The 100 Greatest Plays in Dolphins History: No. 25

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

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. 25:

No. 25: Manny Fernandez steals a Buffalo Bills handoff in 1972

Setting the stage: Manny Fernandez is well known for his brilliant performance in the Super Bowl VII victory against Washington at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, but he also authored perhaps the signature play for the No-Name Defense during the perfect season of 1972. The Dolphins brought a 5-0 record into their October game against the 2-3 Buffalo Bills, but found themselves trailing 13-7 at halftime.

The play: The game turned on the third play of the second half on a second-and-9 from the Buffalo 21-yard line. Quarterback Dennis Shaw took the snap under center and looked for a misdirection handoff to fullback Jim Braxton as O.J. Simpson went to the right. Manny Fernandez had other ideas. He got so much penetration on the play and so quickly that he just flat-out ripped the ball out of Shaw's hands before he could complete the handoff and started running toward the Buffalo goal line. The play-by-play from the official gamebook spells it out. “Fernandez steals ball on handoff.” The turnover gave the Dolphins the ball at the Buffalo 10-yard line, Larry Csonka scored on a run on the next play and the Dolphins went on to a 24-23 victory.

💥 A pair of #75s coming at you fast 💥

Doug Betters and Manny Fernandez bring up 75 days to the season!#FinsUp pic.twitter.com/2zl77OXziL

— Miami Dolphins (@MiamiDolphins) June 25, 2019

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

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

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.