Miami Dolphins at 50: Top 10 Games

The Miami Dolphins have played in some pretty amazing games over the course of their 50 years of existence.

A lot of those games come from the fact that for nearly two decades Dan Marino would pull the team out of the fire and escape with a victory.

But this list isn’t exclusive to just Marino leading the team to comeback victories as the franchise has engaged in some outstanding contests both before and after Marino’s time.

For the most part, to make it on this list the Dolphins needed to have won the game because who wants to celebrate a defeat, right? However, there is one exception due to just how exciting and heart stopping the game truly was.

So let’s go through the top 10 games in team history but, as usual, let’s begin with some honorable mentions.

Honorable Mention – AFC Wild Card Round: Miami Dolphins vs. Buffalo Bills; Jan. 2, 1999

Anyone who watched this game probably got gray hairs immediately.

For the most part, Buffalo Bills quarterback Doug Flutie would not let his team die.

Down 24-14 with under four minutes left in the game, Flutie led a drive to narrow the gap to 24-17 after three Dolphins penalties, one of which negated a Flutie fumble and Trace Armstrong recovery.

With 90 seconds left, the Bills recovered the onside kick. The first play on the drive had Flutie finding WR Eric Moulds for a 31-yard reception. From there Flutie would lead the Bills to the Dolphins five yard line with 17 seconds left.

Armstrong would find Flutie again, but this time it would not be negated by a penalty. Armstrong sacked Flutie and forced a fumble which Shane Burton recovered. Despite a furious rally by the rival Bills, the Miami Dolphins survived.

Flutie threw for 360 yards and ran for an additional 29 while Moulds gathered 240 receiving yards, which is still a playoff record.

However, Flutie turned the ball over three times – two fumbles and one interception – while Moulds and Andre Reed also put the ball on the ground.

The Dolphins were more careful with their possessions. Dan Marino threw one interception but that would be the only turnover.

Marino threw for 235 yards and completed the game-winning touchdown to Lamar Thomas late in the fourth quarter. Karim Abdul-Jabbar had 99 all-purpose yards on 29 touches with one touchdown.

This is the only time in franchise history that the Dolphins have defeated the Bills in the playoffs as Miami lost in the divisional round in 1990, the AFC Championship game in 1992, and the Wild Card round in 1995.