Rookies Breece Hall, Sauce Gardner help Jets end AFC East drought
The Jets knocked some things off their lengthy to-do list on Sunday and finally gave their fans plenty of reasons to cheer inside MetLife Stadium.
Their two-year AFC East losing streak is over, they earned their first home victory of the season and they have their first winning streak under coach Robert Saleh.
The Jets dominated the Dolphins on both sides of the football in their 40-17 victory.
The win was their second straight and snapped a 12-game losing skid within the division. They improved to 3-2 and are tied for second with the Dolphins in the division, trailing only the 4-1 Bills.
The Jets, who scored 21 consecutive points in the fourth quarter, haven’t been above .500 this late in the season since they were 3-2 in 2017. They believe this is just the beginning.
“That’s Saleh’s whole mission: to change the culture around here,” rookie running back Breece Hall said. “He said it would be cool to celebrate but we need to make this normal. Winning games around here, we need to make that normal, we need to make that the standard. We’re definitely trending that way.”
Hall played a big part in the Jets’ big win.
The second-round pick had a ridiculous game against the undermanned Dolphins, who were without star cornerback Xavien Howard and played with their third-string quarterback, rookie Skylar Thompson, after backup Teddy Bridgewater got hurt on Miami’s first offensive play.
Hall totaled 197 scrimmage yards on 20 touches — two catches for 100 yards and 18 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown. He had a 79-yard catch-and-run and nearly carried a defender into the end zone before being tackled at the 1. He added a 21-yard catch-and-run in which he again was taken down at the 1.
Both times, Michael Carter ran it in for the touchdown. The Jets scored five rushing touchdowns.
“It’s good to get two [wins] in a row, especially for a fan base who is always hungry, very hungry,” Carter said. “It’s good to get two in a row.”
Zach Wilson completed 14 of 21 passes for 210 yards. He didn’t throw a touchdown pass but had a 5-yard TD run.
The Jets limited Miami’s dynamic receiving duo of Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle to 70 yards total. The defense held the Dolphins to 295 total yards and forced two takeaways.
Sauce Gardner had his first NFL interception and Quinnen Williams scooped up a fumble after Carl Lawson strip-sacked Thompson. Williams stiff-armed Hill into the ground and returned it to the 5, setting up Hall’s TD run.
“I was like, ‘Finally,’ ” Hall said. “The coaches said if we get the ball back, we’re going to get you a TD. I already had it in my mind like I’m not going to get stopped at the 1 again. It was a good feeling, for sure.”
The defense set the tone right away. On Miami’s first offensive play, the Jets dialed up a cornerback blitz with Gardner and he drilled Bridgewater. It resulted in a safety, as Bridgewater was flagged for intentional grounding while in the end zone.
“It did what we all knew it would do,” Saleh said. “We knew we’d get an explosive play out of it. You don’t want to use that all the time. We felt like we would get an explosive play and it worked out.”
Bridgewater was knocked out of the game with a concussion. The Dolphins already were without starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (concussion). In his NFL debut, Thompson was 19-for-33 for 166 yards, an interception and a fumble. Dolphins running back Raheem Mostert rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown.
Snapping the Jets’ divisional skid was a topic of conversation among the players throughout the week. They were confident that they would do it.
“Not the same Jets,” cornerback D.J. Reed said.
The Jets poured it on the fourth quarter. Until then, the game could have gone either way. It was 19-14 at the half after tight end Durham Smythe took a direct snap and ran it in from a yard out with four seconds to go. A 46-yard field goal by Jason Sanders to open the third quarter cut Miami’s deficit to 19-17.
On the ensuing possession, the Jets went for it on fourth-and-1 from Miami’s 44. They went empty backfield and Wilson underthrew Corey Davis. The Jets, however, forced a three-and-out, with Williams and John Franklin-Myers sharing a third-down sack.
Miami had a chance to take the lead on its next series, but Sanders missed a 54-yarder. It was a big momentum shift.
Left tackle Duane Brown said the message the older Jets had on the sideline was that they needed to put the game away. Carter’s 1-yard touchdown run made it 26-17 with 9:22 left.
Hall’s 5-yard touchdown run 14 seconds later and Braxton Berrios’ 15-yard scoring run capped a 21-point fourth quarter.
“You get up on teams, being able to have the mentality to put your foot on the gas and pull away, it’s a great feeling, especially at home,” Brown said. “It’s our first win at home, first division game. It’s a great feeling for us.”
The Jets believe they have some momentum and that things are changing.
“I’d say so,” Wilson said. “The expectation is changing. We’re expected to come in here and win. Be shocked when we don’t. That’s what the mindset needs to be for everybody.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
