Miami Dolphins vs. New York Jets: Full Report Card Grades for Miami
The Miami Dolphins didn't have a lead for the first 58 minutes of the game, couldn't seem to stop the New York Jets rushing attack and couldn't seem to get an offensive attack going.
Despite all of this, the Dolphins were victorious, winning 16-13 and leaving as the sixth AFC playoff team.
If the playoffs began today, the Dolphins would face the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card Round, and I'd take the Dolphins in that game.
But before we get to that hypothetical playoff game, a de facto playoff game will be played next Sunday between the Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens, who are both 7-5. To get to that point, the Dolphins had to get through Monday night, which they did, but not exactly with flying colors.
I might have called this team a fraud during the game, and you might see some of that color my grades. I was like McKayla Maroney on Monday night: not impressed and looking like I just smelled some expired milk in the refrigerator.
Here now are the grades.
Quarterback
1 of 10
The following is true about Ryan Tannehill.
He couldn't hit on the deep ball despite going against a weak Jets secondary. His throws seemed a bit off on Monday night, and at times he looked flustered in the pocket.
Also true: He was sacked twice and under constant pressure all night. His protection was far from ideal, and the Jets took advantage. In the end, he did complete 71 percent of his passes and led the Dolphins on a drive to take the lead.
It was an uneven day for Tannehill, one that will allow for his detractors to point out his flaws and for his fans to point out his promise. I'll tell you this: He showed great moxie all night, and a win is still a win, regardless of how a quarterback gets it done.
He won't be graded high (he doesn't deserve to), but his grade is fair.
Grade: C+
Running Backs
2 of 10
We didn't see enough of Lamar Miller Monday night.
What could have helped Tannehill was a strong running game, one that would make the Jets think twice about blitzing and neutralize the coverage on wide receivers.
Instead, Miller only got 13 carries. As a whole, the Dolphins only ran the ball 18 times, with 14 of those runs coming from running backs.
That number has to go up, but when Miller did run the ball, he was effective, amassing 56 yards and a touchdown.
His vision could have been better, and Miami's interior blocking could have been a lot better.
The run game was serviceable when used though, which helped.
Grade: B
Wide Receivers and Tight Ends
3 of 10
To quote Miami radio personality Jonathan Zaslow: "Tonight, Dion Sims was your boy!"
Sims had a massive impact on this game, from a great block in the first half that allowed Tannehill to find Mike Wallace for a long gain to his four catches for 58 yards.
He was a monster on Monday night, while Jarvis Landry continued his stellar play with eight catches for 68 yards. Wallace (despite dropping a touchdown pass that hit his hands in the first half) did well with six catches for 69 yards.
Miami's receivers and tight ends didn't account for a touchdown, but they made a big impact, especially Sims, who is slowly earning a starting role alongside Charles Clay as opposed to just backing him up.
Grade: B
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Offensive Line
4 of 10
Having a makeshift offensive line was going to bite the Dolphins in the backside at some point in the season.
That some point wasn't against Denver but against the Jets, who were aggressive up front all night.
I wouldn't say the Dolphins offensive line held its own because it didn't. While Tannehill was only sacked twice, he was under duress all night, and the two sacks were both straight up bull rushes up the middle where the defender went unmolested on his way to the quarterback.
The exterior linemen did all right; my main gripe was on the inside, where Samson Satele made the case for Mike Pouncey to start at center and for Billy Turner to possibly crack the rotation. It was not a good night for Miami's center and guards, and even Pouncey had his issues.
I wasn't happy with their play, and they likely weren't either.
Grade: C-
Defensive Line
5 of 10
Want your head to hurt?
Miami's defense allowed the Jets to run for 277 yards on the ground.
Chris Johnson looked like the CJ2K of old; all that was missing was his Tennessee Titans jersey and a Black Eyed Peas album and you could have sworn it was 2009.
This was not the Dolphins' best effort, but they were able to come through when it counted thanks to their strength: the pass rush.
When the Jets were forced to pass the ball, the Dolphins defensive line showed up. Did it show up enough for the performance to be graded highly? No, not at all.
It was a very uneven performance by a unit that should be a lot better—one that at least two or three times during the game I called fraudulent.
The line surely did feel that way against the run for the second consecutive game.
Grade: C-
Linebackers
6 of 10
I liked how Jelani Jenkins played Monday night.
He was very active and effective, recording 16 tackles, with two for a loss, and hitting the quarterback once. It was solid performance for Miami's best linebacker, who did get hurt early but came back strong.
The rest of the unit has me thinking about pre-ordering a Denzel Perryman jersey. Koa Misi (who had been very good all season) reverted back to the old joke of Koa "Missing" as he missed tackles left and right and seemed out of position all night.
Philip Wheeler reminded us why the Dolphins will likely eat the dead money and release him during the offseason, as he missed tackles often and just couldn't put it together.
Jenkins is Miami's linebacker of the present and future. Misi should be Miami's linebacker of the present (and has shown himself to be in the past) but played like the Misi of the past.
Wheeler will be known as Miami's linebacker of 2013 and 2014, and that's it.
Grade: D
Secondary
7 of 10
Can I even give Miami's secondary a grade?
Yes, the Jets only completed seven passes, but they only attempted to pass the ball 13 times, with six of those times coming in the fourth quarter when the game was either tied or the Dolphins had the lead.
The lack of pass attempts wasn't due to great coverage or scheming on Miami's part either. Eric Decker was covered all game by R.J. Stanford, a guy who was waiting for his chance to prove himself just a week ago.
As for the run defense, the secondary was almost as culpable as the rest of the defense, allowing three runs of longer than 20 yards including a Chris Johnson 47-yard run.
In terms of individual play, Reshad Jones played well; the rest of the unit was uneven.
I was going to give this unit an incomplete grade, but the secondary is supposed to be the last line of defense with the run game, and it did record the tackles that stopped the Jets from scoring more than the one touchdown they got.
Grade: B-
Special Teams
8 of 10
Caleb Sturgis won a game for the Miami Dolphins.
This was his first game-winning field goal in the NFL. It was only a 26-yard kick, but with Sturgis' history of inconsistency mixed in with the normally treacherous kicking environment of the Meadowlands, it's still a pretty clutch kick to make.
What was even better was the ensuing kickoff, which Sturgis executed better than last week's onside kick in terms of a faker.
Sturgis and Miami's kickoff unit made it look like it would be a pop-up kick, but then the kick sailed into the end zone, which didn't allow for Percy Harvin to take over the game.
Brandon Fields was also excellent (as he usually is against the Jets), averaging 54 yards per punt with two landing inside the Jets 20-yard line.
The bad of the special teams unit came with Sturgis' early missed field goal, a kickoff that bounced out of bounds and a few returns allowed to the Jets that gave them better field position than they should have had.
Overall, I have to give this unit a B-plus, though. Special teams won the game.
Grade: B+
Coaching
9 of 10
I'm debating this grade.
The defense came out very uninspired to start the game, and it seemed to take a while for any adjustments to be made to account for the fact that the Jets were going to run the Woody Hayes offense come hell or high water.
The team also seemed to be a mess, especially when a timeout had to be wasted in the fourth quarter because the Dolphins had 12 men on the field.
I don't think Joe Philbin did too bad of a job on Monday, though.
His calmness, which in the past I've equated with stubbornness and aloofness, really helped guide the team. The Dolphins never got too low despite being down by two scores to start the game, and even though it looked like nothing would go their way, said calmness helped them remain focused on the task at hand.
Strategically, this game was far from a masterpiece; in fact, a lot of the play calls could have been better.
But part of coaching is ensuring that the team doesn't get too high or too low, and that's been Philbin's best asset this year.
It paid off on Monday night.
Grade: B
Final Grades
10 of 10| Position Unit | Grade |
| Quarterback | C+ |
| Running Back | B |
| Wide Receivers and Tight Ends | B |
| Offensive Line | C- |
| Defensive Line | C- |
| Linebackers | D |
| Secondary | B- |
| Special Teams | B+ |
| Coaching | B |
| Final Grade | B- |
Wait, the math doesn't add up. In fact, when you convert the grades to numbers (a guide is available on this handy Google docs archive of the Dolphins' report cards), this doesn't add up.
Why give them a B-minus? Despite looking like they could be frauds, despite playing their worst game since Week 3 against Kansas City, the Dolphins are still 7-5 and would be in the postseason if it started today.
That's what counts in the end, not some silly grades I could give them—although I'll admit this is fun, and covering this team is actually quite fun.
Statistics provided by NFL.com.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
.png?w=480)
