By Lisa Johnson //@LJ1303
On a day where the Miami Dolphins honored the NFL 100 greatest football team in history, the 1972 perfect season Dolphins, the Cincinnati Bengals came to town, sporting the worst record in the NFL this season.
The Dolphins looked to secure their 4th win of the season, starting strong, taking the opening drive 11 plays for 75 yards with Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick hitting defensive end, Christian Wilkins, for the 1-yard score.
The Dolphins would then go on to score on their next possession, which saw wide receiver Devante Parker earn his first-ever 1,000-yard receiving season. From there, the Dolphins looked to be rolling to an easy win.
With Miami out to comfortable lead late into the fourth quarter, the Bengals needed to score, which they did, and then convert a two-point conversion, which they also did. Not all was lost yet because Cincinnati then needed to recover an onside kick, which.. they did.
Now they needed to score again with 5 seconds left throwing a hail mail. Yep, you guessed it, they did. Now they needed another two-point conversion… you get where I’m going with this. In a matter of 3 minutes, Miami found themselves in overtime with arguably the worst team in football right now.
So what were everyone’s first thoughts? I can tell you what social media thought. If the Giants beat the Redskins, and the Dolphins drop this to the Bengals, Miami would likely be in the number two draft position spot in the 2020 draft. Ohio State’s defensive end Chase Young would just fall into the Dolphins laps. Social media was a buzz.
Me, I sat there wondering just how this all happened. Looking around the stadium at fans who honestly didn’t look to distraught. The draft scenarios filled the media room. What happens if this game ends in a tie? What happens if the Redskins and Giants tie?
First things first, however, Miami still had a game to win. After exchanging possessions in overtime, the Dolphins with 3 minutes left put themselves well within field goal range. As kicker Jason Sanders lined for the winning field goal, several media members asked if the crowd was cheering for a miss or if they were cheering for a win? So as the ball sailed through the upright, I secretly gave a little fist pump to celebrate the WIN, but I was wondering, however, just what was going through some fans heads.
So as I exited the stadium after all the post-game presser, I asked some fans that were still hanging around the stadium how did they feet about the win? I have to say, the most popular answer was happiness that Miami won, but they wouldn’t have been heartbroken if they had lost. So looks like it would have been ok with most fans either way.
The Miami Dolphins as of right now hold the 5th pick in the 2020 draft, and could move to 4th depending on the Detroit Lions – Green Bay Packers game, which the Lions are not favored to win.
Miami is off to New England for their final game of the season.
Talk Dolphins with Lisa on Twitter @LJ1303
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