New England @ Miami
1 2 3 4 FINAL
#5 NEW
ENGLAND 7 7 7 0 21
#3 MIAMI 7 10 3 10 30
MIAMI – With
time running out late in the 4th quarter and his team in prime
position to take the lead despite trailing 21-23, New England’s (12-7)
LeGarrette Blount was tasked with chewing the clock and working his team into
field goal range and towards the end zone.
On a 2nd-and-4 from the Miami 6-yard line, Blount took a
vicious hit from Miami (13-6) linebacker Bobby Wagner at the line of scrimmage,
fumbling the ball. With nothing but green grass in front of him, defensive end
Courtney Upshaw scooped up the Blount fumble and ran 92-yards into the end zone
while punching his team’s ticket to Super Bowl 50.
“Surreal,”
Wagner said. “I don’t think he saw me coming – it felt good.”
After
back-to-back offensive explosions, the Miami offense was grounded against a
gritty Patriots squad playing without their leader Tom Brady.
The Miami defense gave up 379 passing yards to the Brett Hundley led attack, but were able to
pile up three takeaways and six sacks while allowing only 32 yards rushing.
“It was a
defensive game today,” Leonard Williams said. “We had to get after them – I’m
just so happy right now.”
Williams was
named the game’s Most Valuable Player with his 4-sack performance on his way to
the Super Bowl.
Now 10-1 in
their last 11 games, the Miami Dolphins will face the NFC Champion Green Bay
Packers (16-2) in Super Bowl 50 two weeks from today.
