The 100 Greatest Plays in Dolphins History: No. 45

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. 45

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. 45:

No. 45: Larry Izzo's Fake Punt at Houston at 1996

Setting the stage: The 1996 season was Jimmy Johnson's first as Dolphins head coach, and two of his key rookie finds that year were linebackers Zach Thomas and Larry Izzo. While Thomas excelled on defense, Izzo was a star on special teams. The Dolphins were 5-5 and playing Houston in mid-November when the two rookies combined to turn around a game Miami was trailed 17-13 after three quarters.

The play: The Dolphins faced a fourth-and-9 from their own 32-yard line to start the fourth quarter. Izzo then took the snap as the up-back and darted 26 yards into Oilers territory. While the drive didn't produce any points, it changed the momentum and moments later Thomas returned an interception for a touchdown to give Miami the lead in a game it would win 23-20. "Nothing Coach Johnson does surprises me," Izzo said.in a Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel story. "That's just a gutsy call on his part and you have to give him all the credit for having the confidence to make the call. The only thing I worried about was catching the ball because that's the first thing you have to think about. The hole was huge. It was the size of the Grand Canyon."

The No. 100 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 99 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 98 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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The No. 96 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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The No. 94 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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The No. 84 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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The No. 82 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 81 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 80 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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The No. 78 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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. 70 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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The No. 68 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 67 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 66 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 65 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 64 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 63 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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The No. 58 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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The No. 54 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 53 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 52 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 51 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 50 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 49 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 48 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 47 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 46 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 Jul 29, 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