It’s not just that Miami Dolphins receiver Tyreek Hill is the fastest player in the NFL, and one of the fastest in pro football history. He would be dangerous enough were he just that fast in short bursts. The real problem with defending Hill is that once he goes from zero to sixty — and it doesn’t take him long to do it — is that he maintains that ridiculous speed as long as it’s required.
For all his amazing deep receptions throughout his career, Hill’s long speed may have never been more evident than it was on this unbelievable play with 8:45 left in the first half of Sunday night’s game between the Dolphins and the Los Angeles Chargers. Tua Tagovailoa handed the ball to running back Jeff Wilson Jr. Wilson fumbled the ball, there was a scrum, and Hill took the ball after it had been batted backward by left tackle Terron Armstead (an important point, as it turns out).
From there, Hill was gone for a 57-yard touchdown.
TYREEK HILL SCOOPS IT AND TURNS ON THE JETS! #FinsUp #MIAvsLAC on NBC and @peacock. pic.twitter.com/p8KOPIltEw
— Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) December 12, 2022
In total, Hill traveled 93 yards on the play.
Tyreek Hill reached a top speed of 21.78 mph on his 57-yard fumble return TD while traveling a total distance of 93 yards.
Hill has reached 20+ mph on 54 touches since 2018, more than double the next closest player (Saquon Barkley: 23).#MIAvsLAC | #FinsUp pic.twitter.com/RiSgoxokoN
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) December 12, 2022
This play would have been negated under certain circumstances if Armstead had batted the ball forward — as the result of a rule change following another fumble play that happened to the Chargers franchise.
On September 10, 1978, the San Diego Chargers were playing the Oakland Raiders at San Diego Stadium. With 10 seconds left in the game, the Raiders were down, 20-14, and they had the ball at the Chargers’ 14-yard line. Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler, feeling pressure from the Chargers’ defense and about to be sacked, blipped the ball forward, where it was kicked into the end zone by tight end Dave Casper.
The touchdown counted, and the Raiders won, 21-20, but the NFL subsequently added restrictions to forward fumble progress. From then on, if a player fumbled after the two-minute warning in a half/overtime, or on fourth down at any time during the game, only the fumbling player could recover and advance the ball. If that player’s teammate recovered the ball during those situations, it would placed back at the spot of the fumble, unless it was a recovery for a loss, in which case the ball would be dead and placed at the point of recovery.
Not that those rules would have affected this particular play, but as the ball was batted backward, there was no inevitable officiating confusion, and it was simply up to Tyreek Hill to outrun everybody on the field.
Which, of course, he’s more than capable of doing.
