With the Dolphins trailing the Patriots 28-17 in the fourth quarter on Sunday, Miami went for it on fourth-and-11 at their own 38-yard line. At that point in the game, it was clear: Either the Dolphins needed to pick up the first down, or they were going to lose.
They didn’t pick up the first down when a pass to Jarvis Landry was incomplete. They lost. But Landry felt that he caught the ball, and he was upset that coach Adam Gase didn’t throw his challenge flag.
“I think we were in the position then where it really didn’t matter,” Landry said. “We didn’t have s--- to lose. Throw the flag and see what happens. Go from there. You know, we didn’t have anything to lose. We’re giving the ball up on our side of the field. Something that could potentially turn in our favor. Who knows? We didn’t have anything to lose. We should have just threw the flag.”
Gase didn’t challenge because the video appeared to show that the officials on the field got the call right. The pass was incomplete.
But Landry raises a good point: What did the Dolphins have to lose? The league’s officiating office has made some strange reversals on replay this season. Who’s to say they wouldn’t have made another strange reversal on that play? When it’s a play the Dolphins absolutely needed, it was a risk worth taking.