What a strange way to prove your one of the seven best teams in the AFC. Despite only scoring 11 points in the Battle of the Third Stringers, the Miami Dolphins clinched the final AFC playoff spot and ended their 6-year drought with the Patriots loss to the Bills.
Out of the three games that had playoff implications in the AFC, this was easily the worst of the bunch.
The 11-6 slugfest score line really tells the whole story.
Both the Jets and the Dolphins had their 3rd-string quarterbacks playing under center and both teams were dealing with major injury blows on both sides of the ball. Plus, to make the stakes of this game even funnier, both teams were in the midst of multi-week losing streaks (Dolphins: 5-game losing streak, Jets: 6-game losing streak) that derailed their bright playoff hopes from the middle of the season.
However, unlike the Jets, the Dolphins still had a rather large window of opportunity open for them to squeak in as the 7th and final seed in the AFC as they had to beat the Jets in any fashion and pray that the Buffalo Bills, who were playing their first game since the Damar Hamlin (who is thankful still recovering with miracloulous speed) incident and playing for the 2nd seed of the AFC, could beat the New England Patriots.
So, with a playoff berth on the line, you’d expect the Dolphins to put in their bets performance of the season to date against a longtime divisional foe, right? Well….at least the defense played really well.
Okay, I’ll give the Dolphins offense a break as Skylar Thompson is a rookie 7th round pick, but he clearly isn’t the guy to lead the Dolphins to playoff glory at the moment. He completed 20/31 of his passes for 152 yards, while Mike Gesicki ended up as the leading receiver with 4 catches for just 46 yards.
Plus, with Tyreek Hill (2 REC, 23 yards) leaving the game early with an injury and the offense not scoring a single point, the best way to describe the Dolphins passing game was a disaster. I mean, they only scored 9 points through three Jason Sanders field goals.
Though, Jeff Wilson Jr. (16 CAR, 72 yards) and Raheem Mostert (11 CAR, 71 yards) did combine for 143 rushing yards in one of the Dolphins lone 100+ total rushing yard games, which is a nice note to end the regular season on.
As for the Jets offense, they were just as pathetic.
Joe Flacco completed 18/33 passes for 149 yards, while the Jets running game of Zonovan Knight (12 CAR, 22 yards) and Ty Johnson (5 CAR, 12 yards) combined for a grand total of 38 team rushing yards. In reverse fashion, the Jets passing game was the only unit that somewhat worked as Garrett Wilson lead all receivers with 9 REC for 89 yards.
Nonetheless, it was the two defenses that were the story of this game. But, to be honest, how could they not be? They were both facing off against a 3rd-string quarterback that had no business on the field.
The Jets defense racked up 71 tackles, 1 sack, 6 TFL, 4 PD, and 9 QB hits, while the Dolphins defense had 51 tackles, 4 TFL, 6 PD, and 10 QB hits. Simply put, this was a defensive slugfest that neither quarterback could overcome, which strangely resulted in the Dolphins defense actually outscoring both offenses.
Yup, you read that right. The Dolphins defense managed to pull off one of the most incredible and strange feats of at least the week as their forced safety on the final Jets drive was worth more points than anything either offense scored.
Anywho, the Dolphins (9-8) and their fans can rejoice once more as they have made the playoffs for the first time since 2016. What is their reward for making it to the promise land? A Wild Card round date up to Buffalo to face off against the red-hot and emotionally determined Bills. Yeah, not great.
As for the Jets (7-10), their quarterback woes sank them from any chance at making the playoffs and ending their 11-year drought. Unfortunately for Jets fans, they need to draft (or sign) yet another starting quarterback as Zach Wilson, Mike White, and Joe Flacco all proved they are not the answer for the future.
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