Was This the Greatest September Victory?
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It's easy to get caught up in the moment, be a prisoner of the moment as they say, but it's impossible to ignore the magnitude of what the Miami Dolphins accomplished against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.
It's also impossible not to start looking back through the franchise's history to try to come up with better September victories. And doing that, it's very clear that the 42-38 comeback victory, thanks to the heroics of Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and company, belongs in the top 10 on that list.
Actually, it ranks very high on that list. Very, very high.
Let's examine how high we'd put it as we count down the top 10 Miami Dolphins September victories.
10 — Sept. 14, 1992, Dolphins 27, Browns 23
This Week 2 Monday night game ended up being the Dolphins’ season opener because their Week 1 game against New England was postponed in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew. And what an opener it turned out to be, as Dan Marino directed a late game-winning drive capped by a Mark Higgs touchdown run.
9 — Sept. 2, 1984, Dolphins 35, Redskins 17
While there was a lot of excitement heading into Marino’s first full season as a starter, the opener seemed daunting on the road against a Washington team coming off two Super Bowl appearances. It wasn’t daunting after all. Marino threw five TD passes to start his historic passing season.
8 — Sept. 9, 2001, Dolphins 31, Titans 23
The first Sunday night game of the 2001 season featured two teams that had made the playoffs the previous year, and the Dolphins prevailed thanks to a 65-yard touchdown reception by running back Lamar Smith and, of course, the famous Zach Thomas pick-six that he punctuated with a flip into the end zone.
7 — Sept. 29, 1985, Dolphins 30, Broncos 26
Two years after they both were first-round picks, Marino and John Elway faced each other for the first time at Mile High Stadium and it was no contest. Marino passed for 390 yards and three TDs, while Elway was held without a touchdown pass.
6 — Sept. 9, 2018, Dolphins 27, Titans 20
In addition to being a game that featured a lot of big plays, including Jakeem Grant’s kickoff return for a touchdown and a 75-yard TD pass from Ryan Tannehill to Kenny Stills, this game also had the distinction of being the longest in NFL history thanks to two weather-related delays of over an hour.
5 — Sept. 17, 1972, Dolphins 20, Chiefs 10
This much-anticipated rematch of the 1971 Christmas Day playoff classic turned into a bit of a dud after the Dolphins jumped to a 17-0 lead on their way to an easy victory, and it set the tone for the Dolphins’ march to a perfect season.
4 — Sept. 21, 2008, Miami 38, Patriots 13
The game loses points in the countdown because the outcome was decided early, but there might not be a more satisfying victory on this list based on what the Dolphins did to the Patriots while unveiling the Wildcat. It was simply glorious for Dolphins fans. Ronnie Brown’s performance that day was unforgettable.
3 — Sept. 23, 2001, Dolphins 18, Raiders 15
With a giant flag draped across the field as the NFL resumed games after the events of 9/11, this was bound to be a memorable day regardless. It became even more memorable when Jay Fiedler scrambled for a game-winning touchdown in the final seconds, his triumphant fist-raising in the end zone captured for the front page of Sports Illustrated.
2 — Sept. 4, 1994, Dolphins 39, Patriots 35
The 1994 season opener at muddy Joe Robbie Stadium featured a classic shootout between Drew Bledsoe and Marino, made even more remarkable by the fact this was Marino’s first regular season game since his Achilles injury. As a bonus, the game-winning touchdown came on a fourth-and-5 when Marino connected with Irving Fryar for a 35-yard score.
1 — Sept. 18, 2022, Dolphins 42, Ravens 38
Yep, we've done it. We've put this game right at the top of Dolphins September victories. We actually went back and forth between this and the 1994 game and really thought about going with the latter because of the Marino Achilles angle, but this one could end up serving as a launching pad to Tua becoming a franchise quarterback, it also had the great comeback that broke a 711-game NFL streak of teams losing when down by 21 in the fourth quarter, and it had the record-setting day by Hill and Waddle. So, yes, we're going with this one at number 1. Call it recency bias, prisoner of the moment, whatever. We feel it belongs at the top.
