The 10 Biggest Upset Wins in Dolphins History
The Florida Panthers produced one of the greatest upsets in National Hockey League history with their Game 7 victory against the Boston Bruins on Sunday night, days after the Miami Heat shocked the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
That, of course, got us to thinking about the biggest upset victories in Miami Dolphins history.
So here is our Top 10 countdown, with the clear distinction that it's the magnitude of the upset and not the game itself that qualifies. For example, while the 1985 Monday night victory against the Chicago Bears was electric, the reality is that the Dolphins were only two-point underdogs heading in — so this game would be on any list of the greatest victories in team history, but not in terms of a massive upset.
So here we go with the countdown:
10. 1980 at Los Angeles — Dolphins 35, Rams 14
The Dolphins were 4-5 when they traveled to Anaheim Stadium as 11-point underdogs against the defending NFC champion Rams, who had a 6-3 record. This might have been the best NFL game for QB David Woodley, who threw for three touchdowns and ran for two more.
9. 1970 at Houston — Dolphins 24, Oilers 7
This was the second game as Dolphins head coach for Don Shula following a 13-point loss at Boston in the opener. The victory as nine-point underdogs for the Dolphins would mark the start of something big for Shula and his team.
8. 2005 at San Diego — Dolphins 23, Chargers 21
The Dolphins were coming off two consecutive victories, but still had a mediocre 5-7 record when they headed to Qualcomm Stadium as 13.5-point underdogs to face the 8-4 Chargers. Gus Frerotte's two touchdown passes and three takeaways on defense led the way for the third of six consecutive wins to end the season for Miami.
7. 2017 at Atlanta — Dolphins 20, Falcons 17
The Dolphins were 2-2 but 14-point underdogs when they faced the defending NFC champion Falcons, who were coming in with a 3-1 record. The Dolphins pulled off the upset when Reshad Jones picked off Matt Ryan after Atlanta had moved the ball to the Miami 26-yard line with 47 seconds left.
6. 1993 at Dallas — Dolphins 16, Cowboys 14
Sure, the Dolphins were 8-2 when they faced Dallas in that memorable Thanksgiving Day game, but they were down to their third quarterback that season (Steve DeBerg) and were 10-point underdogs against the defending Super Bowl champion Cowboys. We probably don't need to recap what happened, but just in case you've forgotten this was the game with the 77-yard touchdown run (and snow angel) by Keith Byars and the famous gaffe by Leon Lett that set up Pete Stoyanovich's game-winning field goal.
5. 2015 vs. New England — Dolphins 20, Patriots 10
In this season finale, the Dolphins were closing out a season where they had made a coaching change (Joe Philbin to Dan Campbell) and came with a 5-10 record as 9-point underdogs against a New England team needing a win to secure the top seed in the AFC playoffs. For some strange reason, the Patriots ran the ball more than they threw it (with Tom Brady at quarterback) and then Ryan Tannehill shined for the Miami offense with 350 passing yards and two touchdowns.
4. 2006 at Chicago — Dolphins 31, Bears 13
Nick Saban's second year as Dolphins head coach got off to a horrible start, and the team was a 13.5-point underdog heading to Soldier Field to face the 7-0 Bears. The defense stole the day, coming up with six takeaways, including Jason Taylor's 20-yard pick-six.
3. 2008 at New England — Dolphins 38, Patriots 13
The Wildcat game. Need we say more? We can add the Dolphins, who were 0-2, were 12.5-point underdogs at Gillette Stadium that day. Ronnie Brown's five-touchdown game remains one of the most memorable individual performances in team history.
2. 2019 at New England — Dolphins 27, Patriots 24
Let's start by pointing out the victory at Gillette Stadium in the 2019 finale did not cost the Dolphins draft positioning because Cincinnati already had clinched the No. 1 overall pick (and the chance to take Joe Burrow). A whopping 17.5-point underdog, Miami basically ended New England's dynasty with that memorable victory when Ryan Fitzpatrick connected with Mike Gesicki for a late touchdown pass.
1. 2004 vs. New England — Dolphins 29, Patriots 28
Almost 20 years later, it's still hard to understand how it was that the 11-2 Patriots — defending and eventual Super Bowl champions — were only 10-point favorites against the 2-11 Dolphins. But even though this isn't the Dolphins victory with the biggest point spread against them, we still rank this as the biggest upset victory in team history. And it came with some improbable heroes, A.J. Feeley throwing a fourth-down touchdown pass to Derrius Thompson sandwiched around interceptions by linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo and safety Arturo Freeman.
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