Page 49 - Sports Illustrated for Kids Magazine (December 2019)

TROUBLING IGN
S
Against the Chargers,
Dolphins fans were treated
to a brief lead, followed by
another scoreless second half
resulting in a 20-point loss.

BY JENNY VRENTAS PHOTOGRAPH BY ROB TRINGALI

URING ONE of the historically bad losses, in what is on pace to be a historically bad season, there
was some mercy in the fact that the Dolphins’ home crowd started streaming out of the stadium
after a fourth-quarter pick-six. That meant there was a smaller audience for the second one, which
came four plays later.
Like so many Sunday-afternoon moments for the 2019 Miami Dolphins, this one played out like a blooper reel.
On the Patriots’ second defensive touchdown of their Week 2 visit to Miami, running back Kalen Ballage, wide open
after running a simple route into the flat, handled Ryan Fitzpatrick’s pass like a hot potato; the football bounced off
his left hand, his left knee, his right hand—and straight into the grasp of linebacker Jamie Collins, who returned

it for a touchdown to stretch the lead to 37–0. Ballage, head between his knees, was consoled by teammates. His
despair couldn’t last long—he needed to get back on the field for the ensuing kickoff. By the end of the afternoon,
the “Patriots’ pummeling,” as the CBS broadcasters dubbed it, stood at 43–0.