The Top 100 Plays of the First Quarter of the Century: 61-65

Here's our countdown of the top 100 Miami Dolphins plays 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 plays 61-65:

65. Jarvis Landry 50-yard TD vs. Houston in 2015

Setting the stage: The Dolphins welcomed the Houston Texans in Week 7 in the first home game under interim head coach Dan Campbell after recording a 38-10 victory at Tennessee in Campbell's debut in their previous game. What they did against Houston in the first half could only be described as a demolition. The Dolphins set a franchise record with 41 points in that first half, which featured four touchdowns of 50 yards or more. None was more exciting, though, than Jarvis Landry's first-quarter play.

The play: After taking a 7-0 lead on Ryan Tannehill's 53-yard touchdown pass to Rishard Matthews, the Dolphins began their third offensive possession at midfield after a 33-yard Houston punt. It took them only one play to pad their lead. And it began simply enough with a Tannehill completion to Landry near the left sideline. But that's when Landry began his magic. He made two Houston defenders miss tackle attempts with quick inside moves before sprinting all the across the field to the right sideline behind some good blocking. Landry made one more cut to the inside around the 10-yard line to complete the spectacular touchdown.

64. Albert Wilson' 75-yard touchdown catch against Chicago in 2018

Setting the stage: The 2018 Dolphins got off to a 3-0 start, but lost their next two games and saw quarterback Ryan Tannehill get injured in the Week 5 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals. That put Brock Osweiler into the starting lineup for the Week 6 game against a Chicago Bears team coming to Miami with a 3-1 record. Chicago led most of the way until Albert Wilson's 43-yard touchdown reception helped the Dolphins tie the score at 21-21, but the Bears regained the lead with 3:17 left in regulation. That's when Wilson struck again.

The play: After a touchback on the kickoff that followed Chicago's go-ahead touchdown, Osweiler couldn't find anybody open until he saw Wilson running across the middle of the field at the Miami 28. Wilson caught the ball on the run and then split a trio of Chicago near the sideline before turning upfield and outracing everybody to the end zone, turning a harmless-looking short pass into a 75-yard touchdown. The big play helped the Dolphins pull out a 31-28 victory in overtime.

63. Melvin Ingram’s TD vs. New England in 2022

Setting the stage: The Dolphins opened the 2022 season against the New England Patriots in Mike McDaniel’s debut as head coach with renewed hope for the offense thanks to the expected improvement of QB Tua Tagovailoa and the arrival of Tyreek Hill and Terron Armstead, but it was the defense that provided the first big play of the season.

The play: The Dolphins got a field goal out of their first offensive possession of the season, but had to punt from around midfield on their second after a third-and-11 completion came up short. With New England starting at its 15, rookie QB Mac Jones threw an incompletion on first down on a throw intended for current Dolphins tight end Jonnu Smith. On second down, defensive coordinator Josh Boyer — retained from Brian Flores’ staff — called a blitz and safety Brandon Jones ran it to perfection, nailed Jones to cause a fumble. Ingram scooped up the loose ball at the 2-yard line and completed the easy touchdown for a 10-0 lead on the way to a 20-7 victory.

62. Reshad Jones pick-six at Tennessee in 2015

Setting the stage: There clearly was something different for the Dolphins in their first game under interim head coach Dan Campbell in Week 6 of the 2015 season after he replaced Joe Philbin following a loss against the New York Jets in London that left Miami with a 1-3 record.

The play: Already leading 17-3 midway through the third quarter, Jones read Marcus Mariota’s eyes as he looked for tight end Delonte Walker and jumped the route to make the picks. Jones had a clear sailing to the end zone and decided to do a sideways flip to celebrate his touchdown, part of a dominating effort in a 38-10 victory.

61. Tua’s second TD pass to Tyreek Hill at Baltimore in 2022

Setting the stage: After the defense led the way in the 2022 opener, it was the offense that stole the show in an unbelievable performance that saw Tagovailooa tied a franchise record with six touchdown passes, and Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle combine for 361 receiving yards and four touchdowns. The Dolphins rallied for an improbable 42-38 victory after entering the fourth quarter trailing 35-14.

The play: There are a lot of plays we could have selected from that game, including the TD pass to Mike Gesicki in the third quarter, the first TD pass to Hill, the game-winner to Jaylen Waddle or the key fourth-quarter stop when the Ravens were in Miami territory leading 35-21, but we’ll go with the 60-yard TD pass that tied the score 35-35 because it seemed to symbolize the explosive Dolphins of 2022. Yes, it came on a defensive breakdown where the Ravens tried the bold strategy of simply not covering Hill on the outside, but it still was cool to see the hook-up on a third-and-6 with Hill flashing a forward peace sign as he approached the end zone.

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