A perfect lateral to a 300-pound lineman nearly kept the Patriots' comeback alive vs. Dolphins

The New England Patriots were trying to avoid an 0-2 start. The Miami Dolphins were trying to avoid letting an offensive lineman run for a first down against them. Somehow, in the final minute of Sunday night’s game, these two worlds crashed into each other.

A missed Jason Sanders 55-yard field goal gave the Patriots new life trailing 24-17 with 2:14 to play at Gillette Stadium. While Mac Jones had thrown a damaging interception deep in Dolphins territory one quarter earlier, he’d composed himself long enough to make New England a looming threat. But a sack and an incompletion brought up third-and-18 with the game on the line. Jones was able to find tight end Mike Gesicki for 14 yards that play, it wasn’t enough for a new set of downs.

So the embattled quarterback went right back to his trusty target on fourth down, only for Gesicki to get stuck in a strong open-field tackle by Bradley Chubb. Seeing the writing on the wall, a stuck-in-neutral Gesicki pitched the ball backward to the first man in Pat Patriot throwbacks he saw charging upfield. That was 300-pound guard Cole Strange, who plucked the ball out of the air, rumbled headfirst into a swarm of Miami defenders, then crashed forward for what officials ruled a first down on the field.

WOW THE PITCH!

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— NFL (@NFL) September 18, 2023

It was beautiful, but it was not meant to be. Strange was ruled short upon review, ceding the ball to the Dolphins as a turnover on downs and effectively ending the game.

But this play absolutely should have invoked the football rule of cool. If it looks rad enough, it counts. And this play had something for everyone (except maybe Dolphins fans).

Needless to say, fans and analysts were shocked by the heads up play — and a little bummed it didn’t amount to anything.