Dolphins-Jets Week 5 Complete Observations

Checking out the key moments from the Miami Dolphins' 40-17 loss against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium

Ed Mullholland - USA Today Sports

Here's what caught our eye in the Miami Dolphins' 41-17 loss against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

-- We'll start with the inactive list, which provided a lot of good news for the offense, with Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and Terron Armstead all active, but bad news for the defense with cornerback Xavien Howard having to sit out because of his groin issues.

-- Wide receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. was back in the lineup after missing the Cincinnati game with injuries, and 2020 first-round pick Noah Igbinoghene was active for the third time this season.

-- The biggest name on the Dolphins inactive list, of course, was quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who continues his recovery from the concussion that took him out of the Cincinnati game.

FIRST QUARTER

-- The first series of the game ended after the Jets gained only one first down, thanks for Christian Wilkins batting down a Zach Wilson pass on third-and-2. This, of course, was Emmanuel Ogbah's forte in 2021.

-- What also was noteworthy about the first series was Noah Igbinoghene getting his first defensive snaps of the season.

-- The Dolphins' first drive started at their 8 after a good punt by Braden Mann and ended after one disastrous play.

-- The danger with calling for a naked bootleg always is leaving the quarterback exposed after the fake if defenders don't bite and that's what happened with "Sauce" Gardner, who drilled Bridgewater after coming in free. With no chance to escape, Bridgewater threw the ball as he was hit and after consultation, the officials strangely ruled intentional grounding, resulting in a safety since Bridgewater was in the end zone.

-- Oh, and if that weren't bad enough, Bridgewater was injured on the play and he left the game with an elbow injury and to be evaluated for a concussion.

-- The special teams continued their season-long struggle when they gave up a 42-yard return by Braxton Berrios on Thomas Morstead's free kick after the safety, but the defense held.

-- Big plays on the drive were produced by cornerback Kader Kohou and linebacker Jerome Baker. Kohou's quick reaction helped him drop Berrios for a 1-yard loss after a completion and Baker then sacked Zach Wilson on third-and-10 to end the drive.

-- The Dolphins started their second drive in even worse field position, at the 3, and now with rookie Skylar Thompson at quarterback.

-- Miami got a big play with a 34-yard pass interference penalty on Gardner, but the drive stalled after Thompson's 13-yard scramble was negated by a holding penalty on Armstead.

-- And, to make matters even worse, Armstead left the field with an injury after the play.

-- The Jets' next possession ended with a field goal because Melvin Ingram and Raekwon Davis were flagged for facemask penalties on back-to-back plays, giving the Jets a free 30 yards.

-- Not quite sure what kind of coverage were playing on the 17-yard completion from Zach Wilson to Corey Davis on third-and-7 at the start of the drive, but it left Noah Igbinoghene in a tough spot.

-- The Dolphins' second drive with Skylar Thompson — and the first without Armstead — was a three-and-out after a short outside throw to Tyreek Hill ended in a 1-yard loss because of too much traffic at the line of scrimmage.

-- A forgettable first quarter ended about as poorly as it could for the Dolphins, who lost running back Breece Hall down the field on a wheel route and couldn't bring him down until he gained 79 yards all the way to the 1-yard line to set up a first-and-goal to start the second quarter. Safety Eric Rowe appeared to be the closest to Hall, though it doesn't necessarily mean he's the one to blame for the major lapse there.

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SECOND QUARTER

-- And the Jets needed just one play to extend their lead to 12-0.

-- The Dolphins came back with a strong gotta-have-it drive for 75 yards and a touchdown that featured some really nice work by Skylar Thompson, creative running plays, and a questionable call that went in the Dolphins' favor this time.

-- We'll start with the 27-yard gain on a really weak DPI against Jets cornerback D.J. Reed on a play with minimal impact and doubt as to whether Hill could have caught the ball near the sideline.

-- Then there was a remarkable effort by Thompson, who danced around in the pocket and threw the ball while falling backward for a 7-yard pick-up on third-and-2 with Jaylen Waddle completing the play by diving to catch the floater before it hit the ground. Great stuff all around.

-- Then we had a 10-yard gain by Hill on a double reverse, followed by Raheem Mostert's 12-yard run to the outside after an inside handoff.

-- The Dolphins defense then got a three-and-out thanks to pressure by Melvin Ingram on first down and Zach Sieler on second down forcing incompletions.

-- The Dolphins' next drive started with a nifty 14-yard run by Mostert, but on second down right tackle Greg Little was beaten on a pass rush by John Franklin-Myers, who hit Thompson's arm as he was throwing. That caused the ball to float and allowed Gardner to step in front of River Cracraft for the easy pick.

-- The Jets then pounded the Dolphins with their running game, with Breece Hall putting together gains of 7, 12, 9 and 5 yards before Zach Wilson capped the drive with a 5-yard scramble for a touchdown.

-- The Dolphins' final play before the two-minute warning was a 24-yard run by Mostert, who took advantage of nice blocks downfield by both Waddle and Hill.

-- The Dolphins were very casual in their approach after the two-minute warning, looking almost content to attempt a field goal.

-- Thompson did some nice work, but it was disappointing to see Chase Edmonds drop a pass for a second time in the game.

-- Thompson came up with completions of 10 and 13 yards to Hill, the first one courtesy of Hill stealing the ball from Reed, who appeared ready to make an interception near the sideline. And this wasn't the first time this season Hill had done that.

-- And the Dolphins completed their remarkable two-minute when they had Durham Smythe take the direct snap and push forward for a 1-yard touchdown run.

-- So after all the craziness, the Dolphins went into halftime trailing 19-14 but very much still in this game. Oh, and the game doesn't look too big for Thompson.

THIRD QUARTER

-- The second half began with an impressive drive that reached the Jets 31 thanks most to the running of Mostert, who ripped off gains of 9 and 20 yards.

-- The Dolphins looked like they had a throw-back play set up where Hill would throw an option pass to Thompson, but the quarterback was bumped after given Hill the ball and that derailed the play.

-- The drive ended with a field goal to bring the Dolphins to within 19-17.

-- The next Jets possession featured a DPI against rookie Kader Kohou against fellow rookie Garrett Wilson.

-- The Dolphins stiffened, with Christian Wilkins stuffing Breece Hall for no gain on third-and-2 and Nik Needham then providing good coverage downfield against Corey Davis to force a fourth-down incompletion.

-- This could have been a game-turning moment for the Dolphins, taking over at their 45, but instead they went three-and-out when Thompson faced pressure on second down and was sacked on third down. The sack came as a result of a twist up front that left guard Liam Eichenberg was too late to pick up.

-- The Dolphins got another stop after Brandon Jones sacked Wilson for a 17-yard loss, the third time in three games at MetLife Stadium where Jones got a sack.

FOURTH QUARTER

-- A 34-yard DPI on Michael Carter covering Jaylen Waddle put the Dolphins at the Jets 41-yard line, the third time the Dolphins got a chunk of yardage off a DPI.

-- After a 5-yard run by Mostert on first down, things started going sideways when Greg Little was flagged for a false start to make it second-and-10.

-- Then rookie free agent TE Tanner Conner, who looked impressive in camp, dropped a perfectly thrown ball over the middle that likely would have produced a first down.

-- On third-and-10, the Dolphins called for a wide receiver screen to Waddle, but he could gain only 5 yards to set up Jason Sanders' 54-yard field goal attempt, which sailed wide right.

-- And that was the start of the brutal collapse by the Dolphins.

-- On the very first play after that, Zach Wilson found Corey Davis wide open down the right sideline for a 21-yard gain.

-- After another Jets first down, Jerome Baker got picked off by teammate Noah Igbinoghene on a swing pass to Hall, and Hall was able to take it 21 yards to the 1-yard line to set up Michael Carter's 1-yard run that made it 26-17.

-- Two plays later, after a delay of game penalty on the Dolphins, the Jets applied the clincher when Thompson held the ball too long in the pocket, former Dolphins edge defender Shaq Lawson beat Mike Gesicki's block attempt and knocked the ball loose from the Dolphins quarterback. Big Quinnen Williams picked up the loose ball, pushed Tyreek Hill out of the way and rumbled to the 5-yard line.

-- On the next play, Hall scored on a 5-yard run and the game was over.

-- On their next possession, the Dolphins were stopped on fourth-and-1 when Mostert was dropped for a 4-yard loss. The play call was very cool with fullback Alec Ingold taking an inside handoff and then pitching the ball to Mostert on the outside, but linebacker Kwon Alexander was there and dropped Mostert.

-- The Jets took advantage of the short field after Hall converted a third-and-11 with a 15-yard line and Braxton Berrios ended the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown run on a jet sweep.

-- The Dolphins put themselves in scoring position on their final drive, thanks to Thompson's 30-yard completion to Gesicki over the middle — Gesicki made a nice high grab — but the drive ended with two incompletions.

-- And with that, the Dolphins had their second consecutive loss.