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Patriots and Dolphins Trade Kick Return TDs on Back to Back Wild Plays

Malik Washington and Antonio Gibson traded spectacular returns on Sunday.

Tyler Lauletta

Antonio Gibson took off for an unbelievable kickoff return touchdown against the Dolphins.
Antonio Gibson took off for an unbelievable kickoff return touchdown against the Dolphins. / @Patriots / X
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Even in the most dominant days of the Tom Brady era, the Dolphins always found a way to make things interesting against the Patriots.

Now years removed from those glory days, New England and Miami still have a knack for getting weird.

On Sunday, the weirdness came in the form of the special teams units trading haymakers. When the Patriots were forced to punt from their own end zone, Malik Washington reeled in the ball around the Miami 25-yard line.

After a slight bobble, Washington spun out of two different tackles and broke free towards the left sideline. Patriots punter Bryce Baringer made a heroic effort to bring him down, but Washington broke free from that one too, and found pay dirt, giving the Dolphins a 27–23 lead,

Not to be outdone, Patriots return man Antonio Gibson pulled off his own stunner on the ensuing kickoff. Gibson looked similarly stuffed momentarily, before breaking free just like Washington and scooting to the end zone. 30–27, Patriots.

The NFL changed its kickoff rules in the offseason to encourage more thrilling return plays. So far, it’s working.

The Patriots went on to win the game, 33-27.

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Tyler Lauletta
TYLER LAULETTA

Tyler Lauletta is a staff writer for the Breaking and Trending News Team/team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI, he covered sports for nearly a decade at Business Insider, and helped design and launch the OffBall newsletter. He is a graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia, and remains an Eagles and Phillies sicko. When not watching or blogging about sports, Tyler can be found scratching his dog behind the ears.

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