Jets come out strong but lose to Dolphins in Miami

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The Jets looked as if they were going to give their fans an early Christmas present and win a game for a change.

Their effective and aggressive start on both sides of the ball was not sustainable, though. They squandered leads of 10 and seven points and lost to the Dolphins, 31-24, on Sunday afternoon at Hard Rock Stadium.

Rookie Brandin Echols’ 20-yard interception return for a touchdown with 7:45 remaining gave the Jets a 24-24 tie, but Tua Tagovailoa’s 11-yard touchdown pass to DeVante Parker with 3:37 to play won it for the Dolphins.

It was the Jets’ third straight defeat and dropped them to 3-11. They’re 0-5 against the AFC East and will go winless in the division in back-to-back seasons if they don’t beat Buffalo in the regular-season finale.

The Jets led 10-0 and 17-7 in the first half, but as the game wore on, the defense couldn’t stop the run and the offense couldn’t move the ball. Zach Wilson was sacked five times in the second half as the Dolphins outscored the Jets 21-7 after halftime, with the Jets’ only points coming on Echols’ interception.

"Everybody was feeling really good going into half," center Connor McGovern said. "We definitely didn’t take our foot off the pedal. If anything, we just wanted to keep our foot on it and press and find that next gear if we could. But it didn’t go in our favor."

The momentum was definitely in Miami’s corner before Echols came up with his pick-6, a potential game-swinging play. The defense needed to come up with another stop after that, but it couldn’t.

Miami (7-7) marched 75 yards for Parker’s game-winning touchdown on the next series. Myles Gaskin had a 30-yard run on the drive as Miami gained a season-high 183 yards on the ground.

"They executed better than we did when the time was right," linebacker C.J. Mosley said.

The Jets got the ball back and went three-and-out, but they had one more chance after forcing a punt.

The final series started at the Jets’ 37 with 1:36 left. Wilson scrambled for seven yards on first down, but that was wiped away by a holding penalty on Conor McDermott, who started at left tackle for the injured George Fant. That made it first-and-20 from the 27.

Wilson completed a 10-yard pass to Jamison Crowder on third down and hit Keelan Cole on fourth down, but he was tackled a yard short of the first- down marker.

"Super-disappointing," Wilson said of the last two drives. "Once you get to fourth down, it’s like, ‘Show me the best play.’ There’s really not many, right? Can you execute? Can you find something? Unfortunately, we come up a yard short."

Wilson finished the game 13-for-23 for 170 yards and no touchdowns. He did score on a 1-yard quarterback sneak and fumbled once.

Wilson converted all five pass attempts on the Jets’ first drive, which ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by Braxton Berrios. Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur called a number of trick plays that were successful. Wilson said it was the most "free" he’s felt in a game this season.

But Wilson and the Jets couldn’t get anything going in the second half. The Dolphins turned up the pressure and the Jets couldn’t handle it. In the second half, they totaled 54 yards of offense and Wilson completed only four passes.

"When things were going wrong the first half, they’re going to change the picture on you," coach Robert Saleh said. "They have to. He’s got to be able to adjust in-game also."

Wilson seemed to bristle when asked how much responsibility he takes when the offense is scuffling and not enjoying big games.

"I don’t worry about any of that stuff," he said.

On the other side of the ball, the Jets had plenty of issues after a good start.

The Dolphins, who came in ranked 31st in rushing, ran all over the Jets, which has been a common theme. Duke Johnson carried 22 times for 107 yards and two touchdowns.

"The run game is what’s getting us," Mosley said.

The Dolphins scored touchdowns on their first two possessions of the third quarter and went ahead 24-17 on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Tagovailoa to defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.

On the ensuing series, the Jets had back-to-back plays of 24 and 20 yards. On first down from Miami’s 31, Wilson was sacked and fumbled. The Dolphins’ Emmanuel Ogbah recovered it at the Miami 39.

The Jets got it right back, though. Punting on fourth-and-1, the Dolphins muffed the snap on what appeared as if it was going to be a fake. The Jets recovered it at the Miami 45 but couldn’t do anything with it as Wilson was sacked on third down.

"When it comes down to critical drives, we can’t have mental errors," Mosley said. "We can’t have breakdowns — on all phases of our team."