucs (10-5) set a franchise record with 588 yards and snapped the NFL’s secondlongest postseason drought behind Cleveland’s 18-year run that can end today.
Tampa Bay rested Brady after taking a franchise-best 34-0 lead into halftime.