The 100 Greatest Plays in Dolphins History: No. 40

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

The 100 Greatest Plays in Dolphins History: No. 40

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. 40:

No. 40: Ronnie Brown's Game-Winning Touchdown Run vs. the N.Y. Jets in 2009

Setting the stage: After making the playoffs in 2008 thanks in large part to the success of the Wildcat, the Dolphins got off to a 1-3 start the following season before they prepared to face the 2-2 Jets in Miami in a Monday night game. To mark the occasion, the Dolphins would be wearing orange jerseys. The Dolphins' 31-27 victory featured a remarkable five lead changes in the fourth quarter, the last coming on Brown's touchdown with six seconds left.

The play: Already at the Jets 2-yard line, the Dolphins at the very least were set to at least the score in the final seconds. But they obviously had other ideas. On third-and-goal, Brown lined up in the shotgun and took the snap as Ricky Williams ran in motion in front of him. There wasn't much of a fake actually, as Brown simply ran straight ahead. He easily made his way to the end zone for his second touchdown of the game, but more importantly gave the Dolphins a thrilling victory in front of the ESPN television cameras.

The No. 100 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 99 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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The No. 96 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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The No. 86 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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The No. 80 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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The No. 77 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 76 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 75 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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The No. 51 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 50 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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The No. 48 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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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

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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.

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Published Aug 3, 2021

Alain Poupart

Alain Poupart is the publisher/editor of Miami Dolphins On SI and host of the All Dolphins Podcast. Alain has covered the Miami Dolphins on a full-time basis since 1989 for various publications and media outlets, including Dolphin Digest, The Associated Press and the Dolphins team website. In addition to being a credentialed member of the Miami Dolphins press corps, Alain has covered three Super Bowls (for NFL.com, Football News and the Montreal Gazette), the annual NFL draft, the Senior Bowl, and the NFL Scouting Combine. During his almost 40 years in journalism, which began at the now-defunct Miami News, Alain has covered practically every sport at one time or another, from tennis to golf, baseball, basketball and everything in between. The career also included time as a copy editor, including work on several books, such as "Still Perfect," an inside look at the Miami Dolphins' 1972 perfect season. A native of Montreal, Canada, whose first language is French, Alain grew up a huge hockey fan but soon developed a love for all sports, including NFL football. He has lived in South Florida since the 1980s.

Follow @PoupartNFL