Dolphins Beat Jets to Finally Get First Win of 2025

The Miami Dolphins finally won their first game of the season, 27-21, against the New York Jets on Monday night.

Miami produced its best effort of the season to get to 1-3 on the year. While there were several bright spots, a gruesome injury to one of the Dolphins’ best players will likely be the main story coming out of the game.

Here’s everything you need to know.

Drive-By-Drive Recap

The game got off to a different start for the Dolphins, as they elected to receive after winning the coin toss. Miami took the ball and drove 47 yards in 10 plays to go up 3-0 after a Riley Patterson field goal.

The Jets’ first drive looked like what much of the season has been for the Dolphins’ defense — brutal. New York drove all the way to Miami’s four-yard line, running right through the teeth of the Dolphins’ defense, but Jack Jones punched the ball out of Braelon Allen’s hands near the goal line.

It was the Dolphins’ first forced turnover of the season, and it set up the Dolphins’ offense for a 15-play, 96-yard touchdown drive capped off by a beautiful throw and catch between Tua and Darren Waller.

The touchdown was Waller’s first of the season and since the 2024 season, when he was with the New York Giants. Speaking of New York, the Jets’ offense got the ball back and proceeded to implode.

After several Jets’ penalties near midfield, Tyrel Dodson broke into the backfield on fourth down and stripped Justin Fields of the ball. Jaelan Phillips recovered it, giving the Dolphins their second turnover.

However, the Dolphins’ offense went three-and-out after a holding call on Larry Borom negated a first-down catch for Tyreek Hill on third and nine. Dolphins punter Jake Bailey didn’t do a great job pinning the Jets back, and a couple of completions later, New York kicked a 58-yard field goal to make 10-3 at halftime.

The Dolphins got their third fumble recovery of the game on the ensuing kickoff to start the second half, but disaster struck on Miami’s possession. Tyreek Hill is believed to have suffered a dislocated knee after being carted off the field.

Hill’s catch converted a third and long for the Dolphins, and the offense shook off the emotions from Hill’s injury and scored a few plays later. Tua found Waller again — this time it was hard play action off an I-formation fake to make the score 17-3.

The Jets answered back quickly when Fields made an incredible play to avoid several tackles on fourth and 1 to scramble 42 yards into the end zone. It made the score 17-10 and was not a great showing for Miami’s tackling.

Miami’s offense struck right back, though. Aided by the Jets’ continued penalty woes, the Dolphins drove 68 yards on seven plays to extend the lead to 24-10. De’Von Achane capped off the drive with a nine-yard score.

The Jets’ defense started to show some life, forcing two straight punts, while the offense sandwiched a field goal in between to make the score 24-13.

The Dolphins finally got back on the board after several explosive runs from Achane put them into field goal range. Patterson hit his second of the night to make the score 27-13 with a little more than four minutes left.

New York made it interesting on the next drive when Fields found Garrett Wilson in the corner of the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown. Fields then walked in the two-point conversion to make the score 27-21.

However, it wasn’t enough, as Miami recovered the ensuing onside kick to seal the win.

Offensive Recap

Miami’s offense was far from perfect on Monday, but this was easily the best the team has looked this season.

The passing game looked much closer to the 2023 version that took the NFL by storm. Tua was quick to get the ball out and even created a bit when he had to. His fundamentals also looked a lot better, which led to fewer errant throws.

He finished the night completing 17 of 25 passes for 177 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. It was Tua’s first game without a turnover this season.

As for the running game, Achane’s numbers weren’t anything crazy, but Miami’s play-action game was gashing the Jets’ defense. Achane finished with 99 yards on 20 carries, and Ollie Gordon added only 10 yards on six carries.

The big story from the receiving room is Hill’s injury. He was off to a great start against the Jets and is the Dolphins’ most talented player. As we wrote in the story linked above, it’ll be on players like Waddle, Malik Washington, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine, and Darren Waller to replace Hill.

The latter was probably the brightest spot for the Dolphins on Monday. In his first game since 2024, Waller had three catches and two touchdowns. It was clear that the Dolphins had a specific package of plays for him in the red zone, but his size adds another dimension that they were lacking.

The Dolphins also made a change on the offensive line. Cole Strange started at right guard over Kion Smith and Daniel Brunskill. Strange was signed following Week 1 and got his first action against the Jets.

He looked good off the broadcast, but the All-22 will be far better for evaluating his play. Miami’s other guard, Jonah Savaiinaea, did not appear to have a good game off the broadcast. It’s been a struggle for the rookie this season.

Defensive Recap

Saying Miami’s defense played well doesn’t feel entirely accurate, but it definitely played much better than it did in the previous three weeks.

There was some concerning work against the running game, especially early. The Jets finished with 197 rushing yards (averaged seven yards per carry), with 81 each coming from Fields and Breece Hall.

However, Miami finally became the opportunistic unit it was billed as coming into the season. Jones’ forced fumble near the goal line likely prevented the Jets from taking a 7-3 lead. Instead, Miami drove down the field to go up 10-0.

Dodson’s forced fumble didn’t result in points, but it prevented the Jets from getting points on a drive that did get into Dolphins’ territory.

It wasn’t always perfect, but Miami’s defense was at least flying around the field. The unit finished with five tackles for loss. Linebacker Jordyn Brooks really popped with 18 tackles, as he was cleaning up plays all over the field.

The Jets didn’t threaten Miami’s defense a ton through the air, and Fields wasn’t exactly accurate all night, even on his completions. Still, he completed 19 of 26 passes for 198 yards and one touchdown.

The Dolphins’ coverage was good enough to prevent big plays, but Fields had open receivers in the quick game most of the night. Again, Miami struggled to get pressure with just four rushers for most of the night.

It should also be noted that the Jets committed 13 penalties, and a lot of them came on offense.

Regardless of the quality of the opponent, this was a step in the right direction for Anthony Weaver’s unit.

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