All Dolphins

The 100 Greatest Plays in Dolphins History: No. 85

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

Alain Poupart

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. 85.

No. 85: Oronde Gadsden's one-handed catch in the 2000 playoffs at Oakland

Setting the stage: Long before there was Odell Beckham Jr., there was Oronde Gadsden. Unfortunately, his ridiculous one-handed catch against the Oakland Raiders in the 2000 playoffs was a small consolation on an otherwise dreary day for the Dolphins, who sustained a 27-0 loss one week after their thrilling 23-17 overtime victory against the Indianapolis Colts. It already was a 27-0 score when Gadsden made his remarkable play, which he almost topped with another incredible one-handed catch over the middle against the New York Jets in 2002.

The play: Two series after Oakland made it 27-0, the Dolphins faced a second-and-17 from their own 28 after Jay Fiedler was sacked for a 7-yard loss. Fiedler then threw down the left sideline for Gadsden, who was well covered by Raiders DB Anthony Dorsett. Gadsden somehow made the grab after cradling the ball with his right hand while facing Fiedler. The 33-yard gain gave the Dolphins a first down at the Raiders 39-yard line, though the drive ended on downs.

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

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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.

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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.

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