Is there any doubting how far the Dolphins’ defense has come this season? Despite arguably the most inept offensive performance of the year, the defense rose to the occasion time and time again and helped the Dolphins keep their dismal playoff hopes alive for at least one more week.
Chad Henne completed a miserable 27 percent of his passes, the running game may have been slightly more productive than expected but that’s not saying much, and the offense fumbled the ball over to the Jets three times. Overall, just about as ugly of a performance as you can have on the offensive side of the football.
But how about that Dolphins’ defense? They set the tone early on with Nolan Carroll’s pick and Quentin Moses’ fumble recovery, which led to the only points the Dolphins’ needed in the first quarter, and they didn’t give up a touchdown the rest of the way.
With the playoffs being such a long shot and Chad Henne struggling as much as he has these past two games, fans may still want to focus on some of the negatives, and understandably so, but this defense deserves all the credit they get for how dominate they have been in recent weeks. And the good news is, they’re young, and arguably a couple key resignings away from sustaining this level of play for years into the future.
The playoffs may have to wait due to the struggles on the other side of the ball, but let me just defy logic for you and proclaim that the future isn’t nearly as dire as some fans have been saying lately when the Dolphins have found themselves a defense like this.
Another unit that put in a good days work was the Dolphins’ special-teams. And when I say special-teams I’m mainly just talking about Brandon Fields on this day. The coverage units were fantastic as well against a dangerous return team, but Brandon Fields was my MVP in a game that was a virtual field-position battle from start to finish.
The Dolphins’ offense didn’t help out the defense much at all buy going three and out inside their own twenty on several occasions, but each and every time Brandon Fields sent off a boot that prevented the Jets from taking over in great position to put points on the board.
Overall, this may just be another up in what has been a roller coaster of a year, but it’s always a little higher up when it’s the Jets who the Dolphins have beaten. Enjoy the win!
Game Ball: Brandon Fields, 10 punts, 49.6 yard average, long of 69
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
