The 100 Greatest Plays in Dolphins History: No. 87

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

Author:
Alain Poupart
Publish date:
Jun 17, 2021 10:00 AM EDT

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. 87.

No. 87: David Woodley's 54-yard OT completion to Duriel Harris vs. New England in 1980

Setting the stage: The Dolphins' Monday night game against New England on Dec. 8, 1980 at the Orange Bowl forever will be remembered for Howard Cosell telling ABC viewers about the shooting death of former Beatles member John Lennon as kicker John Smith prepared to attempt a game-winning field goal for the Patriots in the final seconds of regulation. The shocking announcement overshadowed a wild finish in a Dolphins victory in overtime after Bob Baumhower blocked Smith's 35-yard field goal attempt.

The play: The Dolphins won the overtime coin toss and moved to a second-and-9 from their 41-yard line one play after rookie quarterback David Woodley connected with Elmer Bailey for a 23-yard gain. On that second-down play, Woodley unleashed a deep, high pass down the right sideline in the direction of Duriel Harris between two New England defenders. Safety Tim Fox appeared to have good position on Harris, but the Dolphins wideout came down with the acrobatic catch near the sideline before being tackled at the 6-yard line. Don Shula didn't hesitate sending out kicker Uwe von Schamann for a chip-shot 23-yard field goal that gave Miami a 16-13 victory in a season where they would finish 8-8.