The Top 100 Games of the First Quarter of the Century: 41-50

Here's our countdown of the top 100 Miami Dolphins games of the first 25 seasons of the new century.

For ground rules, the plays were picked on the basis of historical significance, impact on a game or season, and uniqueness.

We continue the countdown with games 41-50:

50. 2010 at Green Bay — Dolphins 23, Packers 20 (OT)

The Dolphins had a forgettable 2010 season, but they did manage to defeat the eventual Super Bowl champion Packers — at Lambeau Field no less — thanks in large part to the efforts of defensive end Cameron Wake. His third sack of the game ended Green Bay's one drive in overtime and the Dolphins got the ball back at their own 48 before moving into field goal range for the win. The Packers sent the game into overtime with an Aaron Rodgers touchdown run on fourth-and-goal in the final minute.

49. 2001 at Indianapolis — Dolphins 27, Colts 24

In their first matchup after their thrilling playoff game (don't worry, it'll be in the countdown later), the Dolphins and Colts played another nail-biter that came down to the end. And, again, as would be the case in 2002 (previous countdown entry), the Miami defense came through in the end. Down three, Peyton Manning moved the Colts to the Miami 40 and to midfield on their final two drives, but Indy punted on fourth-and-4 from the Dolphins 40 and on the final drive Manning threw an incompletion on fourth-and-21 after two false-start penalties and a Jason Taylor sack had pushed them back to their 37. On offense, the Dolphins got a 56-yard touchdown run from Travis Minor, a 76-yard touchdown pass from Jay Fiedler to Chris Chambers, and the game-winning 29-yard TD pass from Fiedler to Chambers with 7:44 left in the fourth quarter.

48. 2023 vs. Dallas — Dolphins 22, Cowboys 20

This was the Jason Sanders show, as his fifth field goal of the game and his third from over 50 yards gave the Dolphins a victory that clinched a playoff berth. The game featured a textbook two-minute drive, highlighted by Tyreek Hill’s clock-killing reception for a first down and a huge momentum swing at the start of the game when DeShon Elliott’s spectacular tackle of Tony Pollard saved a sure touchdown and was immediately followed by a fumble recovery near the goal line.

47. 2020 vs. L.A. Rams — Dolphins 28, Rams 17

This Week 8 game against the Rams marked the starting debut of Tua Tagovailoa and he came out with a win thanks to a multitude of big plays by the defense and the special teams. On a day when they were outgained 471-145, the Dolphins won by double digits thanks to Andrew Van Ginkel's 78-yard fumble return after Emmanuel Ogbah's sack-strip of Jared Goff; Jakeem Grant's 88-yard punt return; and Kyle Van Noy's fumble return to the 1-yard line that set up Myles Gaskin's 1-yard TD run. The Dolphins' longest drive of the game was 33 yards, and it came after Christian Wilkins' interception and ended with Tua's first NFL TD pass, a 3-yard connection with DeVante Parker.

46. 2016 vs. Pittsburgh — Dolphins 30, Steelers 15

The entire 2016 season came out of nowhere for the Dolphins, and the true kickoff point was this October game in Miami when the 1-4 Dolphins shocked the 4-1 Steelers. This also was the true beginning of Jay Ajayi's magical run as he produced the first of his three 200-yard rushing performances of the season, capping his day with a 62-yard touchdown after Pittsburgh had scored to cut Miami's lead to 23-15 with 1:02 left. Maybe not coincidentally, this was the first game together for the Dolphins' "unicorn" offensive line of Branden Albert, Laremy Tunsil, Mike Pouncey, Jermon Bushrod and Ja'Wuan James.

45. 2013 at Indianapolis — Dolphins 24, Colts 20

We already have featured a few Dolphins victories at Indy in the countdown, but this is the first one that involves Andrew Luck and not Peyton Manning. But this was a passing showdown nonetheless, with Luck and Ryan Tannehill each passing for more than 300 yards, and Charles Clay, Mike Wallace and Colts WR T.Y. Hilton all topping 100 receiving yards. As with victories against Manning, the defense had to come up with some big stops in the fourth quarter to preserve the victory — Brent Grimes picked off Luck on a first-and-10 from the Miami 34 and Philip Wheeler came up with a sack on fourth-and-10 from the Miami 23 on Indy's final drive.

44. 2000 at Cincinnati — Dolphins 31, Bengals 16

Few games in Dolphins history have turned so much on one first-half play like this one at Paul Brown Stadium. Coming in with a 3-1 record against a bad Cincinnati team that was 0-3, the Dolphins sleepwalked through most of the first half and appeared as though they would take a 13-3 deficit into the locker room at halftime. But it all turned thanks to a truly horrible decision by the Bengals combined with a great play by a great player, Jason Taylor. With 8 seconds left in the half and facing a second-and-5 from their own 37 after a 5-yard run by Brandon Bennett, the Bengals decided to have Akili Smith drop back to pass. Bad idea. Horrible idea. Taylor got around the left tackle in a hurry, nailed Smith from behind, and caused a fumble that he picked up and returned 34 yards for a touchdown that made it 13-10. The Dolphins then dominated the second half, scoring three touchdowns before Cincy kicked a late field goal.

43. 2023 vs. Denver — Dolphins 70, Broncos 20

What can we say about this game? This was an epic performance by the Dolphins offense in the home opener where practically every skill position player had a big play — or several. From Tua to Tyreek and De’Von Achane and Raheem Mostert and even Mike White connecting with Robbie Chosen on a bomb, everybody got in on the fun.

42. 2018 vs. Tennessee — Dolphins 27, Titans 20

This game would deserve a place in the countdown no matter what just because of the sheer absurdity of it as the longest game (in actual time) in NFL history. For those who might have forgotten, this was the game that began at 1:02 p.m. ET and didn't end until 8:08 p.m. thanks to two hour-long lightning delays. But this also was a pretty wild game that saw each team score 17 points in the fourth quarter with a series of big plays — Jakeem Grant's 102-yard kickoff return, followed by Ryan Tannehill's 75-yard touchdown pass to Kenny Stills followed by Tennessee returner Darius Jennings scoring on a 94-yard kickoff return.

41. 2014 vs. Minnesota — Dolphins 37, Vikings 35

Speaking of crazy fourth quarters, the 2018 Dolphins-Titans game had nothing on this one. The teams combined for five touchdowns in that fourth quarter in Week 16, which also saw three lead changes. For good measure, the last score came when Terrence Fede blocked a Minnesota punt through the end zone for the game-winning safety with 41 seconds left. That play, it should be mentioned, came shortly after Cameron Wake sacked future Dolphins QB Teddy Bridgewater on third-and-8 to force the punt. Bridgewater had a 114.1 passer rating that day, topped by Ryan Tannehill's 118.7 on the strength of 396 passing yards and four touchdowns. This game would have placed a lot higher in our countdown if not for the fact the Dolphins already had been eliminated from playoff contention.