The 100 Greatest Plays in Dolphins History: No. 95

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

Alain Poupart | Jun 9, 2021

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. 95.

No. 95: Jimmy Cefalo's 76-yard touchdown reception in Super Bowl XVII

Setting the stage: After going 7-2 in the strike-shortened 1982 season, the Dolphins made their way back to the Super Bowl for the first time in nine seasons with a dominating defensive performance against the New York Jets in the AFC Championship Game. But they faced a tough challenge against Washington, which had finished the regular season 8-1 before winning its three NFC playoff games by 14 points or more.

The play: After the teams traded punts at the start of the game, the Dolphins began their second possession at their 20 before Tony Nathan rushed for 4 yards. On second-and-6, David Woodley faked a pitch, then faked a short pass to his right before throwing down the sideline to Jimmy Cefalo, who had gotten behind the Washington secondary. Cefalo cruised to the end zone from there for a 76-yard touchdown, which remains the longest offensive touchdown in Dolphins playoff history. Unfortunately for the Dolphins, Woodley would pass for only 21 more yards in the game in a 27-17 loss.

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

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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.

Published Jun 9, 2021

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.