Dolphins-Jets 2024 Week 18 Instant Takeaways

What stood out in the Miami Dolphins' Week 18 game against the New York Jets

We'll start with the inactive list, which obviously was highlighted by quarterback Tua Tagovailoa missing his sixth game of the season and his second because of a hip injury. The good news is that everybody else of note was available, despite front-line players Terron Armstead, Calais Campbell, Jevon Holland, Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle

The Dolphins went with four active running backs for the third time all season.

With Tagovailoa inactive, Tyler Huntley made his fifth start of the season and Skylar Thompson served as his backup after being elevated from the practice squad.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS

This was a tough gme for the Dolphins, who were aware all along that the Denver Broncos were on their way to an easy victory against the Kansas City Chiefs that would knock them out of playoff contention.

The Dolphins still would have liked to win to produce a fifth consecutive winning season, but they were way too sloppy for that to happen

What's going to stand out in this game probably are the four turnovers and the, ahem, uneven performance by backup quarterback Tyler Huntley. As impressive as he was against the Cleveland Browns in Week 17, this was a rough outing that reminded everyone that Huntley was on practice squad for most of the season for a reason.

The defense had its moments, but also had issues with Aaron Rodgers, who threw four touchdown passes in what may have been his final NFL game. It's pretty amazing that Rodgers struggled all season, but he had two good games against the Dolphins.

FIRST QUARTER

-- The game started off well for the defense, with Jevon Holland tipping a quick slant into the hands of linebacker Tyrel Dodson for his second pick in two weeks. This is a player the Dolphins need to re-sign.

-- The Dolphins had to settle for a field goal there because Huntley's third-down pass intended for Waddle, who was open, was so off the mark and enver gave him a chance.

-- Jalen Ramsey showed he was going to be physical throughout the season when he nailed Davante Adams to cause an incompletion on a double-pass Jets play the Dolphins had covered the whole way.

-- Armstead gutted it out with his knee injury, but he clearly wasn't the same guy and it showed when Will McDonald got around him for a sack.

-- Emmanuel Ogbah showed what edge-setting is all about on back-to-back plays that resulted in losses for Breece Hall.

-- De'Von Achane produced his second 100-yard rushing game of the season, thanks in large part to his 61-yard burst over the middle. Guard Robert Jones gets a big assist for his clearing block.

-- Of course, it was disappointing that the drive ended with losses of 4 yards on an Achane run and 3 yards on a completion to Jonnu Smith on a tight end screen that turned a first-and-goal from the 3 into a fourth-and-goal from the 10.

SECOND QUARTER

-- The Dolphins again had way too many negative runs in this game, the biggest one coming when McDonald shot through a whole at the line to drop Jaylen Wright for a 9-yard loss. That put the Dolphins in a second-and-19 hole and they weren't going enough offensively all season to overcome those.

-- The Jets took a 7-6 lead after Garrett Wilson took a short completion and turned it into a 20-yard gain when he beat Ramsey in the open field. It's not often you see Ramsey whiff in the open field.

-- Huntley followed a nifty play where he moved up in the pocket to hit Waddle for 23 yards with an absolute force into double coverage down the field. That was bad enough in itself, but the ball didn't have a lot of zip on it and it allowed safety Ashtyn Davis to come over for the easy pick.

-- Chop Robinson forced an incompletion when he got to Rodgers.

-- Zach Sieler and Emmanuel Ogbah did nice work teaming up to sack Rodgers on a fourth-down play.

-- Huntley didn't do a good job of ball security on the sack that resulted in a fumble late in the second quarter when Armstead again was beat by McDonald for a sack.

-- The Dolphins went into halftime trailing 15-6 after the Jets' second touchdown was followed by a two-point conversion run.

-- The Dolphins had a chance to cut into the lead before halftime, but Huntley forced a pass while he was being brought down and that caused a second Davis interception.

THIRD QUARTER

-- In what may have been his final NFL game, Calais Campbell got a sack on a stunt. He later was seen embracing defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver in the final minutes of the game.

-- Sieler's solo sack gave him 10 on the season, a second consecutive year he reached double digits. That's your team MVP right there.

-- The Dolphins' poor record in challenges continued when they tried to get a completion to Adams overturned when the replay clearly showed him getting both feet in bounds.

-- Great job by Dodson to drfit back into coverage in the end zone to force a Rodgers incompletion on third-and-goal.

-- Great diving catch by Malik Washington on a low throw, as he continued to show why he should be an important player moving forward.

FOURTH QUARTER

-- River Cracraft also had himself a nice catch on a ball thrown behind and low.

-- Great blocking up front, again led by Robert Jones, sprung Achane for his 15-yard touchdown run up the middle that made it 18-13.

-- The deep coverage broke down and left Allen Lazard open over the middle for a 43-yard gain that set up an Adams touchdown that made it 25-13.

-- Huntley engineered a nice touchdown drive that featured two fourth-down completions, showing some life as a passer late in the game.

-- But the defense couldn't stop Rodgers at the end, and he connected with Adams for 29 yards down the right sideline when Duck had very good coverage but never turned around for the ball. That set up the touchdown that made it 32-20.

-- That was the final score as the Dolphins finished 8-9 and saw their streak of winning seasons end at four years.