The 100 Greatest Plays in Dolphins History: No. 70

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 difficult, 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. 70:

No. 70: Jason Taylor's pick-six vs. Minnesota in 2006

Setting the stage: Nick Saban's tenure as Dolphins head coach didn't exactly work out as hoped, but his defensive scheme did help Jason Taylor produce the most memorable season of his Hall of Fame career. The Dolphins got off to a 1-6 start before they reeled off four consecutive victories. One of them came against the Minnesota Vikings at what was then called Dolphin Stadium, and it featured one of Taylor's signature plays.

The play: The Dolphins were holding a 17-13 lead after Renaldo Hill's fumble return for a touchdown, but the Vikings moved to a first-and-10 at the Miami 47-yard with 3:39 left when quarterback Brad Johnson threw a screen pass in the direction of running back Chester Taylor. Unfortunately for Johnson and the Vikings, it went to the wrong Taylor because JT had sniffed out the play, backed off his pass rush and dropped back a few steps right before the ball was thrown. It led to an easy interception and Taylor then did the rest with his speed and a downfield block by rookie Jason Allen. The touchdown proved the winning margin in a 24-20 victory after Minnesota scored on the last play of the game.

No defensive lineman in NFL history has scored more touchdowns than @JasonTaylor. Happy 46th birthday to the Hall of Famer.

🐬 6x Pro Bowler
🐬 NFL 2000s All-Decade Team
🐬 2006 Defensive Player of the Year
🐬 2007 Walter Payton Man of the Year pic.twitter.com/FUBTRyjmtc

— NFL Legacy (@NFLLegacy) September 1, 2020

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The No. 76 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.