Double lateral on final play lifts Dolphins
Kenyan Drake ran the last 52 yards as the Miami Dolphins scored on a pass and double lateral on the wild 69-yard final play Sunday to beat the New England Patriots 34-33.
It was the longest touchdown to win a game with no time remaining since the 1970 merger.
The Patriots (9-4) were 16 seconds from clinching their 10th consecutive AFC East title when the Dolphins pulled off their stunner. Ryan Tannehill threw a 14-yard pass to Kenny Stills, who lateraled to DeVante Parker, who quickly lateraled to Drake. He found a seam and beat two Patriots to the corner of the end zone — defensive back J.C. Jackson and tight end Rob Gronkowski, who was on the field as part of New England’s prevent defense.
The Dolphins’ bench emptied as teammates mobbed Drake. Coach Adam Gase said his team had been practicing the play all year for such a situation.
Tom Brady threw for 358 yards and three scores. The Dolphins (7-6) came from behind five times to help their slim wild-card chances.
BEARS 15, RAMS 6 >> Eddie Goldman led a dominant effort by the defense, and Chicago shut down Jared Goff and Los Angeles’ highpowered offense.
The Rams (11-2) missed a chance to secure a firstround playoff bye and fell into a tie with New Orleans for home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
Goff threw a career-high four interceptions and was sacked three times and NFL rushing leader Todd Gurley ran for a seasonlow 28 yards on 11 carries. CHIEFS 27, RAVENS 24, OT >> Harrison Butker atoned for a 43-yard miss as time expired with a 36-yard field goal in overtime, and the Chiefs stopped the Ravens on fourth down to clinch a playoff spot. The Chiefs (10-2) twice converted on fourth down before Patrick Mahomes threw a tying touchdown pass to Damien Williams with 53 seconds left. Moments later, Justin Houston strip-sacked Lamar Jackson to give Butker a chance to win the game for Kansas City in regulation. He missed that one. He didn’t miss his second chance.
SAINTS 28, BUCCANEERS 14 >> Drew Brees threw for one touchdown and ran another to help the Saints rally from an 11-point halftime deficit to clinch their second straight NFC South title. New Orleans’ defense did its part after allowing two first-half TDs, too, sacking Jameis Winston four times and limiting the NFL’s No. 1-ranked offense to 81 yards in the second half — most of that on the final drive.
CHARGERS 26, BENGALS 21 >> Philip Rivers threw for 220 yards and Michael Badgley kicked four field goals, including a team-record 59-yarder. The Chargers (10-3) had 160 yards of offense on their first two drives but had 121 the remainder of the game.
Bay Area native Joe Mixon had 111 yards on 26 carries and a touchdown for the Bengals (5-8), who have dropped five straight. LIONS 17, CARDINALS 3 >> Darius Slay returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown and Detroit got its first win in Arizona since 1993.
COLTS 24, TEXANS 21 >> Andrew Luck threw for 399 yards and two touchdowns and T.Y. Hilton had 199 receiving yards. The Colts (7-6) snapped a nine-game winning streak by the Texans (9-4), trimming Houston’s lead over the AFC South to two games with three remaining. BROWNS 26, PANTHERS 20 >> Baker Mayfield outplayed Cam Newton, Jarvis Landry caught a touchdown pass and ran for another score, and the Browns damaged Carolina’s playoff hopes. The Panthers (6-7) have lost five in a row.
The Browns (5-7-1) improved to 3-2 under interim coach Gregg Williams, who needed just five games to match former Browns coach Hue Jackson’s win total over two-plus seasons. PACKERS 34, FALCONS 20 >> Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdown passes and set an NFL record for interception-free football, and the Packers won their first game under interim head coach Joe Philbin. Rodgers’ TD pass that made it 27-7 gave the Cal product 359 consecutive attempts without an interception, breaking the league record previously held by New England’s Brady (358 in 2010-11).
GIANTS 40, WASHINGTON 16 >> Saquon Barkley rushed for 170 yards, including a 78-yard touchdown to surpass 1,000 for the season, and Eli Manning threw for three scores. Mark Sanchez, making his first NFL start since 2015, was 6 of 14 for 38 yards and the two interceptions and didn’t have a completion longer than 10 yards.
JETS 27, BILLS 23 >> Elijah McGuire scored on a fourthand-goal run from the 1 with 1:17 remaining and rookie QB Sam Darnold engineered his first career fourth-quarter comeback.