The Miami Dolphins didn’t play their best football on Sunday afternoon against the New York Jets. And perhaps that’s the most intriguing and scary thought of all — given that the Dolphins were still completely dominant en route to a 24-0 shutout victory over the Jets to push Miami back to .500 on the season (3-3) and usher in a sorely needed bye week for the Dolphins.
Miami was once again fast out the gate, jumping into an early 21-0 lead in the first half thanks to some gouging runs by RB Myles Gaskin and a trio of passing touchdowns from QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Dolphins, to their credit, did play smothering defense throughout the game — you don’t log your first shoutout in 6 years by not playing effective football on defense. But once the game was clearly in hand at 21-0, Miami was perfectly content to transition into clock control and play the field position battle with the Jets, who could hardly get beyond their own 40-yard line for much of the game.
There were plenty of miscues for the Dolphins. The team was 1 of 9 on third downs and turned the ball over twice, while Fitzpatrick nearly cost the team several other possessions of the football with some questionable decision making in this contest. But never the less, Miami physically outclassed the Jets and despite their own self inflicted wounds remained in total control of the tame. The Jets logged just 3.8 yards per play on offense and averaged 3.1 yards per pass as veteran quarterback Joe Flacco endured his first career loss to the Dolphins. He was previous record against the Dolphins was 7-0.
But that may be the best summarizing outlook of these Dolphins as a whole. This isn’t your “same old Dolphins”, not in any stretch. Miami has seen players step up on a weekly basis — TE Adam Shaheen was one of the big standouts on this day. He logged 3 receptions for 51 yards and the opening score of the game, helping push Miami into a lead they would never relinquish through the end of the game.
Another big appearance came from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa — who entered after the Jets’ last gasp effort to get into the end zone came up empty on downs. And, despite the expectation that Miami would offer three consecutive handoffs in the shadow of their own goal posts, the Dolphins indeed ran on 1st-down but then came out firing with pass attempts of second and third down. Tagovailoa completed them both for nine yards — the second to Jakeem Grant and extending the drive for a first down. Tagovailoa was met with thunderous cheers, both from the fans in attendance and by his fellow quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick — who was caught on camera egging on the cheers from the sideline.
An imperfect performance will provide Miami with plenty of ammunition to attack their bye week and come out inspired against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 8. But the team’s first shutout win in 6 years is still plenty of evidence that this team is humming. And as they carry a 3-1 record over their last four games into the bye, the Dolphins’ season turns into a 10-game stretch and race for the postseason.
We’ll see how they respond. If the first six games of 2020 is any indication, they’ll be resilient in the face of adversity if nothing else.