The Dolphins fell behind the Jets 14-0 in the second quarter today, but rallied for a 36-27 victory in a wild game in Miami. Karim Abdul-Jabbar tallied his second 100 yard game in 3 outings and Marino threw for over 200 yards for the first time this year, along with 3 touchdowns.
The Dolphins received the opening kickoff, and on the first play from scrimmage, Marino completed a 52 yard pass to McPhail down the left sideline, but then stalled and had to settle for no points when Nedney missed a 37 yard field.
The Jets went three and out on their first series and after the punt, the Dolphins marched from their 25 to the Jet 37, but stalled again and this time punted back to the Jets. The Jets did manage one first down on their next series, but ended it when Terrell Buckley intercepted a Neil O'Donnel pass, but a penalty negated the return and the Dolphins had to start at their own 45.
The Dolphins drove down the field on the running of Irving Spikes and ended the first quarter at the 1 of the Jets. However, at the start of the second quarter, Spikes tried 3 successive runs from the one and couldn't get in, so on 4th and goal from the 1, Marino made an ill-advised pass that was picked off by CB Aaron Glenn at the goal line and returned 100 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 Jets lead.
After the dispirited Dolphins went 3 and out on their next series the Jets came back and drove from their 37 to the Miami 31 where O'Donnel hit Webster Slaughter down the right sideline for a TD and a 14-0 lead. After the kickoff, on the first play of the next series, Marino hit a wide open Stanley Pritchett, who was being covered by a linebacker and Pritchett outraced him to the endzone for a TD and 14-7 score.
After the Dolphins stuffed the Jets on the next series, the Dolphins put together another drive that started at the Jets 45 and moved down to the Jets 6, where Abdul-Jabbar took a Marino handoff and raced up the middle for 6 yards and a TD to even the score at 14-14. The half ended on the next Jets possession as O'Donnel ran out the clock scrambling.
The Jets opened the second half with a 6 play drive that gained only 16 yards before they were forced to punt back to the Dolphins. The Dolphins took the ball and using the running of Karim Abdul-Jabbar, moved down to the Jets 3 where Marino hit a wide open Frank Wainwright for a TD and a 20-14 lead after Nedney missed the extra point.
On the next Jets series, Louis Oliver cut in front of Keyshawn Johnson on the third play, picking the ball off and returning it to the Jets 15, where it took just 3 plays for Marino to find TE Brett Carolan at the goal line for a 26-14 lead. The Dolphins failed to make a 2 point conversion.
The Jets moved on the next series into the fourth quarter and down to the Dolphins' 31, but stalled and a Jets' field goal attempt sailed wide wide right. The Dolphins and Jets then each went three and out, but on the Dolphins' second series of the 4th quarter, Spikes had a 49 yard run down to the Jets' 10, where a series of running plays ended with a 7 yard TD run by Karim Abdul-Jabbar and gave the Dolphins a 33-14 lead.
On the next Jets' series, the Jets were facing a 3 and 3 from their 22, but Terrel Buckley got a little too aggressive in trying to pick off an O'Donnel pass and just barely missed it. Unfortunately, Jeff Graham made the catch as Buckley ran by him and turned and ran up the right sideline for a 78 yard TD. The 2 point conversion failed and the score stood at 33-20.
On the Dolphins' next series, Irving Spikes lost his grip on the ball and the Jets recovered at the Dolphin 38. Then began the strangest series in the game. The Jets moved down to the Dolphins' 7 on a series of short passes, but an intentional grounding call and a sack by Sean Hill on an all-out blitz moved the ball back to the Dolphins 31. However, on 4th and goal from the 31, O'Donnel launched the Hail Mary pass into right corner of the endzone and Keyshawn Johnson out jumped Calvin Jackson, Terrel Buckley and Louis Oliver and came down with the ball for a TD.
This made the score 33-27 with less than 5 minutes left to play, but the Dolphins rallied and marched down the field on the next series, starting at their own 27. Karim Abdul-Jabbar then rushed 4 times in a row for 54 yards down to the Jets' 20 yard line. The Dolphins could only manage 9 more yards on 3 more runs, but on 4th and 1 from the Jets 11, Nedney made a clutch field goal to give the Dolphins a 36-27 lead with 1:45 remaining.
On the Dolphin's final series that placed the game out of reach, they did not pass the football once. The Jets got one more series after the kickoff, but it ended with a Hail Mary pass into the endzone that was picked off by Sean Hill and 36-27 Dolphins victory.
Have I said yet today that I hate playing the Jets?
GOOD STUFF:
The Dolphins, after falling behind 14-0, ralied by scoring 33 unanswered points to take a commanding lead and even when challenged, held on to win. They didn't panic or stop playing hard.
The most impressive facet of the game for me was to see the Dolphins ran the ball at will on the last drive to seal the game. This was very un-Miami-like.
Despite the fact that the Dolphins supposedly don't have a really good tight end, two TD passes were caught by tight ends today.
The Dolphins, by staying with the run, ended up with 195 total yards rushing, most it in the second half. Both Spikes and Abdul-Jabbar had some very nice runs where they just refused to be tackled and the running game improved as the game progressed, to end up with a 4.9 yards/carry average.
Overall, I thought the defense played well, limiting the Jets to 72 rushing yards with 18 of those being on a scramble by O'Donnel. The Jets' running backs got 54 yards on 17 carries for just over 3 yards/carry. The Dolphins also got 3 interceptions and sacked O'Donnel twice.
Special teams played well, pinning the Jets deep in their end of the field and covering kicks and punts very well. And even though Nedney missed a couple of easy ones, he hit the one that counted the most.
THINGS TO WORK ON:
The Dolphins were burned mostly by short passes, especially over the middle in the short zone. O'Donnel averaged just about 6 yards per completion, but managed to build that into 300 total yards. The defense needs to work on covering those short passes.
Spikes' fumble at a crucial time was very bad and almost allowed the Jets to get back into the game.
McPhail had one great play, but vanished for the rest of the game. He could be a tremendous asset with his speed if they could work him into the game a little more.
I think that the Dolphins need to work on their pass rush. O'Donnel was sacked 11 times in the first two games, but the Dolphins could only sack him twice today.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES:
Dan Marino made one crucial interception that resulted in a TD for the Jets, but after that was 13 of 23 for 257 yards, 3 TDs and 1 INT.
Karim Adbul-Jabbar rushed 23 times for 124 yards and 2 TDs. That's 5.4 yards/carry and he was especially important in the final drive.
Irving Spikes carried 15 times for 64 yards, but fumbled once and that fumble became important as the Jets eventually scored following it.
Stanley Pritchett and Jerris McPhail each has long pass receptions, with Pritchett getting a 74 yard TD reception.
OJ McDuffie caught 7 passes for 86 yards.
Frank Wainwright and Brett Carolan, the two backup tight ends, each had one catch for a touchdown. Guess who lead the team in tackles? That's right, Zach Thomas had 11 solo tackles today.
Terrel Buckley did have one interception, but also got too aggressive and missed one assignment trying to intercept the ball which resulted in a Jets touchdown.
Louis Oliver also had one interception but only had two assisted tackles.
Steve Emtman had a good day with 4 solo tackles and a lot of pressure on O'Donnel.
Daniel Stubbs had 1 tackle, 1 assist and a sack.
Sean Hill had 1 interception and 1 sack, but in both cases he was the beneficiary of other players good plays. He also had 3 tackles.
INJURIES:
Keith Sims sat out several plays, but appeared to be just a little dizzy after getting hit in the head. I believe that he'll be fine, as he was in on the last series.
Aaron Jones was also taken off at one point, but he walked off under his own power and looked alright.
My Comments:
I hate playing the Jets - have I mentioned that?
I'm really unsure how I should feel about this game. The Dolphins had their problems today, but did come back from a 14-0 deficit and showed their toughness. They ran well late in the game when they wouldn't have in the past.
The Dolphins' pass defense was porous and made a number of mistakes, which allowed the Jets to get back in the game. On the other hand, they stuffed the run very well and did pick off 3 O'Donnel passes and didn't stop or give up at any point.
And they're now 2-0 against division opponents and 3-0 overall.
So I guess I'll just breath a sigh of relief and get ready to watch the Dolphins play the Colts on Monday night.
And oh, by the way, I hate playing the Jets.
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