The Sunday post-game column typically focuses on individual praise, criticisms, and a general opinion on the individual performances from my vantage point on the couch.

Not today.

Never before, in the history of the franchise, have the Dolphins won a game with an offensive touchdown and no time remaining on the clock.

After the most miraculous come-from-behind win in Miami Dolphins history, and the most memorable trip of my entire life, I want to take this time to give a full recount of the day.

From my alarm clock awaking me from a deep slumber, to Kenyan Drake rushing towards the corner of the end zone adjacent to the press box, this is a story about the greatest sports memory I’ve ever witnessed.

The buzz from last Sunday’s thrilling finish had worn completely off as I fashioned my press pass to my belt. The expectation of a season-ending loss, at the hands of our own personal tormenter for the past two decades, gave this game more of a workman like feel.

We went down to the Fans Unite Tailgate event at 10:30 and were quickly washed away by a heavy South Florida downpour.

After it quickly cleared, we made our way back to the press box and watched the teams loosen up while enjoying one of the many amenities afforded to the press by the Miami Dolphins, a top-shelf buffet style meal.

Inactives rolled in, the quarterbacks began throwing routes on air, and the stadium filled up – mostly with Patriots fans.

Any time the visitors entered or exited the tunnel on the northwest side of the field, a roar of cheers serenaded the Band from Boston.

Those cheers continued on past the 1 o’clock hour as the Patriots marched down the field on a 12-play touchdown drive.

Miami answered back in a flash with a scoring drive on just five plays, including a 13-yard scamper from Ryan Tanenhill on a QB-keep.

The flow of the game continued on throughout the first half to the tune seven lead changes in the game’s first 30 minutes. All things told, the contest would see a different team seize the lead nine times – the most for either of these storied franchises.

The game appeared to turn when Ryan Tannehill left the field after having his foot stepped on by an offensive lineman to close out the first half. Tannehill walked very slowly to the home tunnel giving the fans a thumbs up gesture as he exited stage left.

Tannehill mentioned post-game that he had an X-ray on the foot/ankle and it came back clean. “It sucked. It hurt a lot,” the Dolphins QB said after fielding numerous questions regarding the final play of the game.

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the day came when Tom Brady took a sack in scoring range with no timeouts and 10 seconds on the game clock prior to the half time break.

Brady admitted that he thought the Patriots had a timeout – a mistake not often seen by a 19-year-veteran and arguably the best to ever do it.

There was a buzz about the press box, both negative from the Patriots massive contingency, and positive from the Dolphins beat.

The botched opportunity opened the door for a Miami team that needed some breaks to pick off a red-hot football team.

The opposite occurred, however. Darren Rizzi’s elite special teams unit had its worst day of the year with two blocked punts. Making a halftime adjustment to adopt a rugby-style punting game, Miami put their deficiencies to bed

I asked Gase how much time the team put into working on the rugby-style punt operation.

“I mean we’ve been working on it all year. That was the first time it really kind of came up.”

I asked Gase a question…. about punt team. pic.twitter.com/Ge8WNroYlr — Travis Wingfield (@WingfieldNFL) December 9, 2018

While the special teams tightened some things up, the offense bogged down. Kenny Stills was the whipping boy of the media room, and rightfully so, after he slid down short of the sticks (which eventually led to a punt).

Stills’ drop on a crucial 3rd and 4 on the next series brought about even more groans, greeted by even more displeasure from the fans when Gase opted to punt the ball back to Brady.

Everyone had seen this movie play out too many times, and that’s exactly what happened.

But what no one had ever seen, was a 69-yard lateral play in which three Dolphins touched the football after Tannehill threw the rock, capped off by Drake’s miracle dash over the goal line.

“OH MY GOD!” This phrase was being repeated on loop by the Dolphins and Patriots reporters alike. After a brief review, the officials deemed the touchdown good and we headed straight down to the tunnel.

Players, as you can imagine, were hootin’ and hollerin’ throughout the concourse. Staffers, fans, media, there was an electricity I’d never seen before at a sport event.

We rushed directly down to the Patriots press room, and in came Bill Belichick. Salty, sour, instantly fed up with the paralyzing fear he inflicted on everyone in that tiny 10×10 concrete room, Belichick was a kid who just had his candy snatched from his hand.

Then, it was off to the Dolphins press room to hear from a much kinder-than-normal Adam Gase.

Finally, we moved next door to the locker room to catch the guys in their celebration. Chants of “TED! TED! TED!” rained down as the linemen, receivers, and Ryan Tannehill showed their appreciation for the embattled guard’s (Ted Larsen) ability to get downfield on that final play.

Kenny Stills was doing a live television hit. Kenyan Drake was setting up shop with Kim Bokamper for an exclusive interview, and Davon Godchaux had just retweeted one of my tweets, so I approached him.

I asked Davon about his leadership role growing and the growth he has felt from year-one to year-two. He praised Cam Wake for teaching he and the younger guys how to play and conduct themselves as professionals. (We’ll have this audio on tonight’s recap podcast).

He doubled down on the same answer everyone else gave – nobody had ever been a part of a game with a finish that inconceivable.

Finally, we went back into the Dolphins press room and heard Cam Wake and Ryan Tannehill take the podium.

Wake highlighted the work on every play and how the final miracle doesn’t occur without some efforts from earlier – notably the red zone stop at the end of the first half.

Then, very gingerly, Tannehill took the podium. He talked about some of the stress tests the team put him through regarding rolling out, escaping pressure, and some of the other requirements of playing in this scheme.

The Dolphins, after running it twice, didn’t use any more zone-read-QB-keepers the rest of the day.

Then it was back to the press box to write this piece. The usual suspects of the beat writing crew were all in the elevator expressing the gravity of what they just witnessed.

It was a day, a game, and a trip I will never forget. And as for ending on a high note, it’s impossible to beat the fashion in which Miami took its fifth game from the Pats in this building in the last six tries.

And with the Ravens and Broncos both going down on Sunday, Miami are very much a threat to make a post-season push.

@WingfieldNFL