The 100 Greatest Plays in Dolphins History: No. 38

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. 38:

No. 38: Andrew Franks' 55-Yard Field Goal at Buffalo in 2016

Setting the stage: The 2016 season was filled with highlights for the Dolphins, who bounced back from a 1-4 start in Adam Gase's first year as head coach to put themselves at 9-5 heading into their Week 16 at Buffalo to be played on Saturday, Dec. 24. The Dolphins appeared in control when they led 28-14 late in the third quarter, but quarterback Tyrod Taylor brought the Bills back and gave Buffalo a 31-28 lead with 1:20 left in regulation with a 7-yard touchdown pass to former Dolphins tight end Charles Clay. With the Dolphins needing a win to put themselves in position to clinch a playoff spot later in the weekend, Matt Moore engineered a last-minute drive that put kicker Andrew Franks in the role of hero.

The play: Out of timeouts, the Dolphins began their final drive at their 39 following a long kickoff return by Kenyan Drake and moved to the Buffalo 44 on a 17-yard hook-up between Moore and Kenny Stills. On third-and-10 from the Bills 44, Moore threw a short completion to running back Damien Williams, who was tackled in bounds at the 37. It was time for Franks to trot onto the field and for the Dolphins to quickly set up for a 55-yard field goal attempt. Franks' kick was a bit of a line drive, but it snuck inside the right upright as time expired to send the game to overtime. The Dolphins won the game in overtime and clinched a playoff berth the next day when Kansas City defeated Denver.