Wake Makes History With Walk-Off Sack
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – When a team needs a big play, superstars have to answer the call. The Miami Dolphins needed a big play to save their season and Pro Bowl defensive end Cameron Wake answered the bell and gave the Fins a "Wake" off victory Thursday night.
The Dolphins were in the midst of a four-game losing streak and were in the middle of a week of bad stories surrounding the team. The Fins jumped out to a 17-3 at one point in the game only to see the lead evaporate as the Cincinnati Bengals came storming back.
In front the home crowd, the game went to overtime and after both teams exchanged a few punts, the Bengals were backed up deep inside their own territory. Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton dropped back to pass and that's when Wake hit the kill switch.
Wake ran a stunt in between the guard and tackle and the guard had no chance of stopping Wake on the run. With the path clear to the quarterback, Wake hit Dalton on the goal line and tackled him in the end zone for a safety.
It's one of the rarest ways to end a game in the NFL. In the long and storied history of the league, only two other safeties have ended a game before.
CBSSports.com reported the last one came in 2004 when Chicago's Adewale Ogunleye tackled a Tennessee Titans lineman in the end zone after a fumble by the quarterback. Before that, the last one was in November 1989 when Minnesota's Mike Merriweather blocked a Rams punt out of the end zone for a win.
But Wake's safety is the first time in NFL history a quarterback sack has ever ended a game in overtime. Instead of a walk-off safety, it's now being called a "wake-off safety."
(h/t to Bleacher Report for the GIF)
