American Football

The Bills returned the opening kickoff for TD against the Patriots, then did it again

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Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

You could not have scripted the start to Buffalo’s game against New England

You could not write a better script than this.

The NFL world knew that it would be an emotional atmosphere at Highmark Stadium on Sunday. In their first game back since teammate Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Buffalo Bills took the field for their final regular season game of the 2022 campaign.

Week 18 has included numerous tributes to Hamlin from around the NFL, as teams have met at midfield to pray before games, and players have worn shorts in Hamlins honor. Tributes have also poured in for the medical staff at University of Cincinnati Medical. Center, as well as the medical personnel who responded to his medical emergency last Monday night. Prior to Sunday’s game against the New England Patriots, the Bills recognized the medical staff that responded to Hamlin at the time of his cardiac event:

Bills honor and announce every member of the team training and medical staff before the game. pic.twitter.com/7SsE7caCqQ

— Heather Prusak (@haprusak) January 8, 2023

With Hamlin watching from his hospital room, the Patriots kicked off to start the game. And nothing, absolutely nothing, could have prepared the Bills or their fans for what happened next:

The @BuffaloBills return the opening kick. You couldn’t write this script.

: #NEvsBUF on CBS
: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/Zuxd3911Wt pic.twitter.com/8SexEVXpTN

— NFL (@NFL) January 8, 2023

As Jim Nantz exclaimed: “This is storybook.” Nyheim Hines returns the opening kickoff for a touchdown, sending the Bills sideline, Highmark Stadium, and perhaps the entire football world into an absolute frenzy.

That really happened. #ForDamar pic.twitter.com/KE5JfHo4Ww

— NFL (@NFL) January 8, 2023

This replay angle provides another view of Hines’s incredible return:

Just absolutely unreal pic.twitter.com/LUCE3drMoU

— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) January 8, 2023

And from a hospital room in Cincinnati, Hamlin as well was stunned:

FREE HINES @TheNyNy7

— (@HamlinIsland) January 8, 2023

After a long and trying week for the Bills — and another difficult event in what has been a tough year for the Buffalo community — this moment was, as Nantz himself said, storybook.

Hynes, however, was not done. After the Patriots kicked a field goal to take a 17-14 lead in the second half, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Again.

NYHEIM HINES’ SECOND KICK RETURN TD OF THE DAY.

: #NEvsBUF on CBS
: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/Zuxd3911Wt pic.twitter.com/hrsxcc29Hv

— NFL (@NFL) January 8, 2023

With his second kickoff return for a touchdown on Sunday, Hines became the first player since Leon Washington back in 2010 with a pair of kickoff-return touchdowns a single game.

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