– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY — Despite manning his position at safety and defending a Hail Mary attempt at the end of the first half of today’s contest, Miami Dolphins safety Jevon Holland started to have flashbacks of the one play during his college football days at Oregon that he wished he would have put a perfect finish on.
Five years on, and Holland got his redemption in the pros, and in doing so, produced one of the most unconventional touchdowns in National Football League history.
Holland turned a New York Hail Mary pass on the final play of the first half into a slaloming, coast-to-coast 99-yard pick-six, the backbreaking play during the Dolphins’ 34-13 victory over the Jets inside MetLife Stadium in the NFL’s first-ever game on Black Friday. Tyreek Hill caught a touchdown pass earlier in the second quarter while running back Raheem Mostert rushed for two fourth-quarter scores as the Dolphins recovered nicely from an uneven first half, highlighted by two interceptions thrown by Tua Tagovailoa, to cruise to their second consecutive victory.
The second of Tagovailoa’s interceptions, a pick by cornerback D.J. Reed near midfield, immediately preceded the near unthinkable that Holland took full advantage of. Starting in place of the ineffective Zach Wilson, who was benched after another poor performance last weekend in Buffalo, Jets quarterback Tim Boyle launched a prayer of a pass down the field that was cradled by Holland at the goal line, and as the first-half clock read 0:00, Holland ran into open space down the middle of the field before using a few of his defensive linemen down the field as lead blockers to weave his way into the end zone.
The unlikeliest of scores gave the Dolphins a 17-6 lead at the break, plunging most of the MetLife Stadium crowd into a state of disbelief and all but ending the competitive nature of the contest.
Holland, a premier return man during his college days at the University of Oregon, had thoughts about a long punt return he nearly took for a touchdown during a 2019 season-opening game against Auburn replaying in his mind as he traversed down the field and into history, recording the longest pick-six for a score for Miami since the 2022 season.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday afternoon’s game, with all photos taken by New York-area photographer Scott Rausenberger. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 23 pictures in total.
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