3 Takeaways from Dolphins' Week 18 Win vs. Jets
The Miami Dolphins are headed back to the postseason for the first time since 2016. It's been a tale of two seasons for the Dolphins, who started 8-3 but then lost five straight to put themselves on the brink of elimination.
Miami's win over the New York Jets on Sunday, though, gave them a chance to sneak into the playoffs. The Dolphins didn't control their own path, but a New England Patriots loss allowed Miami to claim the seventh and final spot in the AFC bracket.
It wasn't a pretty game for the Dolphins, but they did enough to notch an 11-6 victory. With New England's help, Miami is now playoff-bound. The big question is whether Sunday's win can provide enough of a spark for the Dolphins to be a legitimate threat in the postseason.
Here are our three biggest takeaways from Miami's Week 18 win over the Jets.
Skylar Thompson Won't Take Miami Far in the Playoffs
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The Dolphins relied on third-string quarterback Skylar Thompson against the Jets after Teddy Bridgewater—who was active but did not start—suffered a finger injury in Week 17. Bridgewater was in that game because starter Tua Tagovailoa remains in concussion protocol.
Dolphins fans will hope that Tagovailoa can be cleared before the wild-card round. The Alabama product has been a fantastic distributor when healthy this season, throwing 25 touchdowns with just eight interceptions and posting a 105.5 passer rating.
Though Tagovailoa's job has largely been getting the ball to playmakers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, he has fared much better than Bridgewater or Thompson. Hill and Waddle haven't been the same dangerous breakaway threats with Tagovailoa out of the lineup, and they certainly weren't that on Sunday.
Thompson, a seventh-round pick out of Kansas State, was a modest 20-of-31 for 152 yards and no touchdowns against New York. Waddle and Hill finished with a combined seven catches for just 67 yards.
While Thompson did enough to not cost Miami the game, he certainly didn't lift the Dolphins to victory. If he's forced to start the rest of the way, it's hard to envision Miami having more than a brief appearance in the postseason.
The Offense Will Need to Lean on the Ground Game to Beat Buffalo
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The Dolphins won't have an easy time getting out of the first round, as they'll open on the road against the rival Buffalo Bills—who clinched the AFC's No. 2 seed on Sunday.
Miami and Buffalo split their regular-season series, but the Dolphins had Tagovailoa under center for both contests. While the team will remain hopeful about Tagovailoa's availability, concussions must be taken seriously, and the Dolphins won't put him on the field before it's safe to do so.
"No idea about any sort of when, if, why, how with regard to Tua," head coach Mike McDaniel said, per the team's official website. "it is a day-to-day process, really, that is most important that we adhere to."
It will probably be Thompson or Bridgewater against the Bills. If Miami is going to pull the early-round upset, it will need to lean on Jeff Wilson Jr., Raheem Mostert and the running game.
While Buffalo has a championship-caliber defense, it has been, at times, susceptible to the run. The Bills came into Week 18 ranked a good-not-great 13th in yards per carry allowed. Miami racked up 188 rushing yards the last time it played Buffalo.
Wilson (72 yards, 4.5 yards per carry) and Mostert (71 and 6.5) were both instrumental to Sunday's win over New York—a team that ranked sixth in yards per carry surrendered. Their dominance on the ground meant that Thompson not making game-frequent mistakes was enough to win the game.
If Wilson and Mostert can perform as they did against the Jets, the Dolphins will at least have a fighting chance against the Bills.
Fan Can Consider Mike McDaniel's First Season a Success
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Last week, we discussed how Miami's five-game losing streak cast a little doubt on the job rookie head coach McDaniel has done this season. Sunday's win over the Jets doesn't make McDaniel a "sure thing" or even an obvious upgrade over former coach Brian Flores. However, it does mean that fans can consider Year 1 of the McDaniel regime a success.
Flores couldn't get Miami into the postseason, but McDaniel has done it despite dealing with quarterback instability at two points in the season (Tagovailoa missed Weeks 5, 6, 17 and 18 with concussions).
Working with a third-string quarterback in a must-win game, McDaniel leaned on his running backs and a strong performance from his defense. As a team, the Dolphins rushed for 162 yards while limiting New York to a mere 187 yards of total offense. Miami didn't commit or force a turnover, but it did win the time-of-possession battle by more than 10 minutes.
McDaniel played to his current roster's strengths against a rival looking to play spoiler. He kept his team focused through the losing streak, navigated two quarterback injuries and got one last win when his team needed it most.
There are signs of a good head coach. While McDaniel has plenty left to prove, in the postseason and beyond, he found a way to close the season strong.
Miami didn't win the AFC East, and it came far too close to missing the playoffs for a team that was once 8-3. Yet, McDaniel avoided the complete meltdown and helped the Dolphins be a playoff squad for the first time in six years. That's a great way to end the season and a very promising way for the 39-year-old McDaniel to begin his Dolphins coaching career.
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