Week 9 in the NFL delivered a strange little slice of history in Detroit’s 19-9 win over Miami, and it didn’t come from either offense. It came from the punters.
For just the second time since 1950, both teams’ punters completed a pass in the same game, a feat not seen since 1981. The Lions and Dolphins pulled off the rare double on Sunday, turning an otherwise quiet offensive afternoon into something the league hadn’t witnessed in 45 years.
Detroit’s Jack Fox got the sequence rolling in the second quarter when the Lions lined up for a fake punt. Fox handled the throw and connected on an 11-yard pass, giving the home side the first half of the oddity.
Miami answered in the fourth quarter with a fake punt of its own, and Bradley Pinion made it count in a bigger way. Pinion hit Keytron Allen for a 46-yard completion, locking the Dolphins into the same bit of NFL trivia as the Lions.
The last time it happened was in a 1981 game between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions.
The rest of the afternoon was far less lively. Miami quarterback Malik Willis went 13 of 25 for 128 yards, with no touchdowns, one interception and three sacks. Jared Goff also had a tough day for Detroit, finishing with 170 passing yards, no touchdowns, one interception and three sacks.
Still, the Lions found enough to win and move to 6-2. Miami dropped to 1-7.
Detroit now heads to Week 10 against the New England Patriots, who are 5-4, in Munich, Germany. The Dolphins will try to regroup on the road against the Indianapolis Colts, who are 2-7.
The scoreline was ordinary. The history was not.
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