Patriots’ mistake was playing for Hail Mary on final play

The Miami Dolphins’ miracle win over the New England Patriots was aided by what proved to be a costly mistake by the Patriots.

With just seven seconds remaining in regulation, and down 33-28, the Dolphins went into their bag of tricks to pull out a miraculous victory. Twitter had fun with the moment afterward, but had the Patriots approached the situation differently, the outcome may not have been the same.

New England decided to prepare for a Hail Mary even though Miami would have needed to make approximately a 75-yard pass to reach the end zone. Throwing a Hail Mary from so far away was unrealistic, which is why Miami went with the hook and ladder instead. Defending for the Hail Mary meant bringing Rob Gronkowski onto the field to play defense. That backfired when Gronk was left on the field to try and tackle Kenyan Drake, who scored the winning touchdown.

After the game, Gronkowski talked about the Patriots’ approach to the final play.

Gronk says the Patriots were playing for the Hail Mary, not the lateral play pic.twitter.com/qvXIecIhJX

— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) December 9, 2018

The decision by New England was questioned by some, including Bill Simmons, who thought it was one of the worst decisions of the Bill Belichick era.

Putting Gronk out as a safety just in case a one-legged Tannehill can throw a 75-yards-in-the-air Hail Mary also might be the dumbest moment of the Belichick era.

— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) December 9, 2018

There haven’t been many times a Bill Belichick decision has been questioned and criticized. Sunday’s will definitely be on what is a short list.