Dolphins-Steelers: The Five Biggest Plays

Breaking down the five plays that most decided the outcome in the Miami Dolphins' 16-10 victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Hard Rock Stadium

Jim Rassol - Palm Beach Post/USA Today Network

The Miami Dolphins ended their three-game losing streak when they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 16-10, at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday night.

We rank the five biggest, most important, plays of the game:

1. Noah's game-clinching pick

There's a lot of untangle with this one, starting with how satisfying it had to be for the much-maligned 2020 first-round pick to get his first career interception as a game-clincher. In explaining why it looked like the pass was intended for Igbinoghene instead of wide receiver Diontae Johnson, rookie QB Kenny Pickett explained after the game that he thought Johnson would come back toward him instead of going to the back of the end zone as he did. Regardless, it was a great effort by Noah to get both feet down before he fell out of bounds. Lastly, and this might be the most important point of all, Pickett had no reason to force that pass because the second-and-2 play from the Miami 25 started with 25 seconds left and he easily could have gained around 10 yards by scrambling before getting out of bounds because he would have outrun Sam Eguaoven to the boundary and Jerome Baker was tied up with a Steelers receiver.

2. The illegal shift penalty on the Steelers

The Jevon Holland interception might seem like an obvious choice for No. 2 on this list, but that play was set up by the key penalty that completely changed the outlook of the Steelers' next-to-last drive. Remember that after a 2-yard by Najee Harris, the Steelers found themselves facing a third-and-1 from the Dolphins 15 when they had Pickett run a quarterback sneak. Pickett appeared to pick up the first down, but the play was nullified by the illegal shift penalty that made it third-and-6 from the 20, and then it became third-and-16 from the 30 following a holding penalty. That's when Pickett forced a pass downfield that Holland perfectly read and easily picked off after jumping in front of Johnson. But how different does that drive look or end up if the Steelers don't make that mistake and get that first-and-10 from the Dolphins 14?

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3. Jevon Holland's interception

This should have been the game-clincher and it highlighted Holland's great instincts and ball skills. This was a play that never had any shot for the Steelers because it was a long thrown down the middle of the field that Holland eyeballed for the easy pick.

4. Cameron Sutton's dropped INT

Jason Sanders' field goal at the end of the first half was big at the time because of the momentum it gave the Dolphins right after the Steelers had cut their lead to 13-10, But it ended up being bigger than that because it forced the Steelers to have to get a touchdown at the end of the game instead of being able to tie the score with a field goal. The 32-yard completion from Tua to Trent Sherfield to start off the drive was a huge play, without question, but Sanders never would have had the chance to kick the field goal had Sutton, who has two interceptions on the season, not dropped what should have been an easy pick when he turned around in front of Tyreek Hill and had the ball come right to him.

5. Tua's TD pass to Mostert

While the defense clearly won this game for the Dolphins, we'd be remiss not to mention the opening drive, which ended with Miami's only touchdown. And the score came through some nice improvisation by Tua, who stepped up in the pocket and found Mostert alone near the sideline around the 8-yard line before Mostert took advantage of a nice seal block by Jaylen Waddle to waltz into the end zone.

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