American football has arrived in Madrid this Sunday to stay. Not only because the NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell, promised to return to Spain next year, but because the game between Miami Dolphins and Washington Commanders, without big stars, without drunks touchdowngave the Santiago Bernabéu, packed with 78,610 spectators, a thriller. The destiny of a sport that can change the script with every joke. As happened seven days ago in Berlin, it was extra time that decided the match, to the relief of Florida, who kept their season alive with their fourth victory – out of seven defeats – thanks to a kick from Riley Patterson that closed out a 16-13 victory. An idyllic conclusion to his mission to become Latin ambassador and a good reason to return.
The match was the excuse for a day of protest for American football. There were proud delegations of fans of both teams, a battle that the Dolphins won by an overwhelming majority, but the city, from the subway to the outskirts of the stadium, was a parade of jerseys of every color, from Tom Brady’s Patriots – the quarterback most successful – to Mahomes’ Chiefs, the great contemporary idol. Kilometer-long queues to watch a fireworks show and coin toss with Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane and Dan Marino, the great quarterback of Miami in the 1990s. The marriage for a day between the two meanings of the term football.
The Doplhins gave their team reasons to work by getting halfway through the first three plays, the result of two powerful runs by DeVon Achane, one of the running back most explosive in the championship. But nothing in the NFL resembles a completed pass, his first, from Tagovailoa to Waddle down the middle lane. Bad sign for the Commanders, who had just conceded 82 points in the last two games, but they contained the following sequence. Had there not been a penalty for lack of time before putting the ball into play, the Florida team would have been left empty-handed, but the whistle ended up saving them from losing possession. So him field goal de Patterson signed the first NFL points in Spain. That aggressiveness, that of risking the fourth below With the risk of giving the ball to their rival at that point, the Commanders took it cleanly, from their own field. The courage paid off, as Mariota made a short pass to Yankofff and his team ended up equalizing with another field goal. Two good possessions with consolation prize.
The Dolphins based their tactic on the runs of Achane, who gained meters on the outside to avoid the ogre of the rival defense, Bobby Wagner, in the center. His coach, Mike McDaniel, pilloried, gave his quarterback the final decision between passing or running, the so-called Run Pass Option. That freedom took him further, but Tagovailoa didn’t know how to resolve the third below: He was hounded by the defense and Miami once again had to settle for three points. Washington’s bet was on pace, an attack that chose the improvisation of not bringing the team together to decide the next action in exchange for tiring the defense by not giving it time for changes, as in handball. Anarchy for an anarchic passerby like Mariota, happy in the chaos, but unable to break the last barrier. After missing his previous shot, Matt Gay found the woodwork at the half-time buzzer and scored a tasteless equalizer at six of the break.
Washington put its best game on the board with a great result guide to uncork the second part, the fruit of its three point guard. Mariota, releasing the ball in time under the pressure of Miami’s hunters. Chris Rodríguez, who breaks through with a run down the middle: only a tackle on the ankle by Asthyn Davis blocks his path to the promised land. The defense focused on him, a decoy that freed Deebo Samuel to run diagonally towards the zone touchdownrendering the attack of three defenders useless. Madrid already had its photo for posterity, but it took 33 minutes to see the first one.
So the Dolphins reached the final quarter with a comeback ahead of them and two ways to approach it: slowly, with Achane’s runs, or taking risks in the air with Tagovailoa, who played another interception – the one he has the most in the NFL – throwing into double coverage, but Sainristril’s soft hands saved his life. Despite the stress, Miami signed an average of guide much compensated by the fact of having planted it on the 1-yard line of Washington, which remained without wild cards and gave up the lead in a run by Ollie Gordon, without frills: the big players who push and the running back slipping in the middle.
In the absence of points, of fireworks, there was dialectics, pure give and take. Washington’s turn again. Mariota’s improvisation, who saved himself in third place below he broke down and had the longest run of the afternoon: 44 yards. One of those summary plays with which Oregon college football dominated on its way to the number two ranking draft. With that kick his team knocks on Miami’s door again: fourth below at the one-yard line, another scoreless play. And there, on the blackboard, the quarterback It didn’t hit a target.
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The bad thing about stopping your opponent at the 1-yard line is having to go to the other 99. So Miami, in a gray game, had match ball with six minutes left. Gordon chased away the overwhelm with a healing run; credit to Tagovailoa, who changed the game in the last minute. Miami had to put the ball away two minutes later, but the returner, Sainristril, did not calibrate that oval that fell from the sky, it slipped away and the Dolphins recovered it. American football paradigm: any routine action can explode in your hands. Like those who fell due to injuries, on both sides. Miami had to move forward without risk. And Achane was the ideal player to do it. His infinite battery, those legs that never stop accelerating, have once again left his team a micron away from the touchdown with two low conquer it, but they failed.
Washington held on, coming out of its hole with two big passes from Mariota and sniffing victory from Miami’s 38-yard line. They had three plays to set up the final kick, but they didn’t. And Gay, with a challenging 56-yard effort under maximum pressure, couldn’t find the sticks. Extension. Another opportunity for Mariota, who ended up becoming an antihero. His first pass was intercepted by Jack Jones, already in the rival field. A few more runs from Achane and Patterson’s triumphant shot were enough to go straight into history.
