STILLS THRILLS
Dolphins, Tannehill survive seven-hour home opener
MIAMI GARDENS — One Miami Dolphin tried to take a nap in the middle of his debut in professional football.
Others snacked on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, at least as long as they lasted.
When it was over, one Dolphin wondered if they get time and a half.
The Miami Dolphins — the team that can’t seem to open a season under normal conditions — had one for the record books Sunday, beating the Tennessee Titans 27-20 in a game that included two lightning delays totaling nearly four hours.
A game that began at 1:02 p.m. finally officially ended at 8:10:29 p.m. — the longest game in terms of elapsed time since the AFLNFL merger.
“We’ve almost covered everything,” said coach Adam Gase, whose 2017 season opened a week late because of Hurricane Irma.
It was Gase who’d warned play- ers last week to be ready for any kind of adversity. But not even he could have dreamed of anything this wild. The first delay lasted 1 hour, 57 minutes, the second 2:02, with plenty of uncertainty in between as to when action could resume.
“There’s no manual to that,” defensive end Cameron Wake said. “The first time, you say in your mind, ‘This is halftime.’ The second one, in an hour and a half, it’s, ‘Do I take the pads off ? Do
I stand up? Lay down? Get on the bike?’ ”
If you’re offensive tackle Sam Young, you eat.
“Some peanut butter-and-jellies,” said Young, who arrived at the stadium around 9 a.m. “When was the last time we had a meal, like 10 o’clock? You’ve got to continue to fuel yourself.”
Turning to guard Ted Larsen, Young said, “Do we get time and a half ?”
Next to them, offensive tackles Laremy Tunsil and Ja’Wuan James declined to be interviewed, saying they just wanted to get home. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill wondered why his son, Steel, 2, had not zonked out by then.
“He’ll probably be a bundle of fun on the way home,” Tannehill said.
It’s a wonder everybody wasn’t.
“I’m ready to go home,” Gase joked to reporters. “You’ve got to stop asking questions.”
On such a historic day, there was so, so much to discuss.
That extends to the networks. The game ran so long that Fox’s two South Florida affiliates briefly cut away from the closing moments of the game — with victory still in question — to air the pilot episode of “Rel,” about a newly single father who attempts to reboot his life on the West Side of Chicago. It conjured memories of the infamous “Heidi” game in 1968 when NBC cut away from a Raiders-Jets game and missed a dramatic Oakland rally.
Put it this way: The game ran so long that this year’s Boston Marathon champion, Yuki Kawauchi, could have run the race three times, with time to spare, assuming he didn’t get as weary as some spectators at Hard Rock Stadium.
“Kind of a different type of game, for my first game,” said defensive back Minkah Fitzpatrick, the first-round pick, who tried and failed to nap. “Definitely not ever going to forget it.”
The first sign of trouble Sunday came with just over a minute remaining in the first half, when referee Jerome Boger turned on his field microphone and informed the crowd a lightning strike had been detected within a mile of Hard Rock Stadium.
At that point, the public address announcer instructed fans to seek shelter in the concourse even though the seating area is covered by a canopy. Players began filing off the field, with no one knowing how serious the issue would become.
It wasn’t until 1:57 later that the game resumed, looking nothing like a typical NFL game. After a handful of uneventful plays, the clock read 0:00, but instead of the teams heading into the locker rooms for halftime, they went to their respective benches for a 31/2-minute “halftime” that essentially was a standard commercial break.
Things went along swimmingly for only nine minutes of game action, when more lightning was detected, triggering the second delay. At that point, it became obvious that the game, despite kicking off at 1 p.m., was going to end in darkness.
If the Dolphins were disappointed to not be assigned a game in the lucrative “Sunday Night Football” slot this season, this was going to be their revenge.
By then, about two-thirds of the fans had left, leading the Dolphins to invite all remaining fans to move down into the 100-level seats for a closer look.
During the second delay, players were first told play would resume at 7:30.
“Then they came back and said 6:40 we’re going out there for warmups,” receiver Albert Wilson said.
Some players had changed uniforms, but several were walking around without cleats on, some in socks, some not even in socks, and had to rush out.
“We were like, ‘Whatever,’ ” defensive end Andre Branch said.
Alcohol sales, which normally cease after the third quarter, were closely monitored.
Longtime Dolphins fans conjured memories of the epic double-overtime playoff game against the Kansas City Chiefs in 1971, when Christmas turkey dinners were spoiled until Garo Yepremian mercifully ended the longest game in NFL history (in terms of playing time) at 82:40.
Likewise, Sunday’s game crashed up against Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, which surely contributed to some leaving early.
The irony was that for much of the delays, the sun shined on the Hard Rock Stadium field, little thunder could be heard and not much rain fell.
Then, there was a figurative bolt of lightning supplied by the Dolphins themselves. After Tennessee tied the score on Dion Lewis’ 4-yard run shortly after the second delay, Miami emphatically answered with two long touchdowns.
First, speedy receiver Jakeem Grant returned the kickoff after Lewis’ score 102 yards for a touchdown. It was the second-longest kickoff return in team history, behind a 105-yarder by Mercury Morris in 1969.
Miami wasn’t done. After the Titans punted, Tannehill — playing his first game in 637 days because of two knee injuries — hit Kenny Stills with a 75-yard bomb for a 24-10 lead. Tannehill’s pass traveled 50 yards in the air and was just the electricity needed.
Linebacker Kiko Alonso said losing a marathon like this one would have stung worse than any normal loss.
“We’re in the record books, I guess, right?” cornerback Bobby McCain said. “With a ‘W.’ Make sure you put in a ‘W.’ ”