The 100 Greatest Plays in Dolphins History: Number 100

Combining the countdown to the start of the Dolphins regular season with the best plays in franchise history

To help count down the days to the start of the Miami Dolphins regular season last year, we marked each day with the corresponding jersey number and came up with the three best players to wear that number.

This year, we're counting down to the start of the regular season with a countdown of the top 100 plays in Dolphins history.

Given that the Dolphins have played 849 regular season games and 41 more in the playoffs, it's an awfully difficult task to narrow things down to 100 plays and then rank them. The plays selected were ranked on the basis of difficult, immediate and long-lasting impact and historical significance.

The countdown initially appeared in Dolphin Digest in 2019 but has been updated.

So here we go with number 100:

Jay Ajayi's 57-yard run in overtime at Buffalo in 2016

Setting the stage: The Dolphins went to Buffalo on the next-to-last weekend of the season in position to lock down a playoff berth with a victory and some help. The Dolphins sent the game to overtime when Andrew Franks kicked a 55-yard field goal as time expired in regulation. After Buffalo's Dan Carpenter missed a 45-yard field goal earlier in overtime, the Dolphins began their second drive of OT at their own 15-yard line.

The play: After taking the snap out of the shotgun, quarterback Matt Moore gave an inside handoff to Ajayi, who took advantage of a block from tight end Dion Sims to bounce the play to the left. Defensive tackle Kyle Williams was the only defender to get a hand on Ajayi before he sprinted into the open and down the field. Oh, it didn't hurt that Buffalo had only 10 players on the field for that play. Ajayi's run gave the Dolphins a first down at the Bills 28 and five plays later Franks kicked a 27-yard field goal for a 34-31 victory that would put the Dolphins in the playoffs before the end of the weekend.

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Alain Poupart
ALAIN POUPART

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of All Dolphins and co-host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press, the Dolphins team website, and the Fan Nation Network (part of Sports Illustrated). In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.