Miami rallies again
Dolphins making a habit of comebacks. After last week’s rally, Miami does it again
with 17 in fourth quarter,
when they still had Ryan Tannehill and felt good about Moore as their backup. He did throw an interception, but was excellent otherwise. He completed 13 of 21 passes for 188 yards and hit Kenny Stills for two touchdown passes. He started the winning drive from his 25-yard line.
Just as he did late last season when Tannehill went down, Moore gave Miami a much-needed boost of energy in the midst of uncertainty.
2. When you roll with a rookie cornerback, getting burnt is part of the deal.
Third-round pick Cordrea Tankersley has handled the starting cornerback job well, but this was coming eventually. Rookie corners get picked on frequently, and the Jets got him on two touchdowns in the first quarter. Jermaine Kearse blew by him for a 29-yard catch down the right sideline on New York’s opening possession, and Robby Anderson got behind him for an 18-yarder at the end of the period.
Miami is committed to Tankersley, though, and proved it by sticking with him the rest of the afternoon. It’ll take more than one bad quarter to shake the Dolphins’ faith.
3. Something has to change with the playing field at Hard Rock Stadium.
With no rain Sunday, there’s no good reason why the grass was so slippery for the Dolphins and Jets. Players had footing issues even before kickoff, and those problems continued throughout the game.
If the field is always going to be like this after a Miami Hurricanes game (they played Saturday), that’s going to be a big problem.
There are UM home games the day before the Dolphins host the Raiders and Buccaneers in November.
4. Josh McCown is better than Cutler.
It sure looks like the Jets lucked out when Cutler’s flight got canceled and he couldn’t make it to his free agent visit. Taking Sunday’s injury out of it, McCown’s been having the better season of the two and he’s done it with a lesser supporting cast. Going into Sunday’s game, he was outpacing Cutler in completion percentage (by a lot), yardage (also a big margin), passer rating and touchdown passes, then came out blazing against the Dolphins with 148 yards in the first quarter.
McCown, who is four years older than Cutler, completed 17 of 27 for 209 yards and three touchdowns with one interception for a 109.9 passer rating.
5. What’s up with Miami’s running game?
For two years, Jay Ajayi has gone back and forth from looking like one of the best running backs in the league to fading into the background. Coming off his season-high 130 rushing yards against Atlanta the week before, Ajayi managed 51 yards on 23 carries against the Jets. Collectively, the Dolphins averaged 2.1 yards per carry against New York. The offensive line had issues with center Mike Pouncey and left tackle Laremy Tunsil spending time on the sideline with injuries, but they’ve been through that before.
If the Dolphins are going to be a powerful offense, they need a reliable ground attack.