The 100 Greatest Plays in Dolphins History: No. 65

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

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. 65:

No. 65: Doug Betters' block of an extra-point attempt vs. Philadelphia in 1984

Setting the stage: The 1984 Dolphins started with a resounding 18-point victory against two-time NFC champion Washington and that was just the beginning. The Dolphins won their first 10 games, including five in a row by at least 14 points heading into a Week 11 game against the Eagles, coming in with a 4-5-1 record. This game would prove a lot tougher than expected.

The play: After the Eagles jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, the Dolphins got things back on track and took a 24-17 lead in the fourth quarter. But then the Eagles appeared poised to tie the score when Ron Jaworski threw a 38-yard pass to wide receiver Melvin Hoover, which is when Doug Betters stood tall — literally. The defensive end who was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year the previous season came up with a huge special teams play when he used his 6-7 height to block the extra-point attempt with 1:52 left. After recovering an onside kick, the Dolphins clinched the victory to move them to 11-0 when an offside penalty gave them a clock-killing first down. Unfortunately, that would be the end of the undefeated run because the Dolphins would lose 34-28 in overtime at San Diego the following week.

The No. 100 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 99 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 98 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 97 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 96 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 95 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 94 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 93 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 92 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 91 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 90 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 89 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 88 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 87 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 86 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 85 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 84 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 83 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 82 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 81 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 80 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 79 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

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

The No. 74 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 73 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 72 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 71 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 70 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 69 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 68 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 67 Greatest Play in Dolphins History

The No. 66 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.