Dolphins stun Raiders as Ryan Fitzpatrick steps in for Tua Tagovailoa
The Miami Dolphins wanted a spark.
They turned to the previous dependable not solely for that spark, however to keep up management of the playoff race.
And Ryan Fitzpatrick produced FitzMagic as soon as extra.
Fitzpatrick, who final performed Nov. 29 in opposition to the Jets, got here off the bench in reduction of an ineffective Tua Tagovailoa on Saturday evening in opposition to the Las Vegas Raiders to guide a stunning 26-25 victory.
Jason Sanders kicked a 44-yard discipline objective with one second left for the profitable factors. It was arrange when Fitzpatrick, in desperation mode, hit Mack Hollins for a 34-yard completion. On the play, the Raiders’ Arden Key was known as for roughing Fitzpatrick, yanking his helmet practically off with a blatant facemask. That moved the ball to the Miami 26-yard line and clearing the best way for the sector objective.
Tagovailoa had accomplished 17-of-22 passes for simply 94 yards, a mean of simply 5.5 yards per completion. With the offense caught in impartial all evening, coach Brian Flores turned to Fitzpatrick down 16-13 with 9:47 left. Fitzpatrick responded by going 9-of-13 for 182 yards and a TD.
Fitzpatrick promptly led Miami on a 13-play, 84-yard drive. But it was solely for a 22-yard discipline objective by Jason Sanders as a result of Hollins dropped a possible 3-yard landing move from Fitzpatrick.
The fireworks have been simply beginning, with Hollins taking part in a starring position.
Derek Carr launched a deep ball to Nelson Agholor, who was hand-fighting with Byron Jones and gained simply sufficient separation to haul in the ball. Agholor then eluded Bobby McCain to finish an 85-yard landing for a 22-16 lead after the additional level failed, which might show to be enormous.
Thankfully for the Dolphins, Fitzpatrick was simply warming up.
On the subsequent collection, he hit Myles Gaskin, who was coming back from accidents and the COVID-19 record. Gaskin turned it upfield, getting blocks from Mike Gesicki and Hollins, to show it right into a 59-yard landing for a 23-22 lead with 2:55 left.
But on the Raiders’ ensuing collection Byron Jones was penalized 49 yards for interfering with Agholor after his proper handcrafted what gave the impression to be slight contact with Agholor’s shoulder. That gave the Raiders a primary down on Miami’s 22. Later, on third-and-1, linebacker Kyle Van Noy made a pricey impartial zone infraction, handing the Raiders a primary down. The Raiders then milked the clock earlier than kicking a 22-yard discipline objective for what gave the impression to be the profitable factors with 22 seconds left.
The Dolphins (10-5) end the common season subsequent Sunday at Buffalo, the place a win would guarantee them a playoff berth.
