Dolphins Week 4 Instant Takeaways

The Miami Dolphins got their first win of the season thanks to a great debut by Darren Waller but lost Tyreek Hill to a bad-looking injury

Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (1) reacts against the New York Jets during the first half at Hard Rock Stadium. | Rich Storry-Imagn Images

The Miami Dolphins got their much-needed first victory of the 2025 season on a Monday night of highs and lows.

-- The night unfortunately will be remembered for the nasty knee injury that led to Tyreek Hill being taken to a hospital for further evaluation.

Hill was a major factor in this game with some key third-down receptions, including one on the play where he went down.

-- It was Darren Waller who stole the show offensively, though, with two touchdown receptions in his Dolphins debut.

While the second one was the result of nice deception with the play call and ball handling, the first showed what he could bring to the offense with his unreal catch radius as he went up to snag a high touch pass from Tua Tagovailoa in traffic.

With Hill likely out for an extended period of time, Waller will become that much more important as a complement to wide receiver Jaylen Waddle.

-- After a week where his play and then his comments were scrutinized, Tagovailoa responded with easily his best performance of the season.

Tua was sharp with the ball handling and play fakes and was on target most of the night.

Most importantly, he looked more comfortable and decisive in the pocket than he did in the first three games.

The Dolphins no doubt held their breath when he took a shot on the head at the end of third-down scramble the series after Hill was injured. Tua did a good job of sliding in the open field, so this was more about Jets rookie Francis Mauiga than anything else.

-- The offense wasn't necessarily explosive in this game, but it was efficient and turnover-free.

-- The offensive line also had a solid performance with Cole Strange getting the start at right guard.

-- The biggest negative play was a holding penalty against right tackle Larry Borom that cost a first down and led to a punt.

GOOD AND BAD ON DEFENSE

-- What's going to stand out about the defense on this night was the ability — finally! — to get some turnovers. The two on defense plus the one special teams played a huge role in the win for the Dolphins.

-- The run defense hasn't been good all season and it probably didn't make sense to expect great things in that area against the Jets, in part because of the scrambling ability of QB Justin Fields. That first drive, though, was frightening with the ease with which the Jets marched down the field.

-- This is where cornerback Jack Jones made a game-turning play early with a punch-out against running back Braelan Allen that was reminiscent of Jevon Holland's game-turning forced fumble in the 2024 season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

-- The pass rush also was more noticeable than it had been all season, and this was against a Jets offensive line that's actually not bad at all.

-- Zach Sieler has been quiet all season, but he had back-to-back plays where he threw a running back for a loss. The Dolphins desperately have needed that.

-- Jaelan Phillips again failed to get a sack, but the numbers don't do his production justice this season because he's been easily the best pass rusher on the team. He also had a nice pass breakup against Garrett Wilson in the fourth quarter. Phillips soon after induced a holding penalty when he got in free on Fields.

-- The Dolphins got the benefit of a sloppy performance by the Jets, who committed 12 penalties and fielded a punt at their own 3-yard line in the fourth quarter. They also got a couple of breaks from the officials when Matthew Judon got away with tackling Fields to the ground at least 5 yards out of bounds and a missed hand-to-the-face call on a play where the Jets were flagged for holding.

-- Even then, the Dolphins had to sweat out an onside kick after letting the Jets drive down the field for a late touchdown.

-- The last touchdown was a spectacular catch by Garrett Wilson against great coverage by Rasul Douglas, who was burned because he never turned around to play the ball.

-- Fittingly, it was Waller who recovered the onside kick to secure the Dolphins victory.

-- The Dolphins ended up pulling out a victory despite being outgained thanks to the turnover advantage and the Jets penalties, but a win is a win at this stage. The Dolphins should feel good about that, while also understanding there's still a lot of room for improvement and they also won't have Tyreek Hill for a while.

-- So it was a good night. Sort of. A little bit.