Fantastic ‘Phinish

The Dolphins pulled out an incredible 34-33 victory against the Patriots on the last play of the game, a 69-yard touchdown by running back Kenyan Drake that included two last-ditch laterals.

On the play, receiver Kenny Stills caught the pass from Ryan Tannehill and then tossed a lateral to DeVante Parker. The receiver then found Drake on another lateral, and the running back scampered past the entire New England defense for the game-winning score as time expired.

The play was officially ruled as a 14-yard pass to Stills with a lateral to Parker for 3 yards with a final lateral to Drake for 52 yards, totaling 69 yards on the down. It was the longest play from scrimmage to win a game with no time left on the clock since the 1970 merger.

As Drake ran into the end zone, it was Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski – who had been subbed into the game as a safety for a potential Hail Mary – who took a poor angle on what would’ve been a game-sealing tackle and served as the last line of defense for the score.

“The way it ended sucked,” Gronkowski said after the game. “I’ve never been a part of something like that. I have to make that tackle.”

Said Patriots coach Bill Belichick: “Well, yeah, they could throw it deep, or they could run the desperado-type play which is kind of like the in-between, a 20-yard pass and turn it into a desperado. Unfortunately we didn’t do a good job against it today. We obviously need to play it better, coach it better.”

Tannehill was in good spirits after the game, joking that New England “gave us the look we wanted” before the game-winning touchdown.

“I was like, ‘Gronk is on the field, we’ve got this,’ ” Tannehill said with a laugh. “It was pretty amazing.”

Tannehill later said, “Drake runs a 4.3 (40-yard dash) and Gronk probably runs a 4.6 or a 4.7. We feel good about that matchup.”

Tannehill confirmed the play is called Boise, inspired by a move that Boise State used successfully in the school’s victory over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl. Tannehill said the Dolphins occasionally practice the play during a standard practice week and said the team actually practiced it during its Friday walkthrough.

“We scored, obviously,” Tannehill joked. “The O-line wasn’t with us; it was just the skill positions. But, yeah, we ran it in the walkthrough and ironically it comes up and wins us the game. It’s pretty cool. It’s why you practice, right?”

The Patriots dropped to 9-4 and, for at least one week, were denied their 10th consecutive AFC East title. New England still has a two-game lead on the Dolphins (7-6) and will try to wrap up the division next Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“They did a great job of executing it,” Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said of the play after the game. “They got it in the hands of their fast guys. Football is a crazy game, but it should’ve never come down to that. We left a lot of points on the board.”

Brady completed 27 of 43 throws for 358 yards and three touchdowns. Gronkowski caught all eight of his targets for 107 yards and one score. But it was a series of uncharacteristic errors that doomed the Patriots.

For example, with New England easily in field goal range late in the second quarter,, Brady took a sack when the Patriots were out of timeouts. Time bled off the clock and the team missed a chance to add a chip-shot field goal before halftime. Brady later said he thought New England had one timeout left.

Also, kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed an extra point in the first quarter and a 42-yard field goal in the third period.

The loss is just the latest struggle New England has had in games in Miami late in the season. The Patriots have now lost five of their last six games to the Dolphins when playing on the road.

The path for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs became a lot more difficult for the Patriots. The Kansas City Chiefs (11-2) topped the Baltimore Ravens 27-24 in overtime to tighten their grip on the AFC’s No. 1 seed.

The Patriots dropped to 9-4 while the Dolphins moved to 7-6. The loss prevented New England from clinching its 10th consecutive AFC East title.