Mon, Nov 23, 1998
This 1998 game between the Patriots and the Dolphins came at a crossroads for the New England Patriots franchise. Multiple injuries had helped drop the Patriots from a 4-1 season start to 5-5, and in the days before the game team owner Robert Kraft announced that the franchise would move from Foxboro, MA to a new stadium in Hartford, CT following unsuccessful negotiations with the city of Boston, MA for a new stadium on Boston's waterfront - a move subsequently aborted the following April following collapse of a funding proposal for the Hartford stadium. With Patriot fans upset but nonetheless supportive of their team, the Patriots took to the field for an important AFC Eastern Division match-up with the Dolphins. The Dolphins held a 23-19 lead in the final two minutes of the game, and on the Patriots' final possession quarterback Drew Bledsoe broke his right index finger after striking the helmet of lineman Todd Rucci. A botched timeout call in which Patriots coach Pete Carroll called for timeout but the players, not seeing him, ran a successful fourth down conversion, led to a red zone showdown between the Bledsoe-led Patriots offense and the Miami Dolphins' stiffening defense.