Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
NOTEBOOK:
Kenny Stills and Jarvis Landry have their best games of the season.
MIAMI GARDENS — Dolphins wide receivers Jarvis Landry and Kenny Stills knew they were going to be without fellow starting wide receiver DeVante Parker when they took the field for Sunday’s game against the New York Jets.
Landry (seven receptions, 93 yards, one touchdown) and Stills (six receptions, 85 yards, two touchdowns) went to work and turned in their best performances of the season in the Dolphins’ 31-28 comeback victory over the New York Jets.
Stills had a pair of crucial fourth-quarter touchdowns — a 2-yarder to tie the game at 28 with 6:19 remaining and a 28-yarder to cut the Dolphins’ deficit to 28-21 with 11:21 remaining — while Landry had a 4-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter to tie the game at 7.
Stills’ success might have been due to the face paint he was wearing at the insistence of rookie guard Isaac Asiata, who painted his face in college at Utah.
“Isaac has been trying to convince me to do that since Week 1, and I’ve been telling him, No, no, no,’ ” Stills said. “Today I just was feeling it and I said alright, so he put the face paint on me and I went out there and balled out.”
Stills’ second touchdown reception was a thing of beauty. He caught the pass from quarterback Matt Moore with one hand in the end zone and then secured it as he fell to the ground.
“I knew that I caught it,” Stills said, “but I didn’t know if it had touched the ground or not.”
It didn’t. It’s unclear whether Parker will be ready for Thursday’s game at Baltimore, but if not, the Dolphins have showed they can win, and score points, without Parker.
Parkey has been money
Miami kicker Cody Parkey has three game-winning field goals this season — he hit a 54-yarder with 1:05 left at the Los Angeles Chargers in a 19-16 victory, hit a 38-yarder with 2:40 remaining in last week’s 20-17 victory at Atlanta, and hit a 39-yarder with 22 seconds left in Sunday’s victory over the Jets.
Parkey is a 8 of 8 on field goals this season.
2nd-quarter woes
Miami has been outscored, 40-7, in the second quarter this season. The Dolphins’ second-quarter touchdown Sunday (quarterback Jay Cutler’s 4-yard pass to tight end Anthony Fasano) marked the first time they scored in the second quarter this season. …
The Jets won the toss, took the ball (most teams defer until second half ) and scored a touchdown on opening possession. …
Fasano (three receptions, 25 yards, one touchdown) and fellow tight end Julius
Thomas (three receptions, 58 yards) started alongside Landry and Stills in the most productive game Miami has had from its pass-catchers . ...
Safety Reshad Jones, Miami’s leading tackler with seven, thought he forced a fourth-quarter fumble on Jets running back
Bilal Powell that Kiko Alonso recovered at the Jets’ 13-yard line. But the call was reversed by replay and the Jets faced second-and-15 at their own 12. New York punted two plays later . ...
The Jets had 12 penalties for 124 yards while the Dolphins had nine for 76 yards. …
Miami won the time of possession battle (31:58 to 28:02). Miami narrowly did better in third down conversions (5 of 13 for 38 percent compared to the Jets’ 4 of 11 for 36 percent). Turnovers were even at two apiece and both teams were 3 of 3 in the red zone.
Injury update
Cutler (ribs), injured early in the third quarter, could be out for a while. Left tackle
Laremy Tunsil (left knee) left in the third quarter and didn’t return. His status isn’t known for Thursday’s game. …
Parker, safety Maurice Smith, cornerback Byron Maxwell, linebacker Stephone Anthony, offensive tackle Sam Young, guard Isaac Asiata and defensive tackle Vincent Taylor were inactive.