Jets takeaways from Sunday's 30-0 loss against Dolphins, including Zach Wilson leaving with injury

The Jets were always going to be underdogs in Sunday’s game, but with several key Dolphins players out, they might have felt they had a chance to pull the upset, especially coming off a solid win over the Texans. However, they were humiliated by a dominating first half display from Miami.

By halftime, the Jets trailed by 24 points and had been outgained by 197 yards to four. Miami racked up five sacks in the first half, the first of which was fumbled by Zach Wilson and recovered at the Jets’ one-yard line to set up the opening touchdown.

Raheem Mostert had two first-half touchdowns for Miami, with Jaylen Waddle also scoring as he burned DJ Reed for a long touchdown.

After a rough first half, Wilson didn’t play after halftime and Miami tacked on two more field goals and completed the shutout for the final margin.

Here are the key takeaways...

- The Dolphins offense wasn’t expected to be anywhere near as dynamic without Tyreek Hill in the lineup, but Tua Tagovailoa made it look easy, as he completed 13 passes in a row to open the game. Waddle, who already had one hundred-yard game against the Jets this season, had 118 yards by halftime.

- Miami is renowned for their team speed on offense, but it was their defensive line that had too much speed for the Jets’ linemen as Wilson was under constant pressure in the first half. The Jets had played well in pass protection last week but couldn’t handle Miami’s front on Sunday.

- Having gifted Miami a touchdown with the fumble near their goal line, the Jets didn’t do themselves any favors on their next drive. They attempted a fake punt on 4th-and-4 from inside their own 40 and Miami blew it up for a loss to set up a field goal and an early double-digit lead.

- With everyone eager to see if Wilson could follow up on his excellent performance last week but he looked indecisive and rattled by Miami’s pressure. Just before halftime, the Jets took him out of the game as he was reportedly suffering from dehydration and he was ultimately ruled out for the rest of the game with a concussion. Trevor Siemian moved the ball a bit better than Wilson, but also turned the ball over three times.

- The Jets were unable to get their stars going as Breece Hall had just 17 yards on six touches in the first half and Garrett Wilson wasn’t even targeted. They threw to Wilson twice on the first drive of the second half but one was an offensive penalty and the other was incomplete as the Jets went three-and-out. The pair ended up with less than 50 yards between them.

- Penalties have been a major issue for the Jets this year but late in the first half, their only penalty was a delay of game, while the Dolphins had been flagged several times. However, safety Tony Adams gave Miami 15 cheap yards when he carelessly hit Waddle well after the whistle to help set up the Dolphins’ third touchdown. Adams, who didn’t have his first penalty of the season until last week, becomes the latest player to draw Robert Saleh’s ire for a penalty like this.

- Reed has been terrific over the past two seasons but Waddle embarrassed him on the long touchdown catch as even their most reliable players were letting them down on Sunday.

- The stat that best sums up the Jets’ offensive ineptitude is probably the fact that they didn’t run a single play in Miami’s half until there were under six minutes remaining in the third quarter. That drive got as far at the Miami 33-yard line before Siemian threw an interception on an overthrown deep ball to Randall Cobb.

- Jets linebacker Quincy Williams admitted during the week that stopping outside runs was a focus of the Jets’ defensive gameplan and something they had been working on all week. To their credit, this was the one thing they did well for most of the game, although they struggled to stop Miami’s passing game which would normally be their strength. Mostert and De’Von Achane had just 43 yards on 21 carries between them in the first three quarters, although Mostert did bounce outside and went in untouched on each of his touchdown runs.

Highlights

What's next

The Jets are back at home next week as they host the Washington Commanders on Sunday, Dec. 24 at 1:00 p.m.