The Phinsider
The Miami Dolphins welcomed the New York Jets into Hard Rock Stadium on Monday night, part of a doubleheader of games to close out Week 4 of the NFL season. The Dolphins were not great hosts, however, smacking the Jets around throughout the entire game.
The major story of the game will be the injury to wide receiver Tyreek Hill. Early in the second half, Hill caught a pass and had his leg awkwardly folded up under him as he was brought down. The Dolphins took him to the hospital nearly immediately with his leg in a brace.
Miami’s offense looked more like the 2023 high-octane scoring machine they were in this game than the stagnant system they had been using. They are going to have to prove they can keep it up, but if this is the Dolphins team we will see, it should be a much better year than what we saw to start the season.
Jets 21 – 27 Dolphins
The Dolphins won the coin toss, but elected to receive rather than their standard deferral, choosing to put the offense on the field and hope to get a fast start. They opened with two runs from running back De’Von Achane, gaining five yards, before tight end Darren Waller made his debut with a 14-yard catch for a first down on a pass over the middle from quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. The Dolphins went back and forth between runs and passes before an incomplete pass targeting wide receiver Jaylen Waddle on 3rd-and-3, a play that should have been flagged for defensive pass interference, led to a Miami 47-yard field goal.
Good start, and the team needs to stay balanced. Tagovailoa looks decisive early, another thing that needs to continue into this game. The Dolphins targeted Waller, Achane, Waddle, and wide receiver Tyreek Hill on that drive, looking to get all of their playmakers into a rhythm.
Dolphins 3-0.
New York clearly wanted to establish a physical running attack on their drive. On a 12-play drive the Jets called running plays nine times, with two of the passing play calls turning into scrambles from quarterback Justin Fields. They ran for 76 yards on the drive, averaging 6.9 yards per carry. The drive reached the Miami six-yard line, before cornerback Jack Jones punched the ball out of the grasp of running back Braelon Allen, with safety Minkah Fitzpatrick recovering the loose ball.
*Bend don’t break. Wow, the defense has to adjust to the Jets’ running game. They obviously have seen that Miami struggles against physical attacks, and they are coming out playing power football. The turf is also an issue. There was a replay showing a Jets run, and you could watch Dolphins defensive lineman Kenneth Grant just being pushed backwards like he was wearing ice skates. They got lucky with their first takeaway of the year. Now they need to score and...
