Miami Dolphins-New York Jets Week 18 Halftime Observations
Here’s what caught our eye during the first half of the Miami Dolphins game against the New York Jets at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
— We’ll start with the inactive list, which brought a whole the disappointing news that tackle Terron Armstead would be joining Tua Tagovailoa, among others on the inactive list. The other Dolphins inactives were CB Noah Igbinoghene, WR Cedrick Wilson Jr., LB Brennan Scarlett, T Kendall Lamm and TE Tanner Conner.
— Armstead (toe/pec/knee/hip), Wilson (hip) and Lamm (ankle) all were on the injury report during the week, as well as Tagovailoa dealing with his concussion.
— The Dolphins have three quarterbacks in the lineup: Skylar Thompson, Teddy Bridgewater and Mike Glennon, who was elevated from the practice squad Saturday.
— CB Xavien Howard and LB Bradley Chubb are back in the lineup after missing the New England game in Week 17.
— Rookie fourth-round pick Erik Ezukanma, the young wide receiver who shined in the preseason, is active for the first time all season.
FIRST QUARTER
— After losing the coin toss for a sixth consecutive game, the Dolphins got the ball first and got some good work done in the running game, with Raheem Mostert getting runs of 6 and 7, but the drive stalled after Miami got away from it.
— After Miami got into New York territory, starting left tackle Greg Little was flagged for a false start on third-and-7 and the obligatory wide receiver bubble screen to Jaylen Waddle produced 7 yards to produce a fourth-and-5 from the Jets 44.
— Head coach Mike McDaniel then chose the aggressive approach instead of playing field position, and after he couldn’t quickly find an open receiver, Thompson was flushed out of the pocket before he threw the ball away from an incompletion.
— The first defensive series was solid for the Dolphins, even after giving up a first down on a 15-yard completion from Joe Flacco to Elijah Moore, who easily beat Xavien Howard to the sideline in man coverage.
— Zach Sieler and Eric Rowe blew up a running play for a 4-yard loss and Jaelan Phillips then got pressure on Flacco on the next two downs and it resulted in a 1-yard completion and an incompletion to force a punt.
— The Dolphins offense was put in a tough spot to start its second drive after the Jets gunner was able to push the ball out of bounds at the 2-yard line.
— Skylar Thompson made his first great play of the game on third-and-4 from the 8 when he faced pressure, rolled to his right and threw a 15-yard pass to Tyreek Hill on the run.
— Jeff Wilson Jr. followed with a 12-yard run when he faked out linebacker Quincy Williams in the open field, and then Thompson threw a 26-yard completion to tight end Durham Smythe in the face of pressure to give the Dolphins a first down at the Jets 39.
— The drive pretty much ended on the next play with an off-the-mark shotgun snap that flew straight past Thompson and caused a 23-yard loss after he ran back and fell on the ball.
— And then the Dolphins went for the obligatory wide receiver screen on third-and-27 instead of, say, chucking the ball down the field and look for a long completion or even a DPI.
— That screen did go to Ezukanma, marking his first NFL reception.
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SECOND QUARTER
— The second quarter began with the Jets facing a third-and-6 from their 16 and Keion Crossen came up with a great play with an immediate tackle of Garrett Wilson after a short completion to keep him short of the first-down marker.
— With Cedrick Wilson Jr. inactive, it was Jevon Holland who was back to field the punt, though he could only fair-catch Braden Mann’s 61-yard bomb.
— The Dolphins’ third drive was awfully quick, thanks in part to a high shotgun snap that disrupted the timing on a running play and a third-down incompletion where Tyreek Hill jostled with rookie Sauce Gardner downfield. Hill went to the medical tent after the play.
— The Dolphins’ special teams allowed a 20-yard punt return and a 17-yard completion put the Jets at the Miami 38.
— The defense held, thanks to great coverage by Kader Kohou against Garrett Wilson on second down and good pressure on third down, and Greg Zuerlein then missed a 55-yard field goal attempt wide left to put the Dolphins in great field position to start their next drive at their 45.
— The Dolphins took the lead on their next drive on a Jason Sanders 37-yard field goal, thanks to two 11-yard gains, one on a run by Wilson and the other on a third-down completion to Jaylen Waddle where Gardner also was flagged for defensive holding.
— The drive stalled when Mike Gesicki couldn’t make a spectacular one-handed catch on a throw into double coverage and Wilson could gain only 1 yard on a third-and-12 screen pass (ugh).
— The Dolphins had a chance at producing a three-and-out on the Jets’ next drive, even with Bradley Chubb jumping offside, but they let a check-down gain 12 yards on third-and-9.
— Then there was awful tackling when three defenders converged on Garrett Wilson after a short completion and couldn’t bring him and then he escaped for a 36-yard gain to the Miami 26.
— The Dolphins got pressure on Flacco just about every time he dropped back to pass, but the Jets converted a third-and-5 right after the two-minute warning when tight end Tyler Conklin made a one-handed catch of a low pass with safety Jevon Holland draped all over him.
— Elandon Roberts came up with a big play when he dropped Michael Carter for a 5-yard loss on a screen pass, leaving the Jets to settle for a short field goal and tying the score at 3-3.
— The Dolphins took the ball over at their 25 following a touchback with 1:35 and no timeouts left.
— The drive started off very well with completion of 9 yards and 15 yards to get the ball to the Dolphins 49, but it ended when the offensive line failed to pick up blitzing linebacker Quincy Williams and he sacked Thompson.
— With that, the half ended in a 3-3 score.
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