Frankie Fins Week 2 Recap
After the New York Jets beat the Detroit Lions 48-17, their fans were delirious with delusions of grandeur. They thought that Sam Darnold was going to lead them to a 16-0 season and win the first of ten straight Super Bowls. Somebody had to remind Jets fans, who the Jets are, and that duty rested in the hands of the Miami Dolphins. Fans of the Jets have never been this fired up to start a home season at the Meadowlands it took an hour to get into the stadium, as fans were fired up and loud and ready to party. However, Miami did America, the World, the Universe, and even a Galaxy far far away a favor by taking their big swollen size 12 shoe and popping the Jets balloon.
The Dolphins got control of the game in the first quarter with T.J. McDonald picking off Sam Darnold and returning the ball to the New York 15-yard line. From there it was Kenyan Drake scoring on a third-down run to give Miami a 7-0 lead. Last week when the Darnold made an early mistake he was able to quickly overcome, but the Dolphins defense kept frustrating the Jets and their fans. As the game settled into a defensive battle, the Dolphins defense forced another turnover as Robby Anderson went down like he was tasered by police when hit from behind by Kiko Alonso, coughing the ball up with a recovery by Raekwon McMillian. With the ball on the Jets 44, the Dolphins needed just to plays to make them pay, as Tannehill completed a 29-yard touchdown pass to Albert Wilson. After a Jets three and out, Miami played the two-minute drive to perfection as A.J. Derby caught a 19-yard scoring pass from Tannehill. With Jason Sanders missing the Point After to lead 20-0.
With just 41 seconds left, Sam Darnold and the Jets offense began to click as he hit Terrell Pryor on a 44-yard pass play. The Jets would drive all the way down the field, but poor clock management left with ten seconds left and no timeouts from the Miami 14. Instead of taking points in the locker, Darnold threw a check down pass to Chris Herndon who was brought down at the two as time dripped away, leaving fans of gang green to lament “Same Old Jets”.
The drive at the end of the half was what the Jets needed to get their offense on track. They took that momentum and went down the field and scored on the first possession of the second half, as Jason Meyers missed the PAT, making it 20-6. With the Bilal Powell’s 28-yard reception awakening the crowd at the Meadowlands, disaster struck for the Dolphins as Jordan Jenkins stripped Ryan Tannehill and set the Jets up at the Miami 17. However, whenever things were about to get away from Miami, their defense stepped up and made the big play, with Xavien Howard picking off Darnold in the end zone.
Missed opportunities would be the story of the game for the Jets, as the Dolphins defense made the stops when it mattered most. The Jets offense was in firm control in the second half, as the Dolphins sputtered. However, instead of allowing the Jets to get into the end zone, Miami forced them to settle for a pair of field goals.
With just under six minutes left, and Met Life Stadium going crazy, Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins had to make a few more big plays, to salt the game away. Facing third down and 19 at the Jets 45 Ryan Tannehill in the shotgun tossed a perfect dump off pass to Frank Gore, who the Jets defense for some reason ignored, going 19 yards to get a new set of downs. This forced the Jets to use all their timeouts, as the air was sucked out of the Meadowlands. With the two-minute warning approaching, Tannehill on third down sealed the win with an eight-yard sneak out of the shotgun. As it was time for Miami to celebrate a 20-12 win as they handed the Jets a nice slice of humble pie.
Frank Gore made history on Sunday, rushing for 25 yards on nine carries to pass Jets Hall of Famer Curtis Martin to go into fourth place on the NFL’s All-Time Rushing list. Ryan Tannehill had a serviceable game, completing 17 of 23 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 44 yards on eight carries. On defense, Kiko Alonso led the way with 13 tackles, with a forced fumble and created genuine havoc all day to earn the Frankie Fins Player of the Game.
Up next for the 2-0 Dolphins as a home game against the 0-2 Oakland Raiders, Fins Up.
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