All Dolphins

The 100 Greatest Plays in Dolphins History: No. 98

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. 98.

Ricky Williams' 68-yard touchdown run vs. New Orleans in 2009

Setting the stage: The 2009 Dolphins came into the season as defending AFC East champions but got off to an 0-3 start thanks in large part to a brutal early-season schedule and things got worse when starting quarterback Chad Pennington went down in a Week 3 loss against the San Diego Chargers. The Dolphins rebounded with victories against the Bills and Jets before they played host to Williams' former team, the New Orleans Saints, who were off to a 5-0 start on their way to the first Super Bowl title in franchise history. This was an absolute thriller, though it ended in disappointment for the Dolphins, who squandered a 24-3 second-quarter lead and gave up two pick-sixes on Chad Henne interceptions in a 46-34 loss.

The play: The Dolphins led 7-3 in the first quarter after Williams' short touchdown run when they faced a first-and-15 after a false-start penalty on center Jake Grove. Henne then pitched the ball to his left to Williams, who took advantage of some great blocking up front, made one quick cut to the inside, squeezed between a small group of players and raced to the end zone for a 68-yard touchdown. It would end up being the longest touchdown run of his career and his second of three on the day.

The No. 100 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 99 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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