The Miami Dolphins’ 10 greatest last-minute wins ever

The Miami Miracle on Sunday was amazing, astounding, wonderful, stunning, shocking, and breathtaking. Yeah, it was really good.

But while the moment will go down in franchise lore it won’t be alone. It might not even be in the top 10.

The Dolphins have had other simply unforgettable game-deciding moments in their history. And I thought I would remind you of those today because it’s good to remember the good times and revive what is memorable and perhaps what is a reason so many fans around the country are so devoted to the Dolphins to this day.

So here are the top 10 greatest winning moments in Dolphins history before the Miami Miracle:

10. Cameron Wake walk-off safety vs. Cincinnati in 2013: The Dolphins and Bengals were tied at 20 in overtime. And halfway into that overtime period, Wake blew through a block and dropped Bengals QB Andy Dalton in his own end zone for a safety. Amazingly, Wake beat a guard for the sack because the Dolphins had blitzed and Phillip Wheeler was blocked by the tackle who typically was assigned to Wake. This was just the third game-ending safety in league history — Chicago pulled the trick in 2004 and Minnesota in 1989. “I have a picture of [the sack] in my home,” Wake said later.

9. Damon Huard beats the Patriots in 1999: In October of 1999, it was already clear the relationship between Dan Marino and Jimmy Johnson had soured. And, interestingly, Damon Huard played a role in that because when Marino got injured and had to miss games due to neck spasms and a hip injury, Huard helped the Dolphins win four of five starts. So Johnson sort of adopted Huard and would tell confidants how well he played when he got the opportunity. This game, however, Huard ignominiously saw his first pass intercepted and returned for a touchdown by cornerback Ty Law. He was also sacked nine times. But he passed for 240 yards and completed 9 of 12 passes on the game’s final drive, hitting fullback Stanley Pritchett with a TD pass to put it away with less than one minute to play. “I think Dan’s had 36 of these,” Huard said of his fourth-quarter comeback. “I’ve been here three years, so I’ve gotten to watch a few of them. He’s something special in the two-minute drill. Hopefully, some of that has rubbed off on me.”

8. Greg Camarillo walk-off touchdown in overtime vs. Ravens in 2007: This play is an enigma because it elicited such joy in a joyless and (almost) winless season. In a game tied at 13, on third-and-8 from their own 36-yard line, Camarillo went in motion and caught a slant from Cleo Lemon. He never looked back on his 64-yard touchdown. It’s not so much that the play brought a win, it’s that the play kept the Dolphins from being 0-16 that season. The Dolphins improved to 1-13 that day. Interestingly, Camarillo was claimed off waivers from San Diego earlier that season. Lemon was traded to the Dolphins from San Diego. It was the longest play from scrimmage of the awful season for Miami. The day after the win, then-owner Wayne Huizenga called prospective buyer Stephen Ross and informed him the price of buying the Dolphins had just gone up. Ross bought the team anyway. The next year the Dolphins gave Camarillo a contract extension. They had already given coach Cam Cameron the boot.

7. Jay Fiedler dive for a TD versus Oakland in 2001: Jay Fielder is best known as being the QB who succeeded Dan Marino. And no, he never accomplished passing feats in a category anywhere near Marino. But he won a lot. And he was gritty. And he had the makeup of a winning quarterback. That showed the second week of the 2001 season when the Dolphins trailed the Raiders by five points with 1:51 to play. Fiedler directed a 10-play, 80-yard drive in 1:41. And with 10 seconds to play, Fiedler tried to pass but found no one open. So he decided to run, diving the final few feet for the winning score. The Dolphins won 18-15 en route to an 11-5 season. “Today Jay was special — he had a little bit of Marino in him, a little bit of that, ‘Here we come. We’re going down the field, just stay with me and we’ll be all right,’ “ offensive guard Mark Dixon said afterward. Most folks forget Fiedler threw two interceptions in this game because, well, it’s about the result. This was the first game the Dolphins and, indeed, the entire NFL played after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Fiedler appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated that week.

6. Michael Thomas intercepts Tom Brady in 2013: It was sometime on a Tuesday, December 10 in 2013 that the Miami Dolphins, needing special teams help, signed safety Michael Thomas off the San Francisco 49ers’ practice squad. And it was an under-the-radar addition except that a shortage of players forced Miami to make Thomas active to play on special teams the very next Sunday. And then injuries in that game forced the Dolphins to play Thomas on defense — even though he never took a defensive snap in practice that week. And with the Dolphins clinging to a 24-20 lead with seconds to play, Thomas batted a ball out of Danny Amendola’s hands in the end zone to save the game. And four plays later, on fourth down, Thomas intercepted a Brady pass intended for Austin Collie to seal the victory. “When [Brady] looked across the line of scrimmage and he saw, ‘OK who’s 31? Whatever the play was, don’t worry about it, we’re going after this guy,’ ” Thomas said. “As soon as I realized I caught it and the game was pretty much over, tears came. All my teammates jumped on me. They heard me screaming.”

5. Overtime victory over Indianapolis Colts 2000: This was the second-largest comeback win in team playoff history after the Dolphins erased a 14-0 halftime deficit. Can you imagine? A Dave Wannstedt team coming back like that? The Dolphins tied the score with 34 seconds to play when Jay Fiedler threw a 9-yard TD pass to Jed Weaver on third-and-goal. The Colts got the ball first in overtime and moved into field-goal range, but Mike Vanderjagt missed from 49 yards. And so the Dolphins took over and did what they had done most of the game: They handed the ball to Lamar Smith. Smith rushed 40 times for 209 yards that day, the final 17 of those yards delivering the winning touchdown with 3:34 left in the first overtime period. Smith’s 40 rushes was an NFL playoff record. His 209 yards was the second-most in NFL postseason history.

4. Thanksgiving Day 1993 over the Cowboys: It began to snow overnight that Thanksgiving eve in Dallas. And the roads were icy. And the field at the old Texas Stadium was covered with snow because it kept snowing right through the first half. And the two offenses were bogged down in the white stuff even though Keith Byars broke off a 77-yard touchdown run that he capped by forming a snow angel in the end zone. Regardless, the Dolphins trailed 14-13 with a few seconds to play when Pete Stoyanovich lined up a for 41-yard field-goal attempt. The kick was blocked. And as the ball spun in the snow and Dolphins players gathered around, something possessed Dallas defensive tackle Leon Lett to try to slide in and recover the loose ball — which, of course, he didn’t have to do. Lett didn’t grasp the ball and it instead was recovered by one of the Dolphins players. The recovery gave the Dolphins new life, and Stoyanich converted what was basically a chip shot kick for the win. “This is as big as any win I’ve ever played in, and it looks like the games are going to get bigger and bigger,” Dolphins quarterback Steve DeBerg said after the game. “This really became a man’s game, a big man’s game because all we could do was go straight ahead.” The Dolphins left Dallas with a 9-2 record that evening, the NFL’s best record. They didn’t win another game all season.

3. Dolphins win the longest game: It was at the time the longest NFL game played at 82 minutes, 40 seconds. Miami kicker Garo Yepremian kicked the winning 37-yard field goal at 7:40 of the second overtime period to end the marathon in glee for Miami. This game marked the moment Don Shula’s dynasty Dolphins arrived. People don’t often realize that most of the pieces from the Kansas City team which won Super Bowl 4 two years earlier were still in place and those Chiefs were favorites to win again in 1971. And the Dolphins showed themselves every bit Kansas City’s equal that year, posting a 10-3-1 record, and better than Kansas City that day. The big star for the Dolphins that day? Nick Buoniconti blocked a potential winning field-goal attempt from 42 yards in the first overtime. Paul Warfield, the greatest wide receiver in team history, caught seven passes for 140 yards. Both teams had two interceptions in the game.

2. Dan Marino return from an Achilles injury in 1994: Dan Marino missed the final 11 games of 1993 with a torn right Achilles tendon. And he struggled so much in the preseason of 1994 that one local columnist suggested the Dolphins should bench him if he didn’t play well. Craziness, I know. I remember Don Shula just shaking his head in dismay at the thought. It didn’t take Marino long to prove Shula correct. He passed for 473 yards and five touchdowns against the New England Patriots at then-Joe Robbie Stadium, leading the Dolphins back from a 21-10 deficit. They won the season opener 39-35. The iconic play folks remember from this iconic game was a 35-yard touchdown Marino threw to Irving Fryar with less than four minutes to play. The courageous throw came on fourth-and-5, erased a New England lead and blotted out a four-touchdown performance by Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe. “Nine touchdown passes,” Shula said afterward in amazement. “Fortunately, we had five and they had four. And that last one by Dan on fourth down — they just don’t get any bigger than that.”

1. The Fake Spike play: Some folks call this the Clock Play, and it is iconic because it not only lives in Dolphins lore but also has to be a part of New York Jets infamy because, well, they got fooled. Remember the teams were locked in a first-place tie for the AFC East at the time with twin 6-4 records. The Dolphins, however, were reeling because they’d lost two consecutive games and now the Jets raced out to a 17-0 lead in this game. Eventually the Dolphins climbed back in the game and trailed 24-21 with just more than two minutes to play. And the Dolphins got the football following an interception in their own territory and drove for what could be a winning TD. But time was running out when the Dolphins completed another pass to the New York 8-yard line. Only 38 seconds remained, and as the Miami offense hurried to the line of scrimmage, Marino yelled out, “Clock!, Clock!” The Jets understood that meant Marino was going to spike it. Fans around the world understood the same thing. Some Dolphins players understood the same thing. Except long ago, backup quarterback Bernie Kosar and Marino had concocted this fake spike. And as Marino saw Mark Ingram get one-on-one coverage against Aaron Glenn on the outside, he nodded to Ingram. And the receiver took off at the snap and got open. Marino, taking the snap, didn’t spike the ball as expected. He threw a TD pass to Ingram instead. The Jets were devastated. The Dolphins sideline erupted. Miami left the Meadowlands with a comeback win and in first place in the AFC East. Pete Carroll called the loss, “staggering.” The Jets would not win another game the rest of the season. “I enjoy talking about it,” Don Shula told ESPN in 2014, “but never with Jets fans. I don’t talk to Jets fans in South Florida. Or in New York. Or in the United States.” Classic!

Now, where should the Miami Miracle go? Does it crack this list?

This story was originally published December 10, 2018 at 3:44 PM.