The Day After: What We Learned About the Miami Dolphins in Week 12

It certainly was no work of art, but the Miami Dolphins' 20-3 victory against the New York Jets was no less significant than any other they've managed to pull out this season.

Then again, it's not as though the Dolphins really needed to do much against a Jets team that's every bit as bad as its (now) 0-11 record would suggest.

In that sense, there was something similar to the victory against the Chargers in that the Dolphins simply let a bad team beat itself.

Want examples?

How about field goal kicker Sergio Castillo missed a 29-yard chip-shot field goal that would have made it a one-score game at halftime?

How about the Jets not going for the first down on fourth-and-3 from their 43 midway through the third quarter down 13-3? Or on fourth-and-10 from their own 42 down by the same score with 10:40 left in the fourth quarter? I mean, the Jets already were officially eliminated from playoff contention, so why did they have to lose?

Or how about Sam Darnold throwing across his body and forcing a pass into coverage in the third quarter, allowing Nik Needham to make an easy interception.

Again, these are mistakes bad teams make.

The Dolphins usually don't make those mistakes, though their first offensive possession did begin with a false start and end with a penalty for too many in the huddle when it appeared they were going for the first down on fourth-and-2 from the Jets 38.

So, yeah, this was a bit sloppy and the Dolphins did produce only 20 points, their third-lowest total of the season.

And against a better opponent, this might have been problematic. But the Jets are the Jets.

What else did we learn from this game?

The Dolphins have a running back problem, and it's not just because Matt Breida and Patrick Laird each lost a fumble against the Jets. It's a topic we'll address in more detail later in the week.

The Dolphins might also have a wide receiver problem, that one in the sense that nobody really stepped up against the Jets other than DeVante Parker.

And we also saw — and I know Tua fans don't want to hear this — but Parker and tight end Mike Gesicki will be much more productive with Ryan Fitzpatrick in the lineup.

We learned against the Jets that it doesn't matter who the quarterback is right now, the pass protection has been leaky in recent weeks and that's a problem that needs to get fixed, like, pronto.

If it wasn't already clear, we also learned that the most reliable aspect of this Dolphins defense has been and continues to be the secondary. I mean, how good was Xavien Howard — again — against the Jets.

And we learned (again) that there's a reason Byron Jones can't come up with a pick. He is absolutely a tremendous cover corner, but when it comes to playing the ball, let's just stay he's not at that level. The long completion down the left sideline to Breshad Perriman came on a play where Jones had really good coverage, but lost sight of the ball long enough to allow Perriman to make the adjustment while he overran it.

At this point, we may need to accept that's who Jones is. And that's perfectly fine because, again, his coverage and tackling skills are very good.

Emmanuel Ogbah had a pretty quiet outing against the Jets, so maybe we learned that to expect him to come up with a game-impacting play every game was a bit unfair.

Finally, we learned (again) that the Dolphins are enjoying a tremendous luxury this year in their kicking game with what Jason Sanders continues to do. While Castillo was gagging on a short attempt, Sanders drilled two 50-plus-yard kicks that didn't even think about being off the mark.

It's a truly valuable weapon the Dolphins possess in 2020.

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