The 100 Greatest Plays in Dolphins History: No. 13

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

Alain Poupart | Aug 30, 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 difficulty, uniqueness, 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. 13:

No. 13: Lamar Smith's OT touchdown run vs. Indianapolis in the 2000 playoffs

Setting the stage: It has been a while since the Dolphins won a playoff game, more than 20 years to be precise, and that long-ago victory was the result — more than anything else — of a heroic performance by running back Lamar Smith. While the defense did a good job of limiting the damage of Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James, Marvin Harrison and company, the offseason acquisition rushed for 209 yards and put the perfect exclamation point on the greatest rushing performance in team history on Dec. 30, 2000.

The play: The Dolphins got the game to overtime when they scored a touchdown in the final minute on a pass from Jay Fiedler to tight end Jed Weaver, which was followed by the Colts' curious decision to just run the ball after beginning the ensuing drive at their 20 with 28 seconds left and all three timeouts in their possession — again, with Peyton Manning leading the offense. The Dolphins survived another scare in overtime when Mike Vanderjagt missed a 48-yard field goal attempt after the Colts declined an offside penalty that would have given them a third-and-7 from the Miami 37. The Dolphins made sure to make Indy pay for its mistakes, moving from their 39 to the Indy 17 after two third-down conversions. Already in field goal position, the Dolphins instead clinched the victory when Smith took his 40th carry of the day to the end zone, carrying a Colts defender there with him.

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

The No. 74 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 73 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 72 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 71 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 70 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 69 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 68 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 67 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 66 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 65 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 64 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 63 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 62 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 61 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 60 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 59 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 58 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 57 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 56 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 55 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 54 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 53 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 52 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 51 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 50 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 49 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 48 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 47 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 46 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 45 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 44 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 43 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 42 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 41 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 40 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 39 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 38 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 37 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 36 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 35 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 34 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 33 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 32 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 31 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 30 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 29 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 28 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 27 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 26 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 25 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 24 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 23 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 22 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 21 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 20 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 19 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 18 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 17 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 16 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 15 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 14 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.

Published Aug 30, 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.