Sportsnaut
The New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins took part in a thrilling AFC East showdown on Sunday. It was a back-and-forth affair, but the Patriots were able to pull away and leave Miami with a 33-27 victory.
The win snapped a long losing streak for the Patriots, who had not won in Miami since the pre-COVID days. The defense was still shaky, at best, but the offense looked much better than it did in Week 1. In total, the Patriots gained 333 total yards of offense and Drake Maye accounted for three touchdowns.
However, something incredibly rare happened in the fourth quarter of this game, and it’s now guaranteed that this game won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
With the Dolphins in a 23-20 hole, speedy Malik Washington fielded a punt and ran it all the way back for a 74-yard score. It put the Dolphins back in front with a 27-23 lead. However, that lead wouldn’t last for very long.
On the very next play, Antonio Gibson of the Patriots returned the kickoff back for a 90-yard score. This put the Patriots back up 30-27, and the team would later add a field goal to win by six points.
ESPN’s Mike Reiss pointed out after the game that this was just the second time in NFL history that a punt return touchdown was immediately followed by a kick return touchdown. The only other time this happened was in a 1992 matchup of Atlanta vs. Washington.
This was also the first game since 2008 (Patriots vs. Raiders) that featured a punt or kick return touchdown on consecutive plays, and was the first game since 2018 (Dolphins vs Titans) that featured multiple return touchdowns of 70 yards or more in the fourth quarter.
What else would you expect from a Dolphins-Patriots matchup in South Beach? The Patriots improved to 1-1 on the season while the Dolphins to 0-2.
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