Dolphins Midseason Report: Top 10 Defensive Plays

With the NFL switching to a 17-game regular season in 2021, there's really no such thing as a halfway point anymore — unless you make it halftime of a team's ninth game.

But with the Miami Dolphins heading into their bye after nine games, we've taken it upon ourselves to make this the halfway point.

With that in mind, we continue our series of Dolphins Midseason Report stories with a ranking of the top 10 defensive plays based on quality of the play, uniqueness and role in the outcome of a game.

1. The Last Stand at New England, Week 2

There might not have been anything spectacular about the final defensive snap of the Sunday night game at Gillette Stadium, but it most definitely was a unique way to secure a victory, the way the Dolphins gang-tackled guard Cole Strange after he took a lateral from former Dolphins tight end Mike Gesicki on a fourth-down play.

2. Jaelan Phillips and Justin Bethel's Sack at L.A. Chargers, Week 1

The opener was no work of art for the Dolphins defense, but it did come up big with relentless pressure on the drive that followed Tua's game-winning touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill. And the final blow came when Phillips and Bethel quickly got to Justin Herbert to drop him for a game-clinching sack on fourth-and-12.

3. Jerome Baker's Pick-Six at Philadelphia, Week 7

The Dolphins defense had some problems with the Eagles offense — mostly stopping the "tush push" — but it came up with a huge play late in the third quarter when Kader Kohou came in a blitz and Jalen Hurts' pass bounced off him at the line of scrimmage and into the hands of Jerome Baker, who made a quick reaction to catch the ball and sprinted to the end zone for a touchdown that tied the score 17-17.

4. Kader Kohou's Sack at L.A. Chargers, Week 1

Yes, we go back to that season opener, even though it was not a good overall defensive performance because another key play was Kohou's sack of Herbert on the first blitz of the season by the Dolphins. The sack forced the Chargers to punt from their 1-yard line and on the very next play from scrimmage Tua threw a touchdown pass to Tyreek Hill that gave the Dolphins a 27-24 lead in this back-and-forth battle.

5. Jalen Ramsey's INT vs. New England, Week 8

Ramsey wasted little time in his long-awaited debut to make an impact, coming up with the biggest momentum-changing play of the game at Hard Rock Stadium. Ramsey's pick of Mac Jones with New England threatening to cut into Miami's lead 14-7 near the end of the first half became a 10-point swing thanks to his 49-yard return.

6. The Fourth-Down Stop vs. Carolina, Week 6

OK, so maybe we're cheating a bit here because technically this play happened in a punting situation, but we'll allow it (it's our site, after all). Duke Riley and Elijah Campbell combined to Laviska Shenault out of bounds just short of the first down after a fourth-down catch from punter Johnny Hekker was a huge play in the 21-point play victory against the Panthers considering the Dolphins trailed 14-7 at the time.

7. Christian Wilkins' TFL vs. Kansas City, Week 9

The Chiefs tried to get cute when Patrick Mahomes faked a handoff to Isaiah Pacheco moving from his right to his left and instead pitched the ball forward to Mecole Hardman moving right on a jet sweep, but Wilkins wrecked the play with insane penetration that allowed him to meet Hardman in the backfield right as he got the ball. The result was a 7-yard loss on a drive that ended with a punt.

8. Bradley Chubb's Sack-Strip vs. Kansas City, Week 9

We got back to that same game, with Chubb's hustle play when good coverage forced Mahomes to hold the ball until Chubb got to him and stripped the ball away, with Zach Sieler recovering the fumble for Miami. The turnover led to a touchdown that brought Miami to within 21-14 late in the third quarter.

9. Emmanuel Ogbah's Interception vs. Denver, Week 3

The 70-20 blowout of the Broncos in the home opener was mostly about the offense, but we'll give a nod to the defense and recognize this play, made possible by defensive tackle Da'Shawn Hand getting a hand on Russell Wilson's pass at the line of scrimmage and Ogbah catching the carom.

10. Bradley Chubb's Forced Fumble at New England, Week 2

We wrap up this list (perhaps having omitted most deserving plays) with another gem from Chubb, this one the result of hustle as he forced a fumble running away from the line of scrimmage as opposed to chasing the quarterback. This play came late in the first quarter with New England in Dolphins territory in a game Miami led 3-0 when Chubb forced a fumble from behind against Demario Douglas as he was running across the field. Safety DeShon Elliott recovered the fumble to end the scoring threat.

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