Dolphins Week 16 Victory: The Five Biggest Plays

The Miami Dolphins improved to 8-7 on the season with a 20-3 victory against the New Orleans Saints at the Caesars Superdome on Monday night.

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

1. Needham's Pick-Six

This is kind of a no-brainer, given that Nik Needham's touchdown gave the Dolphins all the points they would need in this game. That it happened on New Orleans' first drive of the game was equally significant because it didn't allow the Saints to reach any sort of comfort level in this game with rookie Ian Book playing his first NFL game. Finally, big props to Andrew Van Ginkel, who made the play happen by tipping the pass at the line of scrimmage and changing its trajectory.

2. Brandon Jones' Third-Down Sack

If the Saints were going to make a game of this in the second half, their big chance came after Marshon Lattimore's interception in the third quarter that was followed by a 14-yard completion that put the ball at the New Orleans 49. Remember that the Dolphins led only 10-3 at the time, so the Saints were 51 yards away from tying the score. But that possibility ended when Brandon Jones came in free on third-and-8 from the Dolphins 48 and dropped Book for a sack.

3. Elandon Roberts' Third-Down Stuff of Alvin Kamara in the Second Quarter

Outside of a drive in garbage time late in the fourth quarter, the only time the Saints got anything going offensively was in the second quarter when they drove from their 25 to the Miami 15, where they faced a third-and-2. The Dolphins' lead was 10-0 at the time, and who knows what kind of momentum the Saints could have picked up by finishing off the drive with a touchdown. But on that third-and-2 run, Raekwon Davis and Christian Wilkins stood up the middle of the Saints offensive line, allowing linebacker Elandon Roberts to shoot through the gap and stuff Kamara for no gain. The Saints then settled for the field goal after unsuccessfully trying to draw the Dolphins offside on fourth-and-2.

4. Tua's 40-yard Completion to Mack Hollins

This play came shortly after Jones' third-down sack when the Dolphins faced a third-and-9 from their 15. With a three-and-out, the Saints would have been looking at having good field position to start their next drive still only down 10-3. Instead, Tua's strike down the right sideline and Hollins' great catch set the stage for a touchdown drive that made it 17-3 and pretty much sealed the outcome. Saints head coach Sean Payton clearly understood the importance of the play based on his long-shot challenge after replays pretty clearly showed that Hollins made the catch nice and clean.

5. Austin Jackson's Fumble Recovery

This was a good play after a bad play, and it gave the Dolphins three points. This was the third-down sack of Tagovailoa that resulted in a fumble that Austin Jackson was able to recover at the New Orleans 30-yard line, enabling Jason Sanders to kick a 48-yard field goal on the next play. Major kudos on this play belong to Jaylen Waddle, whose hustle once he saw the loose ball rolling toward the Dolphins goal line prevented Saints defensive tackle Braxton Hoyett from making what looked like an easy fumble recovery.