Weekend In Review – NFL Wild Finishes, College Football, Soccer And More

Review All The Games From The Weekend Highs and lows were abundant in the NFL on Sunday, with amazing finishes in Miami and Oakland. The Miami Dolphins (7-6) stunned...

Review All The Games From The Weekend

Highs and lows were abundant in the NFL on Sunday, with amazing finishes in Miami and Oakland.

The Miami Dolphins (7-6) stunned the New England Patriots (9-4) by winning 34-33, scoring on one of those desperate lateral plays that never seem to work. Kenyan Drake went 52 yards with a lateral from Devante Parker to complete the 69-yard play as time expired. It is the longest touchdown from scrimmage to win a game with no time remaining in the fourth quarter since the 1970 merger.

The Oakland Raiders (3-10) outlasted the Pittsburgh Steelers 24-21 as Chris Boswell slipped on his game-tying field goal attempt and the kick was blocked. The Steelers (7-5-1) have lost three straight.

Two games went to overtime. The Kansas City Chiefs improved to 11-2 by beating the Baltimore Ravens 27-24; the Ravens are 7-6. And the Dallas Cowboys (8-5) won their fifth straight as Amari Cooper carried a deflected pass into the end zone for the winning score in a 29-23 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles (6-7).

The Washington Redskins continued to unravel, losing their fourth straight. The home 40-16 beating by the New York Giants (5-8) also marked the debut of their fourth quarterback this season, journeyman Josh Johnson as the Redskins benched Mark Sanchez. The Redskins are 6-7.

Odd Stat:
Tampa Bay tight end Cameron Brate had only two catches, but both went for touchdowns in the Buccaneers’ 28-14 loss to the New Orleans Saints (11-2). The Bucs are 5-8.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady threw three TD passes in the loss to the Dolphins and has 582 for his career, making him the NFL’s all-time leader.

College Football:
Oklahoma junior quarterback Kyler Murray, who plans on playing professional baseball in the Oakland A’s organization where he was a first-round pick, won the Heisman Trophy on Saturday night in New York. He’s the second straight Sooners QB (following Baker Mayfield) to win the award.

Army defeated Navy 17-10 for its third straight victory in the 119-year-old series. Army (10-2) will finish its season with a bowl game against Houston; Navy wrapped up at 3-10.

Soccer:
Atlanta United brought the city its first championship in 23 years in only its second year of existence, defeating the Portland Timbers 2-0 for the MLS Cup on Saturday night in Atlanta. The 73.019 crowd set a record for the Major League Soccer title game. Atlanta’s last championship came from baseball’s Braves in 1995.

The University of Maryland won the NCAA’s men’s College Cup, defeating Akron 1-0 on Sunday. It is Maryland’s fourth national soccer title.

Elsewhere:
Vasiliy Lomachenko unified two world lightweight titles at Madison Square Garden with a unanimous decision over Jose Pedraza. Lomachenko knocked Pedraza down twice in the 11th round.

In men’s college basketball, Seton Hall upset No. 9 Kentucky 84-83 in overtime. No. 2 Kansas survived a strong effort by New Mexico State and held off the Aggies 63-60.

Major League Baseball’s Today’s Game Era Committee selected standout reliever Lee Smith and outfielder Harold Baines for induction in to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman