As the Miami Dolphins learned all too well during their 1-7 start to the season it is often your own mistakes that turn victory into defeat. And it was several key mistakes by the New York Jets on Sunday that led to Miami’s 24-17 win at MetLife Stadium. Miami has now won 3 straight games to improve to 4-7.
Miami started off strong after the opening kickoff by marching down the field on an 11 play 78-yard drive capped by a 1-yard run by Jaylen Waddle. After taking a handoff from Miles Gaskin out of the Wildcat, Waddle flashed his elite speed by outracing several Jets defenders to the pylon. The play was set up by an excellent effort by Patrick Laird on a 3rd and 4th play when he took a short pass and juked & powered his way for a 1st down to the Jets 1 yard line.
On Miami’s 2nd drive, quarterback Tua Tagovailoa overthrew his receiver resulting in a Jets interception that gave them great field position at the Dolphins 40-yard line. After a 39-yard run by Jets running back Michael Carter, quarterback Joe Flacco tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jamison Crowder to tie the game at 7-7.
On their next drive, the Jets drove into the red zone, but the drive was thwarted when Dolphins’ safety Brandon Jones blitzed Flacco, causing a fumble which landed in the arms of Miami’s Christian Wilkins. Wilkins subsequently fumbled the ball, but it was recovered by Dolphins safety Javon Holland. This was an important game changing moment for the Dolphins and was the first of several key mistakes on the day for the Jets .
The rest of the 1st half was uneventful, as both teams missed field goals. Jets kicker Matt Ammendola missed a 55 yarder while Fins kicker Jason Sanders missed a chip shot 32-yard field goal, which resulted in 7-7 halftime tie.
After the Jets punted on their 1st drive of the 2nd half, Miami went 90 yards in 4 plays capped off by a 65-yard touchdown pass from Tua to wide receiver Mack Hollins to put the Fins up 14-7.
The Jets then marched down the field only to have Ammendola miss another field goal, this time from 40 yards. This was the first of 3 key 2nd half mistakes by the Jets.
The Jets rebounded quickly, though, as on their next drive Flacco hit wide receiver Elijah Moore on a 62-yard touchdown pass. Flacco did a great job taking advantage of the Dolphins blitz and Moore beat a diving Byron Jones on a short route and then sprinted to the endzone to tie the score at 14-14.
The Jets then made a huge mistake on the ensuing possession as a careless roughing the passer penalty on John Franklin-Myers negated an incomplete pass by Tua on 3rd & 6 that gave Miami a 1st down. The Dolphins then finished off the 14 play 77-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass from Tua to Gaskin. The play gave Miami a 21-14 lead with 10:15 left to play in the game.
New York then made their 3rd major mistake of the 2nd half when a 3rd down sack of Tua, which would have pushed Miami out of field goal range at the Jets 40, was negated by a holding call on Jason Pinnock. A 24-yard Sanders field goal finished off the 12 play 44-yard drive that took 6:53 off the clock with 2 minutes remaining in the game.
The Jets kicked a 35-yard field goal with 18 seconds to go in the game, but Miami’s Albert Wilson recovered the subsequent on-side kick by the Jets to ice the Dolphins 24-17 win.
Other key takeaways from the game were:
- Statistically, the game was fairly even as Miami had 388 total yards vs. the Jets 380 yards, while the Dolphins 20 1st downs were just 2 more than New York had.
- Tua had a very efficient day throwing the ball, as he completed 82% of his passes going 27-33 for 273 yards with 2 touchdown passes and 1 interception. Other than the 65 yarder to Hollins, most of his passes were of the shorter variety.
- Flacco did a good job of dissecting the Dolphins’ blitzes, often getting rid of the ball quickly. He finished 24-39 for 291 yards with 2 touchdown passes. He didn’t throw any interceptions, but he did fumble once. He was sacked twice.
- Miami had one of their better games in running the ball as they ran the ball 33 times for 115 yards. In the 2nd half they ran the ball 20 times for 79 yards. Gaskin had 23 carries for 89 yards.
- The Miami O-line didn’t allow any sacks of Tua, but the bevy of short passes accounted for much of that success. Between the zero sacks and the 115 yards rushing, it was one of the better games for the Fins offensive line this season.
- Miami had 8 penalties for 62 yards vs. 7 for 48 yards for the Jets, but as noted above, 2 of the penalties were killers for the Jets resulting in 10 points for Miami.
- The Jets gained 102 yards on the ground, but they ran the ball only 18 times for a 5.7 yards per carry average.
- In addition to running for a touchdown, Waddle caught 8 passes for 65 yards. Tight-end Mike Gesicki finished with 50 yards on 5 receptions. Fellow TE Durham Smythe caught 4 passes for 37 yards.
- Rookie WR Moore had a big day for the Jets with 8 catches for 141 yards and a touchdown. Dolfans should get used to him being a thorn in the Fins side for many years to come.
- Jets RB Michael Carter left the game with a knee injury and didn’t return. Likewise, Dolphins’ safety Brandon Jones didn’t return after inuring his elbow.
Although Miami’s offense was conservative with a lot of short passes, they did make a commitment to the run game with 33 rushing attempts vs. 34 pass attempts. It allowed them to control the clock and minimize their mistakes. The Jets wish they could say the same, as their three 2nd half mistakes cost them 13 points in what would be a 7-point loss.
Up next for the Dolphins is the Carolina Panthers at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday. Cam Newton had a good day today in his 1st start for Carolina, although the Panthers still lost to Washington. Carolina also has that McCaffrey guy who will keep the Dolphins defenders busy both on the ground and in the air. It’s a winnable game vs. the 5-6 Panthers, but Miami will have to play more like they did vs. Baltimore last week than they did vs. the Jets today.
