DENVER — Main 10-7 with lower than two minutes left within the AFC title sport, Josh McDaniels scanned his name sheet for the play that may ship the Patriots to the Tremendous Bowl.
He landed on an out of doors zone run.
It was a primary play, the place Drake Maye would hand the ball off proper to Rhamondre Stevenson, who would then run behind his fullback, Jack Westover. In the meantime, the offensive line would transfer in unison on the line of scrimmage because it moved Denver’s protection laterally, letting Stevenson choose his operating lane of option to convert this third-and-5 close to midfield.
However Maye had different concepts.
On the snap, Maye turned proper into the backfield however by no means took his palms off the ball. As Stevenson opened his arms, Maye peeled the opposite manner and broke from the play design.
“I hit my block, and all of the defenders began operating the opposite manner,” Pats heart Garret Bradbury stated. “I’m like, ‘What? Oh my God.’”
4 seconds and 7 yards later, Maye crossed the first-down marker on the Patriots’ sideline. His little secret had clinched the AFC title.
“After the sport, Drake’s like, ‘I debated telling you guys if I used to be gonna (maintain) it or not. However I simply determined to not,” Bradbury stated.”
Replaying the ultimate drive, Bradbury admitted most of his focus was on merely snapping the ball. He was nervous he would botch a snap and trigger a fumble. Bradbury referred to as the snow and wind that dominated Sunday’s second half “the worst situations I’ve ever performed in.”
However ultimately, he had one of the best end he may have requested for — even when he didn’t see it coming.
“I’m anticipating Rhamondre to try to hit a gap. And I flip round, Drake’s over there with the ball, and I’m like, ‘Go, go, go!’ As a result of we didn’t know.’”
