Chiefs’ lateral TD vs Dolphins is the defensive score of the year

Week 9 of the 2023 NFL season kicked off in fashion, with the first-ever regular season game in Frankfurt, Germany between two of the AFC’s best teams.

But in the early going between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Miami Dolphins, it has been all Kansas City.

Late in the first half the Chiefs held a 14-0 lead, but the Dolphins and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa were on the move. Miami faced a 2nd and 6 at the Chiefs’ 30-yard-line, with under a minute remaining in the first half. With the Dolphins having won the coin toss and electing to defer, there was a chance for Miami to “double-dip,” and score to close out the first half, and then score to open the second.

But in the blink of an eye, it was a 21-0 Chiefs lead.

How? Thanks to one of the best defensive scoring plays you will ever see:

This all starts with slot defender Trent McDuffie. The former first-round selection sniffs out the screen to Tyreek Hill, beating the blocking attempt from tight end Durham Smythe and crashing into the backfield. McDuffie hits Hill just as the ball arrives, and is able to strip the football away from the speedy receiver.

Safety Mike Edwards then scoops up the loose football, but shortly after doing so Hill wraps him up. But before the speedy WR can wrestle Edwards to the turf, the safety alertly laterals the football to fellow safety Bryan Cook, who is off to the races.

This is a tremendous play all around from the Chiefs defense — who have been impressive in the first half of this game in shutting out the Dolphins and holding them to just 110 total yards in the first half — but it starts with McDuffie. He sniffs out the screen, explodes into the backfield, and makes this play possible.

We’ll see if the Chiefs can salt away this game, but if nothing else, they might have given us the defensive touchdown of the season.