The Miami Dolphins have played 120 minutes of football against their former head coach Adam Gase this season. In those 120 minutes, the New York Jets possessed the football 25 times. Twenty five total possessions. And across twenty five possession of football, the New York Jets offense provided the following against the Miami Dolphins this season:
- 23 first downs
- 6 sacks taken
- 5 third down conversions (on 30 attempts)
- 4.29 yards per play (on 122 plays)
- 3 turnovers
- 3 points scored
Is there any question what side of history Miami will be on for their decision to part ways with Gase after the 2018 season unraveled and the Dolphins committed to a full-on rebuilding effort? The poetry here is sublime. Because it was Gase’s Dolphins in 2017 and 2018 that had posted two of the five worse point differentials in franchise history with 393 points allowed in 2017 (-112 in points that season) and 433 points in 2018 (-114). The only seasons worse than that at the time? The team’s first two seasons of existence in 1967 & 1968 and Cam Cameron’s 1-15 squad from 2007.
Yes, the fallout of the teardown of the 2018 Dolphins resulted in a point differential that surpassed Gase’s two sorry seasons of defensive play here in South Florida. The 2019 Dolphins were -188 on the year; but nearly two-thirds of that point differential came in the first three games of the season as Miami was outscored 59-10, 43-0 and 31-6. What a difference a year makes. The Dolphins have, through 11 games, conceded 205 points this season — 18.6 points per game. That figure puts them as the NFL’s 2nd-best scoring defense this year.
And it is the dominance over the Jets that will leave a mark in the history books. This is the best two-game defensive performance in a single season by a defense against any NFL team over the last decade. It’s also the second best performance in Miami’s franchise history against an AFC East opponent (the undefeated Dolphins of 1972 played the Baltimore Colts twice and shut them out both times).
Miami will march on this season and is ‘on to Cincinnati’, as one hooded head coach would say. But on this Victory Monday, the Dolphins defense would be wise to at least enjoy a moment to reflect on a season sweep against the Jets that is well earned and won’t soon be forgotten.