The 100 Greatest Plays in Dolphins History: No. 16

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

Alain Poupart | Aug 27, 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. 16:

No. 16: Keith Byars' touchdown run at Dallas in 1993

Setting the stage: The 1993 season was a wild one for the Dolphins, who saw Dan Marino go down with a season-ending Achilles injury in October but still found a way to have the best record in the NFL through 11 games at 9-2. They got to that 9-2 mark with a thrilling 16-14 Thanksgiving Day victory at Dallas thanks in part to a memorable play that earlier appeared in this countdown. But THE most memorable play of that game came in the first quarter from an unlikely source.

The play: The game was scoreless when Steve DeBerg handed off to fullback Keith Byars, who took advantage of a great block at the line of scrimmage to break through on the left side. After a quick move to the inside, Byars raced to the end zone on a snow-covered field for a 77-yard touchdown, which tied the franchise record until it was broken by Lamar Miller's 97-yard run in 2014. Byars capped his big play by doing a snow angel in the end zone. Interestingly, Byars had five other carries on this day and they gained 0 yards for a final stat line of six rushing attempts for 77 yards. Unfortunately, the Dolphins wouldn't win another game the rest of the season, while the Cowboys wouldn't lose again on their way to their second consecutive Super Bowl title.

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

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 27, 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.