Miami Dolphins passing game remains sluggish while defense leads team to 8-3

Tua Tagovailoa played another average football game on Black Friday in New York but the Dolphins didn't need him to be perfect. The defense was...almost.

There will be a bunch of fans who will jump on the Tua wagon and scream "How dare you talk about the QB" and they will talk about his 21 of 30 passes and his 243 yards and his one touchdown. Then they will talk about how the two interceptions didn't mean anything.

Tua was not able to find the time to complete his reads. This is a big knock on Tua when under duress. If his first read is not there and he is facing moderate pressure, he tends to go to his check-down receiver. Today, he did that quite a bit.

Yes, the interceptions hurt, at least the pick-6 did. The 2nd one turned into a Jevon Holland 99-yard pick-six touchdown.

Despite another non-historic passing game from Tua, both Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle went over 100 yards on the day and that says a lot given the hype that surrounds the Jets' secondary.

Tua wasn't bad today but he wasn't, again, what we expect from him. When you see what he is capable of, seeing him throw bad picks, make a bad exchange, and play without the zip we have seen, it becomes a letdown.

The Dolphins were, however, content to play this game differently on offense. They challenged the Jets' defensive front and continued to press with their running game taking what the Jets were giving them.

Raheem Mostert rushed 20 times for 94 yards and two touchdowns while Jeff Wilson ran 11 times for 56 yards. It wasn't flashy all the time but Miami did what they needed to do.

Defensively, the Dolphins were playing at different level and teeing off on the young opposing and inexperienced QB and an offensive line that was a mess.

Miami sacked Tim Boyle 7 times and intercepted him twice including the 99-yard return by Holland. Boyle completed 27 of 38 passes for 179 yards while the Jets run game was held to just 29. Last week, the Dolphins' defense held the Raiders' rushing attack to under 40.

The Dolphins got sacks from Jaelan Phillips, two from Christian Wilkins, one and a half from Emmanuel Ogbah, one from Zach Sieler, and a half sack by Raekwon Davis. Da'Shawn Hand got a sack as well.

The Dolphins defense kept the Jets offense out of sync all day but the Jets offense is one of the worst, 31st in the NFL.

The loss of Jaelan Phillips was the downside to an otherwise nearly perfect day. Phillips ruptured his Achilles and will miss the rest of the season.

The Jets scored two touchdowns on the day. Off a pick-6 by Tua and on a late 4th quarter drive that started after Tua fumbled a handoff deep on their own side of the field.

Miami improves to 8-3 with a trip to Washington next weekend.