Phins survive and the Jets season died in Week 14
The Miami Dolphins pulled of the overtime win over the New York Jets to move to 5-7 on the season keeping a sliver of postseason hope alive. Yes, we were extremely lucky to come away with the 32-26 victory against the New York Jets. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. While I wish our Phins could be both lucky and good, I’m just thankfully the Jets have choke hardwired in their DNA. No, I’m not optimistic at all about us reaching the postseason, but at least we have some meaningful games left to play and the Jets don’t.
I’ll take that as a double win and enjoy it as much as I can.
Jets gave it away & Phins came through in the clutch
The completed sideline pass on 3rd Down at the end of the game to Davante Adams that went out of bounds and stopped the clock with 1:02 left signed sealed and delivered the Jets collapse. If the Jets had half a brain and ran a play to the middle of the field to keep it in bounds, they could have killed another :40 seconds off the clock. The Dolphins would have been left with only :22 seconds to go down the field to score a field goal and tie the game.
The Jets not only did what the Jets do on that play, but they also kicked the Kickoff in play and Washington had a giant kick return that set up the tying field goal. The Phins winning the coin toss was destined after that and Tua drove the team down the field like hot knife through butter for the game sealing touchdown.
The only two things that the offense left a lot to be desired about was in the run game, on 3rd Down, and in the Red Zone. We didn’t even crack 5o yards on the ground for the day, were 4-12 on 3rd Down, and settled for 4 field goals. Still, the offense far outperformed the defense that stunk it up most of the day.
The defense stunk, but did come up big in the 4th Qtr
The defense was horrible and couldn’t stop the Jets from scoring and consistently gave up so many big 3rd Downs. Thankfully they tightened up just enough in the 4th Qtr. though. We were also undisciplined with 8 penalties, but again the Jest beat us in that category by having 10 penalties of their own.
Still, you can bet with the best pay per head that this isn’t a recipe for consistent winning.
We need to win all of our last four games to even get a remote shot to see the postseason. So, we’d better tighten up the ship fast on defense and discipline.
No room for error… like ZERO!
The Dolphins have a do or die game coming up on the road in Houston, against the Texans this Sunday, and at least the Texans have a dome, so temperature shouldn’t be a factor. The various pay per head websites opened up this line with the Texans as a small -2.5 favorite, which is a bit surprising and seems like a very low line. The Texans have plenty of talent on both sides of the football, but they have been inconsistent lately and have lost 4 out of their last 7 games.
The only way Miami is going to have a chance to win this game is if our defense can find a way to show up and contain a Texans offense that has loads of weapons. Starting with the dual threat QB in C.J. Stroud and deadly two headed receiving core of Nico Collins and Tank Dell. Lastly, they have a very good running back in Joe Mixon and a quietly good Tight end in Dalton Schultz.
The good news is for our defense is they have a poor offensive line, but can we expose this weakness though? More than likely, it will fall on the offense again to try to win this game in a shootout.
Playoffs? Did you say playoffs?
The Dolphins have kept up their slim hopes of making the playoffs, so we should be happy. But the hard reality is that they really don’t belong in the playoffs. This team would most likely have to face either Kansas City or Buffalo, whoever is the # 2 seed, on the road in cold weather, and will most likely get embarrassed. Making it would be better than not, but would we have any real hope in the future with this scenario?
The only real scenario that will make for a feel-good season is if Miami makes the post season and wins even a single game. One week at a time I guess, let’s see how the Phins do against the Texans. Win or lose this coming week, I did enjoy watching Miami effectively end the Jets 2024 Season.
What are the rest of the Dolphins news fans thoughts about this upcoming game?