AFC East gets a dose of reality in week 15 as three of four fall
The Dolphins were disappointing in their blowout loss to the Vikings that ultimately ended their season. It wasn’t much better for the rest of the division either.
Coming off of the Miami Miracle, fans became hopeful that the Miami Dolphins could push for a playoff berth in the team’s final three games. With a tough matchup at Minnesota looming, the thought was that the Dolphins could carry the momentum from their amazing victory over the Patriots. Unfortunately, that would not be the case as Miami’s road woes continued in their 41-17 lopsided loss to the Vikings.
The Dolphins are still mathematically in the playoffs, but they need to win out, and get some help in the process. The odds are not in their favor, and even if Miami did manage to sneak into the playoffs, we saw from Sunday that they would have an early exit.
The truth is that the blowout loss was a shot back down to reality for the Dolphins and their fans. They’ve sort of overachieved in terms of their record this season, but Miami is far from being a playoff contender. Not being able to match with the Vikings proved that. It was not a good weekend for the rest of the division either except for Buffalo. Here’s a breakdown of each team as we recap their week 15 results.
The Dolphins got off to an embarrassing start, allowing the Vikings to jump out to a 21-0 lead in the 1st quarter. Minnesota moved the ball with relative ease on their opening drive, capping it with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Kirk Cousins to Stefon Diggs. Their next two possessions were just as easy for them, capped by touchdown runs from Dalvin Cook and Latavius Murray, respectively.
To put into perspective how ugly the 1st quarter was for the Dolphins they allowed over 200 yards of offense on Minnesota’s first three drives. Miami themselves finished the game with just 193 total yards. Despite the lopsided stat sheet, the Dolphins did a relatively good job at getting back into the game.
Miami’s defense kick-started the scoring when Minkah Fitzpatrick jumped a potential screen pass for a 50-yard interception return for the score. The Dolphins again found themselves in scoring position before the half, but fell short of the end zone, and needed to settle for a field goal to make the score 21-10 at halftime. Given how bad the 1st quarter was for Miami it’s a score that you could live with as a Dolphins fan.
It got even better for Miami coming out of the half when Kalen Ballage went the distance on a 75-yard run down the sideline to pull the Dolphins within 21-17. The Dolphins had their opportunities to take the lead after a pair of stops, but Miami’s offense could get nothing going throughout the day.
The Vikings would add a pair of field goals to extend their lead to 27-17, but it was a 40-yard touchdown pass from Cousins to Aldrick Robinson that blew the game open for them in the 4th quarter. After a turnover on downs on the following possession for Miami, Dalvin Cook would score his second touchdown of the game to make the game well out of reach.
While Miami has been very good at home this season, they’ve been terrible on the road with their only win coming against the Jets. The Dolphins will return home next week against Jacksonville for their final home game of the season. The Jaguars have vastly underachieved this year, but they still have a very solid defense. Ryan Tannehill was sacked 9 times against Minnesota so if the Dolphins are serious about finishing this season strong then Tannehill is going to have to do a better job at feeling pressure, and the offensive line has to find a way to give him more time to throw.
New England Patriots
The Patriots were involved in a very key matchup themselves at Pittsburgh. Coming off of their letdown against the Dolphins, and the fact that the Texans had beaten the Jets the day before, the Patriots really needed this game in order to keep pace for a potential first-round bye. The Steelers, on the other hand, needed this game just as much. Entering this game, Pittsburgh had lost three in a row, including an embarrassing loss at Oakland the week prior. Once seen as clear division winners, the Steelers were suddenly in a position fighting for their playoff lives.
With the way that the Patriots lost against the Dolphins, many believed that New England would just come out and dominate Pittsburgh, regardless of the fact that it was on the road. In seasons past that probably would have been the case, but this is not the same Patriots team that we’ve grown used to seeing.
Pittsburgh jumped out to a 7-0 lead with an opening drive of 11 plays for 75 yards that took over six minutes. Ben Roethlisberger completed the drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to his tight end, Vance McDonald. New England would answer on their opening drive, however, when a busted coverage from the Steelers secondary allowed Chris Hogan to get wide open for a 63-yard touchdown.
The Steelers retook the lead in the 2nd quarter with an Antonio Brown touchdown reception that capped a 92-yard drive. Following that, scoring essentially halted for both teams the remainder of the game. The Patriots had a great opportunity in the 3rd quarter to tie the game with a 13 play drive that took over eight minutes of game clock. New England got into the red zone, but they could not punch it in, and were forced to settle for a Stephen Gostkowski chip shot field goal.
Duron Harmon would get his second interception of the game on the Steelers following possession, giving the Patriots good field position. Again the Patriots were able to drive the ball into the red zone, but this time Tom Brady was intercepted on 2nd-and-goal by Joe Haden. The Steelers would answer with a 13 play drive of their own that resulted in a field goal by an otherwise unreliable Chris Boswell to give Pittsburgh the 17-10 lead.
With 2:30 remaining in the game, Brady and the Patriots had one final opportunity. New England drove it down to the Pittsburgh 21, but Brady’s pass attempt to Julian Edelman on 4th-and-15 fell incomplete, giving the ball to the Steelers on downs to end the game.
The loss puts New England in unfamiliar territory. Although still clear leaders of the division, they currently sit outside of the top 2 spots, and would be in a Wild Card game as it stands. The Patriots have a pair of easy games remaining at home against Buffalo and the Jets. Assuming they win both, they would need the Texans to lose just one of their remaining games in order to secure a first-round bye. The Patriots hold the tie-breaker over the Texans as a result of their win in the head-to-head matchup back in week 1.
It’s not going unnoticed that age is starting to catch up with the Patriots, but with all of the negatives surrounding them, they still remain in relatively good shape, and will continue to remain a dangerous team in the playoffs.
New York Jets
The Jets were a part of the early slate games on Saturday when they welcomed the Texans into town. Looking for the upset, New York really gave Houston a run for their money in this one. The Texans jumped out to a 16-3 lead in the 2nd quarter, but the Jets got back into it before the half when Sam Darnold threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Robby Anderson to complete an 83-yard drive.
Jason Myers would miss the extra point for New York, and he would miss the following one as well in the 3rd quarter when Andre Roberts caught a 13-yard touchdown reception. The extra point would have tied the ball game, but the Jets took the lead in the 4th quarter with five minutes remaining when Elijah McGuire scored on a 2-yard run. With a 22-19 lead, the Jets were in prime position for the upset, but DeAndre Hopkins was having none of it.
The Texans answered on their following possession with a 7 play, 75-yard drive, that resulted in Hopkins second touchdown of the day. The Texans defense held it from there, forcing the Jets to turn the ball over on downs on their final two possessions to end the game.
This has been a reoccurring theme for the Jets all season, but the loss benefits them more than a win would have. The 49ers won their second consecutive game this weekend, pushing the Jets up the draft order. They currently hold the #3 spot, behind only Arizona and Oakland. They will host the Packers in week 16, followed by a visit to New England to close out the season.
Buffalo Bills
There was one team in the AFC East to come away with a victory in week 15, and that was the Buffalo Bills. Hosting the Lions, this game had the potential to get ugly, and it lived up to it. The craziest thing to take from this game is the situation regarding the Bills backfield.
This time of the year every team is forced to deal with injuries, but we’ve probably never seen one where a team is hit so hard at one position. Buffalo’s starting running back, LeSean McCoy, was declared inactive for this game because of a hamstring injury sustained the week prior against the Jets that forced him to leave that game early. In addition, McCoy’s backup, Chris Ivory, was also announced as inactive because of a shoulder injury.
That left the Bills with just Marcus Murphy and Keith Ford as their only active running backs for this game. Murphy, however, suffered an elbow injury during this game, forcing him to exit as well. That left Ford as the only healthy running back remaining, but even that would not hold for long. Ford suffered a leg injury in the 3rd quarter that forced him to temporarily leave the game. He would later return, but for a brief time, the Bills had zero running backs.
Averaging over 100 yards rushing in their previous three games, it’s clear that QB Josh Allen is Buffalo’s best runner, but he surprisingly used his arm to defeat the Lions. Allen was held to just 16 rushing yards on nine carries, but his 42-yard touchdown pass to Robert Foster with 10:26 remaining in the game would turn out to be the game winner for Buffalo as the defense held on for the 14-13 victory.
It’s not always pretty when it comes to Josh Allen, but you can tell that the team is beginning to get behind him. With an already strong defense, look for the Bills to help build their offense this off-season to give Allen more help. Buffalo will look for the upset on the road next week at New England.