MIAMI GARDENS — The Miami Dolphins, who badly needed a victory, hosted the New York Jets on Monday and got that much-needed win, 27-21. But they might have lost star wide receiver Tyreek Hill for an extended period with a left knee injury. That was the bad news.
The good news is the Dolphins (1-3) got their first win of the season and also extended their home winning streak over the Jets to 10 games.
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was efficient, the defense answered the call to play more violently (strictly in the football sense), and special teams continued making a big contribution to the game’s outcome.
Coach Mike McDaniel, whose job security has been questioned, earned himself some semblance of peace in that sense with the win as he improved his overall record to 29-28, including playoffs, and 29-26 in the regular season.
Here’s what we learned in the game:
Has Tyreek Hill played his last game for the Dolphins?
Wide receiver Tyreek Hill, the Dolphins’ most dynamic player since being acquired in 2022, sustained a left knee injury in the third quarter of Monday’s game. And considering the 31-year-old is due to count more than $50 million on the salary cap you have to wonder whether it was his last play for the Dolphins.
Hill, who ended the game with six receptions for 67 yards, was already being touted as a trade candidate because of the Dolphins’ 0-3 start and his off-field issues, which includes an ongoing NFL investigation into allegations of domestic violence against his estranged wife.
Hill, who only speaks with the media once a week, missed Saturday’s practice for personal reasons so he didn’t speak last week. Hill was one of the Dolphins’ most durable players having only missed one game since being acquired, a 30-0 win over the New York Jets in 2023. — Chris Perkins
Waller makes impactful debut
Tight end Darren Waller, playing for the first time since had a 14-yard reception for a first down and a 4-yard touchdown reception for his first two catches as a Dolphins player. He added another touchdown in the third quarter, this one a 9-yard reception. Waller ended with three receptions for 27 yards and two touchdowns.
Waller, who turned 33 on Sept. 13, used his size and some nifty footwork for his first touchdown reception. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa threw the pass between cornerback Sauce Gardner and safety Brandon Stephens in the back of the end zone. Waller, at 6-foot-6, 238 pounds, went up high to snatch the ball out of the air and then artfully got his left foot (his second foot) down in the end zone to complete the touchdown reception.
Dolphins force three turnovers
The Dolphins forced three turnovers Monday, which is significant considering they entered Monday’s game as one of three teams, along with Washington and the Jets, without a forced turnover. That changed in the first quarter when cornerback Jack Jones stripped running back Braelon Allen near the goalline. Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick recovered the loose ball, leading to a 15-play, 96-yard touchdown drive by the Dolphins.
In the second quarter inside linebacker Tyrel Dodson had a strip-sack of Jets quarterback Justin Fields that was recovered by outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips at the Jets’ 47-yard line.
In the third quarter linebacker Cam Goode and safety Dante Trader Jr. forced a fumble on Jets kickoff returner Isaiah Williams that Trader recovered.
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Dolphins use three safeties among multiple looks
Safeties Iffy Melinfonwu, Ashtyn Davis and Minkah Fitzpatrick played together early in the game with Fitzpatrick as the slot/nickel. At other times cornerback Cornell Armstrong or safety Dante Trader Jr. came in as the fifth defensive back.
Defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver mixed up the defensive looks in the secondary frequently and it seemed to produce good results. The Jets weren’t able to throw downfield with success at any point.
The Dolphins, whose secondary is still eyed wih suspicion, put rookie safety Jason Marshall Jr. (hamstring) on the injured reserve list, meaning he must miss at least four weeks.
Rushing defenses gets gashed early, then kind of rights the ship
The Jets totaled 197 rushing yards, 115 rushing yards in the first half, and 76 rushing yards on their first possession, which ended in a fumble when cornerback Jack Jones stripped running back Braelon Allen of the ball near the goalline and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick recovered.
The early-game run defense was troubling considering the Dolphins, who were No. 9 against the run last year, entered Monday’s game 29th in rushing defense at 145 yards per game. But they got things squared away by utilizing defensive linemen Zach Sieler, Kenneth Grant, Jordan Phillips and Matthew Butler, sometimes at the same time.
It should be pointed out quarterback Justin Fields (seven carries, 81 yards) scored on a 43-yard run in the third quarter on a scramble, however.
McDaniel falls to 4-16 on challenges
Coach Mike McDaniel challenged a Jets kickoff return possession in the second quarter and lost when referees ruled the returnman, Allen, was down by contact. McDaniel is now 4-16 on challenges since becoming head coach in 2022.
Tua has decent showing
Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa ended 17 of 25 for 177 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 114.9 passer rating in his most solid game of the young season. Tagovailoa had one fumbled snap but for the most part he played a smart, efficient game and didn’t take unnecessary risks. He ended with three carries for six yards, didn’t have any near-interceptions and didn’t force any plays.
Strange becomes third starter and fourth player at RG
Dolphins right guard Cole Strange started against the Jets, meaning he’s the third right guard to start in four games. James McDaniel, the free agent signee from Chicago, started the opener but sustained a pectoral injury and was placed on injured reserve. Kion Smith started the next two games but was replaced by Daniel Brunskill last week at Buffalo. Strange, signed Sept. 9, got the start against the Jets, making him the fourth player at right guard.
Jets TE Mason Taylor excels as dad, Jason Taylor, watches
Jets rookie tight end Mason Taylor, the son of Dolphins Hall of Famer Jason Taylor, finished with five receptions for 65 yards. Mason Taylor, the second-round pick from LSU, entered the game with six receptions for 43 yards.
Jason Taylor, who played for the Jets in 2010. Hall of Famers Jason Taylor, an outside linebacker, and Zach Thomas, a middle linebacker, served as Dolphins honorary team captains for the coin toss Monday.
The Dolphins will face the Los Angeles Chargers tight end Oronde Gadsden II, son of ex-Dolphins wide receiver Oronde Gadsen, on Oct. 12 when the Dolphins host the Chargers.
Special teams loom large again
The Dolphins caused a special teams fumble Monday that they turned into a touchdown and a 17-6 lead. Special teams have played a role in all four games this season. In the opener at Indianapolis outside linebacker Matthew Judon ran into the Colts punter, extending a 17-play drive that the Colts turned into a field goal and a 20-0 halftime lead. Against New England, the Dolphins had a 74-yard punt return touchdown matched by a 90-yard kickoff return touchdown in a 33-27 loss. Against Buffalo, Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler had a roughing the punter penalty that allowed the Bills to score a touchdown and take a 28-21 lead.
Dolphins crowd stays favorable…except for that banner
The crowd at Hard Rock Stadium never booed, a departure from its behavior against New England, the Dolphins’ only other home game, and packed Hard Rock Stadium with a particularly large contingent of Dolphins fans among the 65,848 tickets distributed.
There have been times that Jets fans have had a huge presence at Hard Rock Stadium, but Monday wasn’t one of those times despite the Dolphins entering the game winless at 0-3.
There were swaths of unused seats but it was a mostly packed stadium and few cheers were heard from Jets fans as their teams suffered from three turnovers and committed 12 penalties for 101 yards.
Yes, there was a banner flown over the stadium before the game that read, “Help wanted. New GM. New Coach. New QB.” But that was it for the drama along those lines.
Tua has been a maestro with many-many-play touchdown drives
According to pro-football-reference.com, since 2001, the Miami Dolphins have had 35 touchdown drives that have involved at least 14 snaps in the regular season. In the 310 regular-season Dolphins games from 2001 through Tua’s first start, in October of 2020, Miami had cashed in for six points on 20 of those long slogs (15.50 games per such touchdown). Monday’s 15-play masterpiece was the 15th in the Dolphins’ 82 games since Tagovailoa was named the starting quarterback. Tua himself has been the starter for 13 of them in his 66 starts (5.08 games per such touchdown drive, more than three times the frequency as from 2001-20). So, as the quick-strike offense has always been there for Tua and Tyreek, the above data attests to the lefty’s patience. — Steve Svekis
Miami’s defense extended a wild streak of game-turning turnovers on the doorstep of their end zone
For the third season in a row, a Dolphins opponent fumbled the ball at the Miami 2 or 1 and the aqua-and-orange recovered as part of a one-score win. The Jets, down 3-0, had their first possession chewing up yardage in the run game when they handed it off to Braelon Allen on a dive play. As he made a leap toward the end zone, Jack Jones forced the ball out at the 1, and it was covered up by Minkah Fitzpatrick at the 4. On Christmas Eve of 2023, the Dallas Cowboys had a first-and-goal at the 1 when the Cowboys botched a handoff, with Brandon Jones recovering it at the 2. Then, in last year’s season opener, the Jaguars Travis Etienne seemingly had a clear path to the end zone to make the score 24-7 Jags with less than 18 minutes left in the game. Jevon Holland, though, dislodged the ball and Kader Kohou recovered it in the end zone. One play later, Tua Tagovailoa found Tyreek Hill on a crossing route and Hill blazed 80 yards to make in 17-14 en route to a 20-17 win. Those are infrequent occurrences.
Tua Tagovailoa finally lit it up at Hard Rock under the lights
The Dolphins quarterback had entered the Jets game with four previous prime-time starts at Hard Rock Stadium and had been limited to a 75.7 passer rating at under 16 points scored per game with a handful of dropped interceptions. He was in charge against the Jets, breaking out a bunch of bootlegs and looking very comfortable finally having another big-body receiving target in Darren Waller and piling up a 114.9 passer rating.
Shocker: Jason Taylor’s son had the best game of his (microscopic) NFL career in Miami Gardens
Tight end Mason Taylor came into Monday with 43 career receiving yards. He had 65 against the Dolphins in the stadium where his dad forged a Hall of Fame career.
Tua Tagovailoa’s eyes must brighten when he plays the Jets in Miami Gardens
Tua has now had four starts against the Jets in Miami Gardens, and in those games, the Dolphins’ offense has scored 31, 30, 32 and 27 points for a 30.0 average.
The Dolphins have played the Jets a ton on Monday, but not recently
Monday was the 14th Monday Night Football matchup between the Dolphins and Jets, but the first since December of 2014. The Dolphins carried a 6-7 Monday night record against the Jets into the matchup. Before the more-than-decadelong hiatus, the teams had stacked 11 of their MNF matchups in 30 years from 1984-2014.
On deck: At Carolina Panthers, Bank of America Stadium, Sunday, 1 p.m.
The Panthers, since quarterback Bryce Young returned from his benching last year, has become a become a solid opponent at home. In Carolina’s past seven games in Charlotte, the Panthers are 4-3, outsourcing the opposition 173-155. Most recently, they roasted the Atlanta Falcons 30-0. That said, their offense has been poor, with only 289.3 yards per game.
