The Good, Bad and Ugly From Dolphins' Week 4 Win vs. Jets

For the first time this season, the Miami Dolphins are in the win column. The team beat the New York Jets, 27-21, on Monday night to advance its record to 1-3.

It wasn’t the prettiest win by any means, but it was a much-needed win for a Dolphins team that hasn’t had much go its way this season. As always, we’re taking a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly.

We will stick to trends and performances for this piece because calling Tyreek Hill’s injury “bad” or “ugly” doesn’t feel exactly right. Also, we did provide some analysis on where Miami goes from here already.

Let’s get into it.

The Good: Bounce Back for Tua

Off the broadcast tape, I wasn’t overly impressed with Tua Tagovailoa on Monday night. He wasn’t bad by any means, but it seemed like more of a ho-hum performance than anything else.

However, upon reviewing the tape, Tua’s performance clearly lands in the “good” category. Miami’s starting QB looked a lot more like himself than he has at any point this season.

The biggest improvement came from his base. He was a lot calmer in the pocket, mostly creating a few extra seconds only when he needed to. And because his feet and eyes were in sync more often, he didn’t miss as many easy throws as in previous weeks.

His numbers weren’t anything special — 17-of-25 passing, 177 yards, and two touchdowns — but it was his first game without a turnover and his best game by EPA per dropback at 0.44.

That number is Tua’s best since Week 14 of last season against the Jets, which was his third-best mark last season.

What impressed me most about Tua’s performance was how well he avoided pressure. He got the ball out quickly, mitigating several early losses from players like Jonah Savaiinaea and Larry Borom.

In the past two games, Tua has been pressured 45.7 percent and 37 percent of his dropbacks, and he’s taken zero sacks. Now, against Buffalo, Tua contributed to that pressure rate with poor pocket management a good bit.

He performed much better against the Jets, which led to an efficient offense. Monday was a pretty standard Tua performance in the context of his career, but it was undoubtedly a step in the right direction for this season.

The Bad: The Offensive Line

This i s the second straight week the offensive line lands in this category, and I didn’t anticipate that happening after my initial watch.

When I got into the film Tuesday morning, though, the offensive line’s performance left me wanting more. Borom, Savaiinaea, and new starter Cole Strange were pretty brutal in pass protection.

Strange looked OK off the broadcast, but on tape, it was clear he wasn’t quite comfortable with his assignments in either facet of the offense. In pass protection, he had a few easy losses in 1-on-1 reps and some where he needed to protect Borom and didn’t.

Savaiinaea’s issues are roughly the same as they’ve been. He’s still not landing his first punch or staying balanced when engaging with defensive linemen.

As for Borom, Will McDonald IV had his number all night. He was winning with speed off the snap consistently and using a spin counter when Borom started oversetting outside.

As for the running game, Miami recorded 123 yards on 31 carries. While that production was fine, De’Von Achane deserves a lot of credit for breaking tackles and making the most of some poor blocks.

The tape is filled with missed assignments and bad technique that made Achane’s life much harder than it needed to be throughout the game.

Now, the bright side here is that the Dolphins produced 123 rushing yards without the offensive line playing overly well. So, some small improvements could lead to much better results.

I’d still probably stick with Strange at right guard over Kion Smith or Daniel Brunskill, but my initial opinion — that he played well — from after the game was not correct.

The Ugly: Miami’s Defense Still Isn’t Good

The Dolphins’ defense finally forced a few turnovers, the unit’s first and second of the season.

Jack Jones and Tyrel Dodson came up with the big plays on defense, and Dante Trader Jr. recovered a third fumble on special teams to open the second half. The Dolphins deserve credit for that, and it’s undoubtedly an improvement.

That said, turnovers are not a reliable metric, and the underlying play for Miami’s defense still isn’t good.

When the Jets could run the ball in a neutral game script early, the Dolphins did not match their physicality. New York ran for 78 yards on the opening drive, and a lot of those yards came through the teeth of Miami’s defense.

Edge players like Bradley Chubb and Jaelan Phillips were getting blown off the ball, while interior players like Zach Sieler and Kenneth Grant were getting collapsed in the middle.

The Jets have great run-game personnel, including QB Justin Fields, so it might not look quite this bad every week, but Miami went into the offseason looking to become a tougher team in the trenches.

That has failed to this point.

Another theme for Miami’s defense is the lack of pressure it’s generated this season. The numbers do show some improvement there. Pro Football Focus charted the Dolphins with 20 pressures, but many of them were incredibly low-impact.

Several came late in the rep when Fields had already sat in a clean pocket for plenty of time. Others were the result of the Jets trying to run play-action fakes into an all-out blitz.

While pressures are great, the Dolphins only registered two sacks against the Jets. Fields is tough to tackle, but Miami had a few free runs and couldn’t bring him down.

However, there are some positives. Miami had its lowest blitz rate of the season (22.9 percent) and still generated a good number of pressures, even if PFF was a little generous with the amount. It’s incremental progress, but it’s progress.

Overall, though, the Dolphins’ defense is still pretty ugly. Outside of the turnovers, it felt like the Jets’ offense stopped itself more than Miami’s defense did.

The question is whether the unit can build on some positive momentum and ultimately establish a sustainable defense.

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