Dolphins eliminate Jets from playoff contention in 30-0 blowout

National Football League

Published Dec. 17, 2023 5:41 p.m. ET

Raheem Mostert added more two touchdowns to his season total to set Miami‘s single-season record with 20, while Tua Tagovailoa threw for 224 yards with a score as the Dolphins shut out the New York Jets 30-0 on Sunday without star receiver Tyreek Hill.

Mostert walked into the end zone untouched on a two-yard run that put AFC East-leading Miami (10-4) ahead 7-0 and gave the ninth-year running back his 17th rushing touchdown of the season — one more than Ricky Williams, who set the record in 2002. The score was also Mostert’s 19th overall, which broke the team record of 18 set by Mark Clayton in 1984.

Tagovailoa was 21-of-24 with an 87.5% completion percentage and a 60-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Waddle. He was replaced by Mike White with 8:32 remaining and the Dolphins up by 30.

A week after Zach Wilson threw for over 300 yards against Houston, the Jets’ third-year quarterback’s day was cut short when he left late in the second quarter with a head injury. New York (5-9) was shut out for the first time since losing 26-0 at Denver in Week 3 of the 2021 season.

The loss, combined with wins by Houston and Cleveland, eliminated the Jets from playoff contention for the 13th straight season — and severely lessened the chances of Aaron Rodgers returning this season from a torn Achilles tendon. Rodgers has said one of the conditions of his comeback would be New York remaining in contention.

Hill, who entered Week 15 as the NFL‘s leading receiver, missed the first game of his Dolphins tenure after injuring his left ankle against the Tennessee Titans last Monday night. He has 1,542 yards receiving and was on pace for the first 2,000-yard receiving season in league history.

Hill’s absence made room for a standout game from speedy third-year receiver Waddle, who had a season-high 142 yards on eight catches.

Waddle got behind Jets cornerback D.J. Reed for a 60-yard touchdown catch from Tagovailoa in the second quarter that put the Dolphins ahead 17-0. Mostert then gave the Dolphins a 24-point halftime lead with his second touchdown of the day, a one-yard score in which he was again untouched.

Wilson had spent much of the afternoon running from a domineering Miami defensive front that sacked him four times, one of which resulted in a fumble that gave the Dolphins the ball at the Jets 1-yard line and led to Mostert’s first score.

Wilson was 4-of-11 with 26 yards before being replaced by Trevor Siemian, who was 14-of-26 with 110 yards and two interceptions to safety Brandon Jones.

Despite missing several defensive starters, the Dolphins limited the Jets to just four yards in the first half, the fewest yards allowed in the first half of a game since Dec. 13, 2015, when Denver limited the Raiders to minus-12 yards in the first half.

With the win, the Dolphins completed the season sweep of their division rivals less than a month after blowing out the Jets in Week 12, and bounced back from blowing a 14-point fourth-quarter lead Monday against the Titans.

Game-Changing Chubb

Miami’s high-priced edge rusher Bradley Chubb had his best game since being traded to the Dolphins last November with seven combined tackles and two strip-sacks (three sacks total).

Chubb also had three quarterback hits, two tackles for loss and a fumble recovery for Miami’s No. 9-ranked defense. He leads the NFL with six forced fumbles.

Injuries

Jets: DL Quinton Jefferson left with a hip injury and didn’t return. … S Tony Adams left to be evaluated for a head injury, but was later cleared to return. … DL John Franklin-Meyers injured his hip in the first half and did not return.

Dolphins: Waddle left briefly after hurting his chest on a catch on the first series, but returned shortly later. … RT Austin Jackson injured his oblique in the second quarter (oblique) in the second quarter and didn’t return. … LB Emmanuel Ogbah left with a hamstring injury.