The second delay occurred at 4:54 p.m. during the third quarter of the game, and play resumed after a delay of 2 hours and 2 minutes.<doc-sep>8:30 p.m. UPDATE: Miami’s 27-20 victory over Tennessee went later than even Sunday’s 4 p.m. games, wrapping up at 8:10 after two weather delays of 2 hours each due to lightning in the area. That’s more than 7 hours after the 1 p.m. start. Five instant takeaways from Dolphins’ bizarre season-opening win over Titans Delays for lightning lasted a total of 3 hours, 59 minutes, and the game took 7 hours, 10 minutes to play. It was the longest game since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger. Grading the Miami Dolphins for their marathon opening win vs. Tennessee The previous longest game since 1970 was a Bears overtime victory against the Ravens in 2013 that took 5 hours, 16 minutes. 7 p.m. UPDATE: The Miami Dolphins opener against the Tennessee Titans has resumed in the third quarter after a second lightning delay of 2 hours, 2 minutes. The first lightning delay in the second quarter was 1 hour, 57 minutes - a total of nearly 4 hours. 6:35 p.m. UPDATE: The Dolphins and Titans are scheduled to resume play at 6:55 p.m. after a second lightning delay of several hours. The teams will pick up with 6:47 remaining in the third quarter. Photos: Dolphins vs. Titans 5:10 P.M. UPDATE: Another lightning strike has delayed Miami’s game vs. Tennessee in the second half. NFL national anthem protest: Dolphins’ Kenny Stills kneeling Previous story: Despite sunny skies, the Miami Dolphins’ season opener Sunday against the Titans was halted with 1:11 left in the first half because of a lightning strike within a mile of Hard Rock Stadium. Both teams returned to the locker room after referee Jerome Boger stopped action with the Dolphins leading 7-3 and the Titans with the ball at their own 24-yard line. It rained heavily about a half hour before the 1 p.m. kickoff, and then again during the first half. Both times, the sunshine followed. Thunder could be heard intermittently before the stoppage, which came at 2:13 p.m. Lieser: Dolphins WR Kenny Stills speaks volumes, and people are finally listening The NFL had hoped to have the teams return to the field at 3 p.m, with play resuming at 3:10 p.m. Then, due to more lightning, the estimated start was pushed back to 3:32 p.m. and then, 3:40 p.m. Finally, after a delay of nearly two hours, the Dolphins and Titans returned to the field and began play at 4:10 p.m., a delay of 1 hour, 57 minutes. The NFL’s plan was to have a halftime of only 3 minutes, 30 seconds, with players remaining on the field. Interestingly, Dolphins coach Adam Gase was asked Friday about potentially having to deal with a lightning delay. "You just try to keep guys loose and you try to organize," he said. "When you get a start time, then you start working backwards and just really get your warmup set." The Dolphins came up empty on fourth-and-1 from the Titans’ 15-yard line on the first play after the two-minute warning. The Titans then ran just two plays before the game was stopped. Prior to that, Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill was 11-for-13 passing for 91 yards, including a 10-yard touchdown toss to Kenny Stills. Frank Gore had 49 yards on five carries in his Dolphins debut and fellow running back Kenyan Drake had 40 rushing yards on six carries.<doc-sep>Marc Serota/Getty Images After two extended weather delays, the Miami Dolphins and Tennessee Titans will take part in the longest game in NFL history. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Sunday's game broke the five-hour, 16-minute mark set by the Chicago Bears and Baltimore Ravens in 2013. Jason Lieser of the Palm Beach Post provided a breakdown of the game that began at 1 p.m. ET: The game restarted for the second time just before 7 p.m. ET after lightning cleared the area. To make matters worse, the play on the field wasn't all that great before delays with the Dolphins leading 7-3 at halftime. Considering the rain, the lack of scoring and the long delays, anyone still at the stadium deserves a medal or at least a free hot dog.<doc-sep>
The NFL Week 1 matchup between the Tennessee Titans and Miami Dolphins was stopped due to a weather delay on Sunday. With just under two minutes left before halftime, a lightning strike was spotted near Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, prompting NFL officials to delay the game. Titans @ Dolphins in lightning delay Strong thunderstorm just SE of Hard Rock Stadium. pic.twitter.com/xvyu5qdtFr — Andy Slater (@AndySlater) September 9, 2018 At the time of the delay the Titans trailed the Dolphins 7-3 and had the ball on their own 24-yard-line. The game will restart with the Titans on 3rd down. Tennessee took the lead early in the first quarter on a 47-yard field goal from kick Ryan Succop. The Dolphins were the first team to find the end zone as Ryan Tannehill connected with Kenny Stills on a 10-yard touchdown pass with 11:21 left on the clock. Tannehill was looking solid headed into the delay, throwing 11-13 for 91 yards with a 121.5 quarterback rating. Titans starter Marcus Mariota put up similar numbers (9-14, 103 yards), but the Titans were unable to get anything going on the ground with 36 rushing yards on 12 carries between Mariota, Dion Lewis and Derrick Henry. The game would eventually restart with 1:11 left on the clock. Due to the delay being so long, the two teams opted to have a brief halftime in order to resume play. The game continued into the third quarter until even more lightning strikes were spotted in the area, forcing the game to be delayed once again with 6:47 left in the third quarter. According to reporters inside the arena, the game is expected to resume at 7 p.m. local time.