There are not many times when you see a shut out victory in the NFL. But, we saw that today in Miami when the Dolphins shut out the Jets 30-0. This game was sort of a “prove it” game for Tua and the Dolphins after last weeks debacle against Tennessee. They were without a plethora of starters including Tyreek Hill, Connor Williams, Xavien Howard and Jevon Holland. If you looked at the inactive report before the game you would’ve thought there was no way Miami would put up 30 points let alone give up 0 points to the Jets.
The Miami defense came to play today. Safety Brandon Jones picked off Trevor Siemian twice, the defensive line sacked Zach Wilson and Siemian a combined 6 times and only let up 149 yards of total offense. This unit needed to step up after blowing a 14 point lead with 3 minutes last week against Tennessee. They were relentless with the pass rush and the secondary was almost flawless in coverage. This defense is coming together at the right time and it seems that they are getting stronger as the weeks go by. Once they get Jevon Holland and Xavien Howard healthy once again, this unit only gets stronger. Let’s not forget the incredible performance by Bradley Chubb. Chubb had 3 sacks, 2 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery. Zach Sieler also had a recovery as well as a sack. No matter how poor an offense is throughout the year, shutting out an opponent in the NFL is incredibly impressive and this defense will need that momentum going into the toughest 3 game stretch that any team will see this season.
Now on to the offense. Going into this game with no Tyreek Hill, a lot of concerns came up from Dolphin fans. No one really knew how the offense would perform without the star receiver. Getting Jaylen Waddle involved would need to be the focal point, and that is exactly what they did. Tua silenced the haters about how they needed Tyreek to perform on offense. Tua finished 21/24 with 1 touchdown on a 60-yard bomb to Waddle. Like I said above, this was a “prove it” game for the Dolphins as a whole. But, these next 3 games will be the deciding factor on how they can perform against the best of the best in the NFL.
The Dolphins have the toughest remaining schedule left to play. The first game will be at home against the Dallas Cowboys on Christmas Eve, the second is against the Baltimore Ravens in Baltimore and the last game will be against Buffalo at home. If Buffalo can find a way to beat Dallas, then the AFC East is still technically up for grabs and it will put a ton of pressure on Miami to win at least 2 of the next 3 games. If Buffalo wins out, and Miami loses to Dallas and Baltimore, then that final game will be for the division. That is a scenario all Dolphin fans and players certainly want to avoid. That is why getting healthy is vital so we can be at full strength (for the most part) to play against them.
The injuries are definitely a concern, especially on the offensive line. Getting Terron Armstead back was huge for them. But, not having Robert Hunt, Connor Williams and Isaiah Wynn could pose as a challenge when Miami will face off against Micah Parsons with Dallas, the great defense that Baltimore has and the relentless pass rush with Buffalo. It will be very interesting to see how Miami attacks this, hopefully they will be getting Tyreek back soon.
All in all, I am very confident in this team and how they will perform in the next couple of weeks. It will be a challenge, but this team has gone through an incredible amount of adversity this season with injuries at inopportune times. I think they have a firm grasp of the division and Buffalo will no be playing for the division come January 7th.