Dolphins Defeat Jets on First Ever NFL Black Friday Game
While there was excitement for this game as it was the first-ever NFL game held on Black Friday, the game itself was not that exciting. Miami easily beat the Jets on the road 34-13 to bring their record to 8-3 on the season and stand ever more comfortable at the top of their AFC East division. This loss brings New York’s record to 4-7 on the season, and they stay third in the AFC division. While this game would have been closer had Aaron Rodgers been on the field, you can only hope if you are a New York Jets fan that better days are coming. If you are a Miami Dolphins fan the talent is obviously here. When you have a quarterback who is top five in the league for passing yards in Tua Tagovailoa, a running back who is second in the league for rushing yards in Raheem Mostert, and a wide receiver who is leading the league in receiving yards in Tyreek Hill, the possibilities are endless. The only question to ask is: Can the Dolphins win big games? They have lost to the Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, and Kansas City Chiefs this season who are all three teams that they are going to have to beat at some point if they want to hold up that Super Bowl trophy. Next week during week thirteen, the Dolphins will head to Washington D.C. to take on the Commanders, while the Jets will stay home to take on the Atlanta Falcons. Let’s take a look at how Miami got this win.
Both teams would start this game slow as neither squad was able to get anything going offensively on their first drives. However, Miami would score the first points of the game on their second drive as their offense was able to get down the field to set up a 38-yard field goal attempt for kicker Jason Sanders and after Sanders knocked it down, the score was 3-0 Miami with nearly a minute remaining in the first quarter. The Dolphins would score once again on their next drive as quarterback Tua Tagovailoa connected with wide receiver Tyreek Hill for a 7-yard touchdown to make the score of the game 10-0. The Jets would get their first huge break of the game later in the second quarter as their cornerback Brandin Echols picked off Tagovailoa’s pass and returned it for 30 yards to make the score of the game 10-6 after kicker Greg Zuerlein missed the extra point. The Jets would get the back sooner than they expected as Tagovailoa quickly threw another interception, a pass intended for Hill, into the hands of Jets cornerback D.J. Reed. The Jets would come back on the field for one more play before halftime and while it would seem like it would just be a meaningless Hail Mary attempt by quarterback Tim Boyle, everyone knew it was more than that when it was intercepted by Dolphins safety Jevon Holland. Holland would go on to return this catch for a 99-yard touchdown to put Miami up 17-6 heading into the locker room.
The Dolphins would come out of the locker room and only extend this lead as Sanders knocked down another field goal, this one from 54 yards out, to make the score of the game 20-6 Miami. While the Jets would be hopeful to put some points on the board before Miami scored again, that would not be the case as running back Raheem Mostert ran from 13 yards out into the endzone early in the fourth quarter to score his first of two touchdowns in the game and put the Dolphins up 27-6. The Jets' disastrous night would only continue as Boyle threw an interception on their next drive, but fortunately for New York Miami would fumble the ball back to them. The Jets would finally be able to capitalize off of the turnover and score their first offensive points of the game as Boyle found wide receiver Garrett Wilson for a one-yard touchdown to make the score of the game 27-13 with nearly four and a half minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. While this touchdown was nice for New York it came way too late, and Mostert put the icing on the cake as he scored a 34-yard touchdown with ease when Miami got the ball back to make the score of the game 34-13, which would be the final score, with almost three and a half minutes left. By this point, New York fans were already filing out to the parking lot for this one, because watching the game was no longer any fun.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa missed nine of his pass attempts in the game, completing twenty-one of his thirty pass attempts. He threw for 243 passing yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Running back Raheem Mostert had twenty carries for 94 yards and two touchdowns. Jeff Wilson Jr. added eleven carries for 56 rushing yards. Wide receivers Jaylen Waddle and Tyreek Hill had eight receptions for 114 yards and nine catches for 102 yards with a touchdown, respectively. Jets quarterback Tim Boyle connected with his target on twenty-seven of his thirty-eight passes in the game, finishing with 179 passing yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Running back Breece Hall had seven carries for twenty-five yards. Wide receiver Garrett Wilson scored the Jets only receiving touchdown in the game, finishing with forty-four yards off of seven catches.
