Jets 0-4 after error-filled Monday night loss to Dolphins
Miami Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon II runs the ball as New York Jets' Jamien Sherwood (44) and Will McDonald IV (9) attempt to make the stop. Credit: AP
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — The wait for the Jets’ first win of the season continues after another sloppy, undisciplined and error-filled performance.
Penalties and fumbles ruined any chances the Jets had of capturing the first win of the Aaron Glenn era. The Jets fell to the previously winless Dolphins, 27-21, Monday night at Hard Rock Stadium.
The Jets are now one of three 0-4 teams, along with the Titans and Saints. This was also the Jets’ 11th straight loss in this building.
Glenn said he would clean up the Jets’ mistakes, but it’s been an extremely slow-moving process. The Jets turned the ball over three times, including once at the Dolphins’ 1-yard line, and committed 13 penalties for 101 yards.
“Very disappointing,” Glenn said. “Very disappointing. There is no way you can win any game with 13 penalties and three turnovers. It just can’t happen.”
“We have to understand before you can win games you have to learn how not to lose games,” Glenn added.
Justin Fields was back after missing last week’s loss in Tampa because of a concussion. Fields completed 20 of 27 passes for 226 yards and one touchdown. He also had 81 yards rushing and a TD and lost a fumble.
Breece Hall rushed 14 times for 81 yards. Garrett Wilson caught six passes for 82 yards and a highlight-reel touchdown. Rookie tight end Mason Taylor had five grabs for 65 yards.
The Jets made it close after Wilson caught a 23-yard TD pass with 1:49 remaining and Fields ran in the two-point conversion. They tried an onside kick that Darren Waller recovered.
The defense forced a three-and-out but the Jets could only stop the clock once. They got the ball back at their own 1 with two seconds left. Fields threw it to Wilson, who lateraled it to Jeremy Ruckert. He threw an illegal forward pass back to Wilson.
Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa was 17-for-25 for 177 yards and two touchdown passes. Both of them went to Waller, who was playing for the first time since he retired with the Giants after the 2023 season.
Tyreek Hill had six catches for 67 yards before suffering a gruesome left knee injury early in the third quarter. Players from both teams went over to Hill before he left the field on a cart.
The Jets kept hurting themselves. Trailing 24-10 late in the third quarter, they drove into the red zone with a chance to make it a one-possession game. Wilson caught an 18-yard TD pass but he was flagged for offensive pass interference.
On the next play, John Simpson was called for unnecessary roughness, pushing the Jets back to the 36. They settled for a 50-yard field goal by Nick Folk.
“It’s really nothing to overthink whatsoever,” Fields said. “It’s penalties and turnovers and us shooting ourselves in the foot.”
It was that way all game. The Jets fumbled twice in Dolphins’ territory in the first half and opened up the third quarter by fumbling the kickoff.
Isaiah Williams lost it and Dante Trader Jr. recovered it at the Jets’ 36. Six plays later, Tagovolia rolled right and threw it to a wide-open Waller for a 9-yard touchdown that gave Miami a 17-3 lead.
“We can’t have those mistakes,” Williams said. “That was a big part of the game. I let the team down.”
The Jets answered on the next series without attempting a pass. They ran it four times and scored on Fields’ 43-yard run on fourth down. He s dropped back to throw it and when the pocket collapsed, he reversed field and took off and scored.
The Dolphins went ahead two scores on the next series on De’Von Achane’s 9-yard touchdown run. Tony Adams missed a tackle and Jamien Sherwood overran the play. The Jets also had a costly 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty three plays earlier on rookie Kiko Mauigoa for hitting Tagovailoa’s helmet after he ran for 5 yards.
“It was more or less things that we know that we can’t do to win games, we allowed that to happen,” Glenn said.
On the Jets’ opening drive of the game, they ran it 11 times for 76 yards. They looked as if they were going to score a touchdown, but Braelon Allen had the ball punched out at the 1 just before he crossed the plane. Jack Jones knocked it out and Minkah Fitzpatrick recovered it at the 4.
It became a 14-point swing. The Dolphins drove 96 yards and scored on a 4-yard TD pass from Tagovailoa to Waller on fourth down in the back of the end zone.
Allen almost fumbled again on the ensuing kickoff. He injured his knee on the play and was ruled out pretty quickly.
The Jets drove into Miami territory but turned it over again. This time Fields fumbled while scrambling on fourth-and-5 from the 36. Tyrell Dodson slapped the ball away from Fields and Jordan Phillips recovered it returned it to the Jets’ 43.
“Every turnover was impactful,” Glenn said. “To have three of them and to have that many penalties, it’s tough.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
