Dolphins-Cowboys Week 16: The Five Biggest Plays

Breaking down the five plays that most decided the outcome in the Miami Dolphins' 22-20 victory against the Dallas Cowboys at Hard Rock Stadium

The Miami Dolphins moved to 11-4 on the season and clinched a playoff berth with their 22-20 victory against the Dallas Cowboys at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.

We rank the five biggest, most important, plays of the game:

1. The Quick Hitter to Tyreek

The focus here clearly has to be on the game-winning drive because it made the difference between a heartbreaking loss and an uplifting victory, and we're going to say from here that the biggest play was the quick throw to Tyreek Hill on third-and-3 on the first play after the two-minute warning. The play was executed to perfection, with Braxton Berrios and Lester Cotton sustaining their blocks long enough to give Hill the open space to easily gain 10 yards. The play moved the ball to the Dallas 23-yard line and forced them to use their first timeout and even if Miami hadn't gotten another first down, the Cowboys would have gotten the ball back with under a minute left and no timeouts remaining. A stop there and Dallas would have the ball with about 1:50 left and two timeouts.

2. Jeff Wilson's Third-Down Run

This is the third-and-2 play that ensured that Dallas wouldn't get the ball back and it was set up by Wilson gaining 8 yards on first down. With his 6-yard run up the middle, Wilson put in position where they could kneel twice to allow Jason Sanders to kick the chip-shot game-winning field goal on the last play of the game.

3. The Facemask Penalty

One more from the game-winning drive, and it has to be the very first play, which immediately moved the Dolphins from their 25 to their 46. It was a simple swing pass to De'Von Achane that was going to gain a modest 6 yards, but then came the facemask penalty (an obvious call) on linebacker Damone Clark. From there, it seemed a formality for the Dolphins offense to get into field goal range.

4. DeShon Elliott's Brilliant Tackle

Dallas decided to go against the grain after winning the coin toss and elected to receive, and it looked like their decision was going to pay off after they drove inside the Dolphins 5-yard line. And then it sure looked like they were going to score a touchdown when Tony Pollard got outside after taking a handoff with a lot of open field and tight end Jake Ferguson to block for him. But Elliott fought off the block and tackled Pollard in such a way that he turned him around and the ball ended up outside of the end zone to set up the next significant play. And look at the picture accompanying this story to realize just improbable Pollard not scoring was and how impressive Elliott's tackle was.

5. The Brandon Jones Fumble Recovery

Of course, Elliott's brilliant play wouldn't have mattered had the Cowboys scored on the drive, but instead they messed the handoff on the next play and safety Brandon Jones showed remarkable awareness in quickly spotting the ball and jumping on it for a massive momentum-changing takeway.

Dolphins Get Their Signature Win Plus a Playoff Berth