Dolphins make the playoffs with a last-second field goal against the Cowboys
As time ran out, the Miami Dolphins’ kicker made a 29-yard field goal to seal a 22–20 win over the Cowboys from Dallas and secure a spot in the playoffs for the second straight year.
Sanders made all five of his tries, even though he had only made six of his previous sixteen kicks of more than 50 yards. His best performances were on kicks of 57, 54, and 52 yards.
“Not every year can be an all-pro year, so I think I’m still making kicks,” Sanders said. Sanders is 22-for-26 this season on field goal tries.
“I’m still precisely where I have to be—a couple blocks from here to there; I don’t think there’s everything to worry about.”
The Dolphins’ first win of the season came against a squad with a good record. This was something that was talked about a lot in the locker room.
When it comes to his team’s success against winning teams, manager Mike McDaniel has always acknowledged that it is a problem and pushed his players to fix it.
The boss for the second year said he was proud of how his team dealt with the negative things said about them.
“With the advent along with heavy push for social media, I think it’s exceedingly difficult to ignore the noise, in order to speak, whether or not you hear it,” he stated.
“I believe you will hear it… And I thought this was a big win over this team because it’s always a big deal when you do something you know you can do. It’s pretty exciting when it works out.
Tua Tagovailoa tossed for 293 yards and a score for the Dolphins, but even though they were ahead for the majority of the second half, they couldn’t get ahead of the other team. It was well known that Miami had trouble playing teams with good records.
At the end of the second quarter, he threw a score to Raheem Mostert. It was their only touchdown of the game.
In the third quarter, both teams traded field goals. Then, Dallas scored 10 straight points to take a 20–19 lead with approximately three minutes left in the game.
Sanders then kicked the game-winning field goal after Tagovailoa led a 12-play, 64-yard drive. On that drive, he completed 4-of-5 passes for 31 yards.
There were 16 seconds left on the clock when Tagovailoa took a knee. He said he didn’t even see Sanders’ kick go through the uprights.
“Man, that’s cool, but we’ll be not done yet.” Chubb said, “We’re not even close to where we want to be.”
Sanders also kicked a 50-yard attempt against the Jets of the NFL in 2022, which helped Miami make the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
“We missed a lot of plays, and championship clubs don’t miss plays like that. It’s good to finally get over that story hump and change the story to fit what we want it to be as well as how we want to handle everything.”
It’s been sick to see this team work together and not care about the doubters or outsiders. We just do what we do and prepare every week like we’re a title team.
As time ran out, the Miami Dolphins’ kicker made a 29-yard field goal to seal a 22–20 win throughout the Dallas Cowboys and secure a spot in the playoffs for the second straight year.
Sanders also kicked a 50-yard field goal against the New York Jets in 2022, which helped Miami make the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
The Dolphins’ late-game win sent them to the playoffs for the second year in a row. But the win could mean even more for a team that had a lot of doubts about its place among the NFL’s best before the game.
The Dolphins (11-4) came into Week 16 with a record of 0-3 against teams with good records.
Coach Mike McDaniel knew that was something the team couldn’t avoid, but they also couldn’t let it get in the way of their focus in a game that felt like the playoffs.
McDaniel said, “I think the experience to feed players has changed, especially since I’ve been to the National Football League, with the rise and heavy use of social media.”
And at this point, late Sunday afternoon, Miami had fallen behind a 19-10 lead going into the fourth quarter.
“I feel like it’s really hard to cut out the noise, if you will.” I believe you will hear it. People must know what the things we can’t do because they can’t live without them.
The win kept the Dolphins (11-4) on track to win the AFC East if they beat the Baltimore Ravens to Week 17 or the Buffalo Bills lost to the New England Patriots.
The winner of the game in Baltimore on New Year’s Eve becomes the No. 1 seed in the AFC going into Week 18. This made Miami’s game on Christmas Eve against Dallas, which will advance to the playoffs, even more important.
With four minutes left on “Monday Night Football,” the Dolphins were ahead by 14 points against the Tennessee Titans.
However, they lost by just one point, which led to more questions as well as criticism of the team.