Dolphins-Jets Week 12 Five Biggest Storylines ... And How They Played Out
The Miami Dolphins moved to 8-3 on the season with their 34-13 victory against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on Friday:
Ahead of the matchup, we offered our weekly ranking and analysis of the five biggest storylines, so now it's time to revisit those to see how they played out:
1. The Black Friday Experience
Before the game: Yeah, we understand this doesn't have anything to do with the matchup, per se, but we are talking ab out a historic event with the Dolphins and Jets chosen to play the first-ever Black Friday game. Actually, we probably should make that the first Amazon Black Friday game because there's likely going to be an awfully of the online shopping giant during the telecast (hint: get ready for QR codes on your TV screens). And Friday afternoon also is a unique time slot for an NFL game and, finally, it's a short game on the road for the Dolphins.
During/after the game: Let's start with our last point and the fact the short week clearly didn't hurt the Dolphins, who dominated from start to finish. The telecast was pretty much what we should have expected, with pretty much every ad all about shopping and sales and, yes, there were a lot of QR codes. The intro also was cooler than any football game has a right to have. From a fan perspective, it's a big thumbs up from here as far as making this an annual tradition.
2. Beware of Boyle?
Before the game: Probably no player will be under more scrutiny that new Jets starting quarterback Tim Boyle, who takes over an offense that's failed miserably with Aaron Rodgers missing all but a handful of plays because of his Achilles injury. Boyle will be making his fourth NFL start, and the Dolphins has not been kind in recent years to QBs making one of their first starts. The Dolphins defense could end any suspense about the outcome here if they can dominate Boyle early.
During the game: It's going to be hard to remain polite toward Boyle here because the Jets' new starting quarterback simply wasn't good. In fact, he wasn't any better than Zach Wilson and the biggest play of the game — Jevon Holland's 99-yard pick-six — came because Boyle couldn't get the ball to the end zone on a Hail Mary from the Jets 48-yard line. Ouch!
3. Tyreek vs. Sauce
Before the game: While it may be too simplistic to narrow it down to Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner trying to contain Tyreek Hill because it probably will be more about Dolphins wide receivers vs. Jets DBs, those are the two marquee players. Hill, of course, is on pace to become the first NFL wide receiver to reach 2,000 yards in a season, while Gardner is the reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year as well as an All-Pro. Any matchup directly between the two should be fun to watch.
During the game: Hill and Jaylen Waddle each went over 100 receiving yards in the game, though we didn't see a ton of Hill-vs.-Gardner battles. The most notable one came on fourth-and-2 from the Jets 4-yard line and Gardner "won" only because Hill dropped a perfectly thrown pass over the defender. Overall, though, Gardner made very little impact. The Jets did get two interceptions in the game, but they were recorded by Brandin Echols (pick-six) and D.J. Reed.
4. Will Chubb/Phillips Continue to Feast?
Before the game: In all fairness to Zach Wilson, the Jets offensive line has been a mess all season because of a combination of injuries and ineptitude. That's not a recipe for success when it comes to slowing down Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips, who have been on an absolute tear of late. Chubb and Phillips borderline wrecked the Raiders offense last week and they certainly have the ability to do the same thing against the Jets.
During the game: The Dolphins defense dominated this game as we expected they would and just about everybody took part. The game proved disastrous for Phillips, though, because of his season-ending Achilles injury in the fourth quarter after he was dominant — sack, tackle for loss, pass batted down, near-safety pressure — for most of the game. Chubb actually had a pretty quiet outing in this game.
5. Tough Challenge for Offense
Before the game: For whatever reasons anyone wants to produce (injuries, opponents, execution), the Dolphins simply hasn't been as sharp in recent weeks as it was earlier in the season and the challenge isn't going to be easy against a Jets defense that's better than its 11th overall ranking but often eventually wears down from the burden of being overtaxed by an offense that keeps giving the opponent the ball (turnovers or punts). It doesn't help that the team's only starting offensive lineman off the injury report this week is center Connor Williams, who missed three of four games in a recent stretch.
During the game: It was a good news/bad news scenario for the Dolphins offense, which finished with almost 400 total yards while moving the ball through the air in the first half and on the ground in the second. The Dolphins' 395 total yards represented the second-highest output against the Jets this season, but that obviously was mitigated by the pick-six that put New York in the game, however briefly, at the end of the first half.
