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In Week 12 of the NFL season, the Miami Dolphins defeated the New York Jets 20-3 at MetLife Stadium in the second matchup of the season between these division rivals. Let’s dive into what we learned from Sunday’s contest.
5. The catch rule In the NFL strikes again
It’s 2020, several years removed from Dez Bryant’s catch/no catch controversy in the 2014 NFL Playoffs, but even though we’re about to enter a new decade, it's clear that the NFL still doesn't truly know what constitutes a reception.
In the second quarter, Dolphins QB Ryan Fitzpatrick lofted up a touch pass for WR DeVante Parker, who got two hands on the ball. But as Parker was trying to secure the ball towards his body, Jets DB Javelin Guidry knocked it away before the Miami receiver could fully bring the ball down.
Apparently (to the surprise of CBS broadcasters Andrew Catalon, James Lofton and rules analyst Gene Steratore), Parker did enough to establish possession of the football and make a “football move”, and the call of a catch was upheld. It was a questionable interpretation at best.
4. Frank Gore is an NFL treasure
At the tender young age of 37, Frank Gore was the best running back on the field on Sunday for the New York Jets, and it wasn’t particularly close. While this statement might be more of an indictment on the level Jets' talent level, the third all-time leading rusher in the NFL still runs hard and remains responsible for very few negative plays.
Before the game, Jets head coach Adam Gase said that the team could not afford to funnel a heavy workload onto Gore, despite RB Lamical Perine's place on the injured reserve list. However, the sixteen-year pro handled 21 total touches on the day and posted a respectable 4.1 yards per rushing attempt.
2020 might be Gore’s final season in the NFL. If it is, fans should savor each of these performances, even if the team he is on is not very good.
3. Jason Sanders is one of the best kickers in the NFL
While a few individual Dolphins players are having impressive seasons, it’s fair to wonder whether kicker Jason Sanders is having the best campaign of anyone on the team.
Sanders, drafted in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL Draft by Miami, is having about as good of a season as a placekicker can possibly have. He has not yet missed an extra point this year, and has only missed one field goal attempt this season.
Sanders continued to impress on Sunday as he drlled field goals from 51 and 54 yards, respectively, in the first half, to give the Dolphins some breathing room. With the team struggling to finish drives off, Sanders’ ability to make drives at least count for something on the scoreboard has been extremely valuable.
2. Miami needs its starting running backs to get healthy
On a day where the Dolphins held the Jets to just three points, the game was a little bit harder than it had to be for Miami because the road team couldn't sustain drives. Miami played without RB Myles Gaskin, who’s still on the mend from a knee injury, and without RB Salvon Ahmed, who is nursing a shoulder injury.
While neither player will be confused with the upper echelon of backs in the NFL, the drop-off to the next tier of Miami running backs has been a stark decline. Matt Breida, Patrick Laird and DeAndre Washington struggled to get things going until the second half, and the first two players in this trio had costly fumbles that kept the Jets in the ballgame.
The Dolphins may not need a running back boost against the Bengals next week, but their schedule will get much more difficult after that game, so the team's ground game will have to step up in order to finish the season strong.
1. Is Ryan Fitzpatrick vs. Tua Tagovailoa still a debate in the NFL?
If you asked that question to Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, the answer would be a resounding “no”, as he maintained on Sunday that Tagovailoa will remain the team’s starting quarterback if he's healthy.
But it seems pretty clear to the naked eye that Fitzpatrick gives the team an added dimension in their passing game that Tagovailoa does not. On the game's broadcast, CBS analyst James Lofton opined that Fitzpatrick was “throwing receivers open” while Tagovailoa waits for the receiver to get separation before he lets the pass go.
As the team’s schedule gets even more difficult in December and January, it will be important to see whether Flores pivots from his stance in an attempt to make a push for a wild card spot or an AFC East division title.
