3 top Miami Dolphins players that stood out against the Jets

Duke Johnson Miami Dolphins (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)
Duke Johnson Miami Dolphins (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images) /
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Well, that was quite the roller coaster of emotions, wasn’t it? The Miami Dolphins “destroy you at will” defense, uncharacteristically, didn’t show up for the first half. They didn’t show up for a home game, coming off a bye week against Zach Wilson and a bunch of dudes. The defense was taking bad angles, missing tackles, and was falling for the naked boot off of inside zone over and over again.

Then in the second half, they decided that they’d seen enough and started bringing the house like we’ve grown to love over the last five games. Once they started doing that, Wilson and the Jets couldn’t do anything. They exhausted all their trick plays and all Miami had to do was score points on offense.

Let’s get it out of the way. Tua had one of the worst games of his career. He finished 16/27 for 196 yards with two TDs and two disgusting INTs. He also had some other throws that were very un-Tua like where they fluttered and were nearly picked off. And then there was the cherry on top that was the underthrow to Albert Wilson when Wilson had all the steps on the defensive back, roughly 40ish yards downfield where Tua could only get it out to about 35ish yards downfield. That was tough to watch. Every quarterback in the league can make that throw but apparently, Tua can’t and I don’t get it. I’m not looking for Josh Allen-type seeds being thrown out there but I do think a quarterback who was once the no-brainer #1 overall pick in football should be able to make that throw.

He made those throws at Alabama. If considerate lack of arm strength is a consequence of his car crash-like hip injury, then so be it. Just tell me that’s what’s going on here.  Tell me it’s the type of injury that takes two years to get back to 100% health and strength. Tell me anything that will put my mind at ease just a little bit.

Tua did come back in the second, third, and part of the 4th quarter and played good football. You can tell not having Jaylen Waddle out there affected him and the offense but hey that happens. Deal with it and he did, mostly. The absolute baptizing he administered on that scramble I imagine registered on the Richter scale down in South Beach. The dimes he tossed to Parker and Ford were exquisite. Not a ton of guys can make those throw consistently and Tua sort of does. 32 yards and in and Tua is your guy. Anything after that, lookout.

The INT on the out pattern, however, was horrid. He telegraphed that ball like nobody ever telegraphed before. He said after the game that it was an awful decision. Miami may not win if they’re playing another team.

The Dolphins did what they had to do to keep the winning streak alive thus keeping their playoff hopes alive. At 7-7, their destiny is nearly in front of them. They still need some help but there are three weeks left and a lot could and will probably happen. Teams, currently, in the playoffs will drop weird games to bad teams. It always happens like that. Miami just needs to keep winning. That looks much tougher than we thought due to the New Orleans Saints putting Brady and the defending champs in an all-time vice grip last night. It didn’t matter that Chris Simms’ favorite son, Taysum Hill, was awful. That defense bullied a good offensive line. Can’t imagine what they might do to Miami’s.

But we’ll discuss that throughout this holiday week. The point of this article is to pay homage to the top three Miami Dolphin players from yesterday’s contest. Enjoy it, soak it in, and let’s get ready for Monday night.