FOXBORO, MA — The Christmas season is the season of miracles, and had the Patriots been granted one on Sunday, it could have put quite a twist on how their season ended.
After heading back to the locker room nearly 40 minutes earlier, both teams were called back out to play out what the officials had ruled to be :03 seconds that were left following an incomplete pass by Drew Bledsoe that had earlier been ruled a fumble as time expired. With playoff implications on the line for Miami, the officials decided that they couldn’t just “shrug off” the game and that both teams had to play out that last play.
That play had the potential to go down as one of the most memorable in Patriots history.
Both teams came back out and took the field to play out that last play, with many on the Dolphins’ sideline dressed in towels. The stands were empty with less than 100 fans on hand to witness the bizarre end to the Patriots’ season, and had things transpired just a bit differently, they may have been the only ones to witness first hand what could have been a dramatic change to a season that instead ended in a whimper for New England.
Two years ago, the Patriots were able to get a pass interference call at the end of a home game against the division rival Buffalo Bills, which saw a loss instead become a win for New England. With no time remaining on the clock, quarterback Drew Bledsoe threw a touchdown pass to former tight end Ben Coates to steal a victory for the Patriots, and with Buffalo refusing to come back out, kicker Adam Vinatieri carried the ball into the endzone uncontested for a two-point conversion.
If Michael Bishop’s pass attempt at the end of Sunday’s game had drawn such a penalty, it would have given the Patriots a chance to kick a field goal to send the game into overtime, as well as send those Dolphins players scrambling back into the locker room to take off their “AFC East Champions” hats and put back on their helmets and shoulder pads.
Unfortunately, things didn’t pan out that way, but had that final play turned out in New England’s favor, it could have given Patriot Nation something to discuss other than the bizarre end to their team’s disappointing 2000 campaign.
Belichick said after the game that initially, the officials didn’t want to drag the players back out onto the field because they felt it was a danger to the players’ safety. They felt that since many of them weren’t taped and that they had already cooled down, the risk of injuries far outweighed the necessity to re-take the field for one last play. But with the playoff implications that were looming on the outcome of the game, they decided that both teams had to return to the field.
Most likely the officials would have given both teams the opportunity to go through their full warm ups for that overtime, and it could have made things interesting for a team that finished 5-11 that probably will have many new names and faces walking around in the locker room next season.
Had that overtime taken place, only the small number of fans that were left would have been the ones to witness a possible historic event. Instead, they were sent home shaking their heads, wondering the same thing that they’ve dealt with during nine Patriots’ losses this season of 8 points or less.
What If……
Unfortunately, they’ll have the entire offseason to wonder.
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Ian Logue is a Seacoast native and owner and senior writer for PatsFans.com, an independent media site covering the New England Patriots and has been running this site in one form or another since 1997.
