The 100 Greatest Plays in Dolphins History: No. 74
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.
We continue with No. 74
No. 74: Nat Moore's kickoff return at Oakland in the 1974 playoffs
Setting the stage: The Dolphins were looking for their third consecutive Super Bowl title in 1974 and they finished the regular season with a record of 11-3, which was the second-best in the AFC behind only Oakland's 12-2. But because first-round matchups were predetermined on the basis of division, the Dolphins had to play at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum to open the playoffs. This would become a classic, with the Dolphins dropping a 28-26 decision in the famous "Sea of Hands" game.
The play: The game against Oakland was the 11th playoff contest in Dolphins history and while they had scored on an interception return and a blocked punt return, they had never had a kickoff return for a score. Nat Moore, a rookie third-round pick from the University of Florida, took care of that really quick against the Raiders. After fielding the ball at the Miami 11, Moore made two cuts to the left before racing down the sideline to give the Dolphins a quick 7-0 lead.
The No. 100 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 99 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 98 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 97 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 96 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 95 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 94 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 93 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 92 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 91 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 90 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 89 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 88 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 87 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 86 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 85 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 84 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 83 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 82 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 81 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 80 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 79 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 78 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 77 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 76 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
The No. 75 Greatest Play in Dolphins History
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alain Poupart has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989. You can follow him on Twitter at @PoupartNFL. Feel free to submit questions every Friday for the All Dolphins mailbag.
