Dolphins hang on to top Jets
Tagovailoa fourth quarter TD seals New York’s fate
Tua Tagovailoa threw a go-ahead 5-yard touchdown pass to Myles Gaskin early in the fourth quarter and the Miami Dolphins hung on to beat the New York Jets 24-17 on Sunday for their third straight victory.
A week after an impressive win over Baltimore, the Dolphins (4-7) overcame some penalties — and the Jets had some sloppy plays of their own — to get their first three-game winning streak since winning five in a row in the middle of last season.
With the game tied at 14, Tagovailoa was facing heavy pressure when he got a throw off to Gaskin, who held onto the ball to put the Dolphins ahead 21-14 with 10:15 left despite getting hit by both C.J. Mosley and Isaiah Dunn in the end zone. Mosley took a helmet-to-helmet hit from Dunn on the play and left to be checked for a head injury.
The drive was helped by a roughing the passer penalty on John Franklinmyers on third down from the 6, when Tagovailoa’s pass to Gaskin fell incomplete.
A penalty hurt the Jets (2-8) again on Miami’s next possession, when Tagovailoa was sacked on third down — but it was wiped out by a holding call on Jason Pinnock. The Dolphins milked the clock and took a 24-14 lead with 1:57 remaining on Jason Sanders’ 24-yard field goal.
Matt Ammendola, who missed two field goals, made a 35-yarder in the closing seconds to cap the scoring.
Tagovailoa finished 23 of 33 for 273 yards and touchdown passes to Gaskin and Mack Hollins with one interception. Receiver Jaylen Waddle had a 1-yard TD run for Miami, which took the all-time series lead for the first time since 2000 by going up 56-55-1 in the head-to-head matchup.
The Jets, who rebounded defensively after allowing at least 45 points in three of their past four games, couldn’t make key stops late. And they couldn’t get anything going consistently on offense.
Joe Flacco made his first start in place of the injured Zach Wilson, who missed his fourth straight game. New York opted to go with the 36-year-old Flacco over Mike White, saying the veteran would give them a better chance against Miami’s aggressive defense.
Flacco was 24 of 39 for 291 yards and touchdowns to Elijah Moore and Jamison Crowder. Moore finished with eight catches for a career-best 141 yards.