The 100 Greatest Plays in Dolphins History: No. 96

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

Author:
Alain Poupart
Publish date:
Jun 8, 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. 96.

No. 96: Jerome Baker's 30-yard vs. Kansas City in 2020

Setting the stage: The Dolphins had won seven of eight games to get to 8-4 on the season when they welcomed the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and their 11-1 record to Hard Rock Stadium. While the Dolphins suffered a 33-27 loss after once trailing 30-10, the defense got off to a great start, recording two interceptions and one three-and-out on the Chiefs' first three offensive possessions. But it was Jerome Baker's play that clearly stood out in that first quarter.

The play: Kansas City's second drive began with the game still scoreless after Jason Sanders had missed a 45-yard field goal attempt and moved to a third-and-12 at the 33 after Patrick Mahomes lost 9 yards after having to fall on an errant snap before completing a 7-yard pass to tight end Travis Kelce. After taking a shotgun snap, Mahomes couldn't immediately find a receiver before Emmanuel Ogbah applied pressure from the left side of the defense and Baker from the right. After realizing he couldn't outrun Ogbah to the outside, Mahomes then decided to sprint backward to see if he could get around Baker on the other side. But just as Mahomes was starting to turn upfield again after a long retreat, Baker dove at his feet and tripped him for a 30-yard sack. It amazingly broke a franchise record for longest sack that had been set just earlier in the season — Ogbah's 28-yard sack of Joe Flacco in the 24-0 victory against the New York Jets at Hard Rock Stadium.