5 winners (and 4 losers) for Dolphins in season-saving win over Jets

It took an entire game, and then an extra drive in overtime, to get the Miami Dolphins a win, but it was far from pretty.

The Dolphins had a chance to put up a big win against a New York Jets team that hasn’t won a game since Halloween, but as is typical, the Jets were not about to lay down against a division rival. Someone forgot to tell the Dolphins’ defense that the Jets can still play hard.

When the game was on the line, the Dolphins’ offense received great field position on a long kickoff return of 48 yards by Malik Washington. That would set up a 52-yard field goal by Jason Sanders to tie the game with 12 seconds left. Miami would win in overtime to eliminate Aaron Rodgers and the Jets.

It was far from a clean game, and the Dolphins should count their blessings that they are still in the playoff hunt after today’s game. Here are three winners and three losers from the win.

Winners and losers for Dolphins after important victory over Jets

Winner: Jonnu Smith

Despite not catching a single pass in regulation, Jonnu Smith led the Dolphins’ game-winning overtime drive, catching three passes for 44 yards and a touchdown. When overtime began, Mike McDaniel called Smith’s number, and the Jets had no answer. When the Dolphins needed physical play, Smith was the go-to in the offense.

Loser: Jevon Holland

Jevon Holland did not have a good game. This is becoming the only thing consistent about his play. Holland missed tackles, was out of place in coverage, out of sync with other members of the secondary, dropped an interception that would lead to a Jets touchdown, and, more importantly, was allowing himself to be taken out of the play by offensive blocks.

Holland is in a contract year and has given the Dolphins no reason to re-sign him.

Winner: Jason Sanders

After winning the AFC Special Teams Player of the Month award for November, Jason Sanders began the game with a missed extra point. That could have had a huge outcome in the game. As it stands, the miss put the Dolphins in a position to go to overtime as opposed to winning the game in regulation.

Sanders made up for that with three field goals, two outside of the 50-yard range, and one at the end of regulation to put the game into overtime.

Loser: Dolphins’ defense

Outside of the defensive line, Anthony Weaver’s unit struggled against the Jets.

The common theme against the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving was that the defense couldn’t tackle. They faced the same problem versus New York. The Jets ran up and down the field on the Dolphins until the late third quarter, when they began to make mistakes on offense.

From poor coverage by Kader Kohou, bad angles from Anthony Walker, and even Jalen Ramsey being out of sync early, the entire defense got outplayed on Sunday. Aaron Rodgers posted 300 yards passing for the first time in 1,092 days, while the Jets averaged four yards per carry without Breece Hall.

Winners: Calais Campbell and Zach Sieler

When the Dolphins inevitably needed to stop the Jets in the second half, it was Zach Sieler and Calais Campbell who got the pressure on Aaron Rodgers. They combined on a critical sack that forced the Jets into a field-goal situation and nearly took them out of range. They were the bright spot of the day defensively.

Losers: Mike McDaniel and Anthony Weaver

Offensively, the Dolphins started out well and looked as though they could run away with the game, but in typical Mike McDaniel fashion, Miami’s offense began to stall with questionable and poor play-calling.

The Dolphins again struggled to pick up short-yardage situations, and when they did face 3rd-and-short, McDaniel left the more physical Jeff Wilson on the sideline. Miami’s entire team played soft again, lacking the discipline that has plagued the team week to week. There is no physicality on this team except from Jonnu Smith.

Winner: Tua Tagovailoa

Tagovailoa stepped up when it was needed. He finished 33/47 for 331 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Tua remained calm throughout the game and led the offense as you would expect from a leader. He finished the game with a 104.1 quarterback rating.