The anatomy of ‘Mountaineer shot’: How Dolphins fooled Philly with their own special play
All Taybor Pepper could do was laugh when he heard the admittedly preposterous bit of history the Miami Dolphins accomplished Sunday. Their touchdown pass from Matt Haack, a punter, to Jason Sanders, a kicker, marked the first time since 1977 a kicker caught a touchdown pass.
The long snapper cackled and clapped his hands. The Dolphins had just beaten the Philadelphia Eagles, 37-31, on Sunday in Miami Gardens for their most impressive win of the season and “Mountaineer shot,” the history-making trick play, was one of the biggest reasons why.
“We felt like that was a good time to run it,” coach Brian Flores said, and it gave us a spark.”
The 1-yard touchdown — Haack’s first NFL completion and Sanders’ first catch at any level — put the Dolphins (3-9) ahead 14-13 in the second quarter. It was the second of three fourth downs Miami converted and was a legitimate seven-point swing to keep the Dolphins’ within a touchdown at halftime after the Eagles (5-7) answered with a touchdown to take a 21-14 lead at the break.
It was one of those plays Miami had been waiting weeks for the chance to run. Tight end Mike Gesicki said the Dolphins started working on it about two months ago and have been waiting weeks for the right opportunity to arise. Sunday finally presented such an opportunity.
A third-and-goal pass from Philadelphia’s 1-yard line fell incomplete, so Miami trotted its field-goal team out to the field and then everyone scrambled. Five players ran left to bunch near one sideline. Four others ran right to bunch up near the other. Haack stood alone behind center Daniel Kilgore with two Eagles defenders staring him down from across the line of scrimmage.
Haack took the snap and faked a toss to his right and then he darted left. Four of the five players moved left, too. The only exception was Sanders, who hesitated, found a gap in Philadelphia’s defense and sneaked through. Three Eagles defenders rushed toward Haack and the punter could float Sanders a pass so easy he was beaming from ear to ear even before it left his hand.
“They gave us, honestly, exactly what we planned for,” Haack said.
The fake toss to the right pulled one of the two defenders lined up across from Kilgore out of the play and the offensive lineman handled the other — the play is called “Mountaineer shot” because Kilgore is a former Appalachian State Mountaineer. Three defenders followed a fake screen on the left sideline, leaving three others to account for Haack and Sanders. None of the three followed Sanders as he leaked into the end zone. Haack could float a pass an easy pass in for a touchdown.
He’s not exactly sure whether it was a no-look throw.
“Honestly, I don’t think so,” Haack said. “It might have been just from how fast it happened.”
The gutsy call was just the latest in a line of gutsy calls by special teams coordinator Danny Crossman. In an October loss to the Buffalo Bills, Haack ran for a first down on a fake punt attempt. Last month, the Dolphins successfully executed a surprise onside kick in another loss to the Bills.
The gutsy call was Crossman distilled to his mad-scientist essence.
“Danny Crossman is crazy. Like what is he dreaming up? This is the NFL,” quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said. “Like, that’s not—that doesn’t happen.”
Something like it hadn’t happened since the AFL-NFL merger. The last time a kicker and punter linked up for a touchdown pass was in 1964, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Sanders said Haack gets to keep the ball — “Matt did everything,” he said — because the play hinged largely on Miami’s confidence in him. The specialist actually had thrown a pass before Sunday — he threw an interception as a rookie in 2017 — and he was 1 of 1 for 27 yards with the Arizona State Sun Devils. Haack said he grew up playing quarterback and running back, and he threw some passes as a wide receiver at Dowling Catholic High School in West Des Moines, Iowa.
Haack said this doesn’t make him the emergency quarterback — “I think we’d be in trouble,” he joked — but his throw Sunday was good enough to help the Dolphins score a stunning win at Hard Rock Stadium.
“Kickers and punters are people, too. Those are athletes, too,” defensive tackle Christian Wilkins said, sporting a grin as big as Haack’s. “I’m tired of them getting disrespected. Those guys are athletes.”
This story was originally published December 1, 2019 at 6:36 PM.
