Dolphins beat stumbling Jets for first win
Ryan Fitzpatrick threw three touchdown passes — including two to rookie Preston Williams — to lead the Miami Dolphins to their first win of the season, beating the visiting New York Jets 26-18 on Sunday afternoon.
Each team scored on a safety, a rarity in the same game.
Fitzpatrick, a former Jets quarterback, completed 24 of 36 passes for 288 yards and no interceptions. His tight end, Mike Gesicki, caught six passes for 95 yards. Williams caught five passes for 72 yards but was carted off the field in the fourth quarter due to a knee injury.
Miami (1-7) snapped a 10-game losing streak that dated to last December. It was the first win for rookie coach Brian Flores.
New York (1-7) lost its third straight game since an upset win over the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 13. The loss surely was painful for New York’s Adam Gase, who coached Miami the past three seasons before being fired.
Jets quarterback Sam Darnold completed 27 of 39 passes for 260 yards and one touchdown. But he also threw a costly interception at Miami’s 1-yard line.
New York scored on the game’s opening drive, an 11-play, 75-yard march that was capped by Darnold’s 12-yard pass to Jamison Crowder.
After New York’s Sam Ficken missed a 49-yard field goal try, Miami answered with touchdown drives of 61 and 84 yards to take a 14-7 second-quarter lead.
First, Fitzpatrick connected on a 12-yard TD pass to Williams, who was left open by a confused Jets secondary. Then, Fitzpatrick threw 17 yards to DeVante Parker, who boxed out Nate Hairston for the TD grab.
The final 1:51 of the first half featured three scores and a lot of action.
Miami took a 21-7 lead when Williams ran a slant pattern for a 5-yard TD reception.
New York’s Vyncint Smith followed with a 78-yard kickoff return during which he broke three tackles. The Jets seemed to get a touchdown pass to tight end Ryan Griffin, but it was ruled no catch on video review. On the next play, Miami blitzed linebacker Raekwon McMillan, who pressured Darnold into an off-balance throw that was intercepted by Jomal Wiltz at the 1-yard line with just 48 seconds left.
Miami’s offense took over, but Fitzpatrick fumbled the snap, giving the Jets a safety, and Ficken made a career-long 52-yard field goal with two seconds left to cut New York’s deficit to 21-12.
After an exchange of third-quarter field goals, Miami added a safety in the fourth when Darnold wasn’t looking for the shotgun snap. The ball flew past him, ending up out of the end zone, and New York’s hopes sailed away as well.
–Field Level Media (@FieldLevelMedia)
