Watch: Dolphins Pull Off Their Own Wild Immaculate Reception
Sometimes there’s just nothing in the pro football rulebook that says a weird event can’t happen, so when it does, the referees just have to shrug and, as the golfers say, “play it where it lies.”
Like, for example, this wacky play the Miami Dolphins pulled off in the third quarter of their 42-23 loss to the Houston Texans on Thursday night:
WHAT. JUST. HAPPENED. #FinsUp @DeVanteParker11
?: @nflnetwork + @NFLonFOX
?+?: https://t.co/DJUityQHC9 pic.twitter.com/OCjEmVKgiD— NFL (@NFL) October 26, 2018
Brock Osweiler completed a pass about 20 yards downfield to Jakeem Grant. That in itself is not unusual.
But then Grant had the ball knocked out of his hands by Houston safety Justin Reid, after which it got a soccer-esque header upfield from the helmet of the Texans’ Natrell Jamerson — finally landing 13 yards further ahead in the hands of Miami’s Devante Parker.
Parker proceeded to run for a bit of additional yardage before finally being brought down for a 46-yard gain.
Officially, it went into the scorebook as “B.Osweiler pass short left to D.Parker to HOU 30 for 46 yards (T.Mathieu),” but that is why you don’t form your opinion of football plays from reading a box score.
On the ensuing first down in Houston territory, Miami could gain only seven additional yards — on two mediocre run plays of 3 and 4 yards and an incomplete pass on third down — and they therefore had to settle for a field goal.
And while it had neither the impact nor the import, one naturally draws a comparison to the “Immaculate Reception” during the 1972 playoffs, in which the Steelers’ Franco Harris grabbed a ball that had deflected into his hands, keeping a drive alive that led to a 13-7 Pittsburgh victory.
The differences should be obvious, but the parallel is certainly there.
You’ve got a pass that goes through the hands of the original target.
You’ve got a ball that ricochets off a guy who otherwise made a great defensive play and goes flying several yards away.
Time travel is the only explanation
— RickyO (@rickyolshansky) October 26, 2018
And finally, you’ve got a guy making an improbable catch.
The difference, of course, is that Harris scored a touchdown that gave his team the win in a playoff game, while Parker’s catch was a minor curiosity in a game his team, which is unlikely to make the playoffs, ended up losing in a blowout.
But man, was it ever one for the ages on the highlight reel. You don’t see this kind of confluence of events very often.
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