Dolphins Bounce Back in Style

A swarming defense, Tua and Waddle led the Tyreek-less to a victory at Hard Rock Stadium

As the saying, it turns out that reports of the Miami Dolphins' demise were greatly exaggerated.

Six days after a nasty late collapse and despite a multitude injuries, including one that kept Tyreek Hill out of the lineup, the Dolphins bounced back in the most convincing way possible while completing their season sweep of the overmatched New York Jets at Hard Rock Stadium.

The defense swamped Zach Wilson and the Jets offense, Tua Tagovailoa and Jaylen Waddle hooked up on eight completions for 142 yards and a 60-yard touchdown, and Raheem Mostert added two more rushing scores in a 30-0 victory that was every bit as one-sided as the score might suggest.

DEFENSE DOMINATES FROM THE START

With all due respect to Tua, Waddle and Mostert, this was another victory against the Jets where the big story was the Dolphins pass rush simply overwhelming the porous Jets offensive line and giving their quarterback no chance.

It was Tim Boyle on Black Friday, and this time it was Zach Wilson who felt the pass rush's wrath.

And it began with a crushing hit from Bradley Chubb, who certainly atoned for a rough outing against Tennessee with a dominating performance that included his crushing hit that jarred the ball loose from Wilson and caused a fumble.

After Zach Sieler recovered the ball at the 1-yard line, and Mostert scored on third down to set  new franchise records for rushing touchdowns with 17 and overall touchdowns for 19.

Chubb capped his day with another sack and forced fumble, but on this one he completed the hat trick by also recovered the fumble by Trevor Siemian, who replaced Wilson late in the first half.

Chubb ended with three of the Dolphins' six sacks, with Sieler adding a sack to his fumble recovery.

The defense came up with four takeaways, the fumble recoveries by Sieler and Chubb along with two interceptions by Brandon Jones, including one of the Jets' final drive of the game.

DOLPHINS OVERCOME INJURIES

Jones, in the lineup because of the injury to Jevon Holland, was among the many backups forced to start because of injuries.

Along with Holland and Hill, the Dolphins also played without cornerback Xavien Howard, safety DeShon Elliott and guard Robert Hunt, and right tackle Austin Jackson left the game late in the first half after aggravating an oblique injury.

Playing without Hunt and starting center Connor Williams, who's on IR, the Dolphins offense focused on a lot of quick passing for most of the game and Tua made it work, going 21-for-24 for 224 yards.

But Tua went deep midway through the second quarter and he connected with Waddle on a 60-yard touchdown that made the score 17-0 and realistically sealed the outcome the way the Dolphins defense was dominating.

The halftime numbers were almost comical, so one-sided they were.

In addition to a 24-0 lead, the Dolphins had a yardage advantage of 197-4.

The Dolphins had taken 23 offensive snaps in Jets territory, while New York hadn't moved on offense past its own 42-yard line.

The only question in the second half was whether the Dolphins could complete their first shutout since 2020, which also was against the Jets at Hard Rock Stadium.

More significantly, the Dolphins moved closer to a playoff berth and reduced their magic number to clinch the AFC East title to two, with any combination of a Miami win or Buffalo loss giving them their first division title since 2008.