It wasn’t pretty, and it wasn’t for the faint of heart, but the Miami Dolphins not only beat the New York Jets, but they also received the necessary help from the Buffalo Bills, beating the New England Patriots, to send the Dolphins into the postseason.
For the first time since 2016, the Dolphins will participate in the playoffs, and thanks to an 11-6 victory on the strength of three Jason Sanders field goals and a last-second safety to close it out, Miami will claim the seventh seed in the AFC side of the playoff bracket to face the Bills in Buffalo next weekend.
The Dolphins relied on a stingy rush defense, as the unit only allowed the Jets to rush for 38 yards, an average of 1.9 per carry. Inversely, the Dolphins were dominant on the ground, rushing 32 times for a total of 162 yards, a 5.1 yards per carry average. Jeff Wilson Jr led the way with 72 yards of 16 carries and Raheem Mostert ran tough for his 71, an average of 6.5 yards per run.
While the ground game was working, and Sanders was perfect on his kicks, rookie third-stringer quarterback Skylar Thompson did just enough in timely spots to help the Dolphins earn a victory. He was 20 for 30 passing for 152 yards, a passer rating of 76.3, and no touchdowns or turnovers.
He did hang tough in the pocket several times and completed numerous third downs in key spots. Of course conversation for later in the week will be the availability of Tua Tagovailoa, who missed the last two games while being in concussion protocol.
Flipping back to the defensive side of the ball, the Dolphins pressured Jets quarterback Joe Flacco and while didn’t record a sack, hit him 10 times. Cornerback Xavien Howard did have a rough game overall, but on the last drive clamped down for a pair of passes defended and rookie Kader Kohou was once again solid in his coverage. The undrafted defensive back finished with a pair of passes defended and Howard totaled three.
Christian Wilkins recorded 6 tackles and he is Miami’s single-season leader for defensive lineman tackles in a season with 98, breaking Jeff Cross’ record from 1993 of 93. Second-year sensation Jaelan Phillips was again all over the place, recording four hits on Flacco on his own.
Now that Miami has made the playoffs, the focus moves to Buffalo, and whether or not Tagovailoa will be under center either Saturday or Sunday, pending the NFL’s playoff schedule for Super Wild-Card weekend.
Again, that is an entirely other conversation.
