U-G-L-Y! Dolphins historically hapless in blowout loss to Jets

Jarvis Landry can be totally honest without saying a word.

The latest example of Landry’s transparency came early in the fourth quarter of the Jets’ 20-6 beatdown of the Dolphins.

With the Dolphins trying to rally, Landry found himself alone in the middle of the end zone. But Jay Cutler either didn’t see him, or did see him and decided to throw to another receiver, or tried to throw to him but was wildly inaccurate.

Whatever the reason, the would-be touchdown pass bounced off the turf. And that left Landry heated. His body language told the tale. Landry walked first slowly to, and then slowly up the Dolphins’ sideline, steam figuratively pouring out of his ears.

“We didn’t move the ball like we wanted to today,” Landry said, which heaping spoonfuls of understatement.

No, you did not Jarvis.

And as a result, the Dolphins lost to a clearly inferior team for the first time in Adam Gase’s time in Miami.

The Dolphins were simply awful Sunday.

They nearly got shut out by arguably the worst team in football.

The Jets manhandled the Dolphins on both sides of the ball. If not for a meaningless touchdown on the last play of the game, Miami would have been held scoreless for the first time since late 2013.

And Cutler was as bad as anyone on the field.

His stats — 26 of 44 for 220 yards and an interception — didn’t look terrible, but they also didn’t tell the full story.

That line was inflated by a garbage-time touchdown drive.

And for the first time in a long time, the Dolphins seemed to really miss Ryan Tannehill.

“That game was a wake-up call for us,” Cutler said. “We can’t just roll out there and expect it to happen. We have to prepare. ... You can lose each and every week in this league.”

Cameron Wake summed the day up far more concisely: “Unacceptable.”

The thing is, the Dolphins almost never lose these type of games under Gase. They dropped just one game against teams with a losing record in 2016, and the Jets will be lucky to win more than four this year.

In his defense, Cutler didn't get a ton of help. Receivers dropped passes. Jay Ajayi managed just 16 yards on 11 carries.

And neither the defense nor special teams made any game-changing plays.

But more than anything, this was a failure up front. The running lanes that were cavernous for Ajayi a week ago were gone. Adam Gase said the Jets beat the “crap” out of them — but didn’t use the word crap.

“Today just wasn't our day, to be honest with you,” Mike Pouncey said. “We didn't block anybody good enough. We didn't make any plays on offense. We put our defense in a tough situation.”

How tough?

Here’s where the box score was completely accurate.

The Dolphins had just 30 yards rushing on 15 carries. They were a dreadful 1 of 12 on third downs. They had two turnovers. They punted seven times. And they went three-and-out four times.

So how could this happened?

Perhaps the seeds were planted earlier in the week.

“Like [defensive end] William Hayes said after the game: We practiced [terribly] all week,” said tackle Laremy Tunsil. “We all practiced [terribly]. We've got to go out next week, fix our mistakes and get back on the road. We can't let one game define us.”

Again, Tunsil did not use the word terribly.

Yes, losing to a team that, by all outside appearances, is tanking this year will drive most anyone to curse.

Whether or not the Dolphins’ practice intensity was determinative is hard to say. But it’s fair to wonder if the team’s brutal last month — they have just spent a handful of days at their home facility since the third preseason game — is wearing on them.

And there’s no rest for these weary Dolphins. An eight-hour flight to London looms on Thursday.

“I don’t know,” Cutler said. “On one side, you’d say that’s fair. And on the other, that’s the NFL. You just have to deal with it.”

Cutler added: “We’re not going to make excuses.”

That’s probably smart. After playing the way they did Sunday, nobody would want to hear them anyway.

This story was originally published September 24, 2017 at 4:08 PM with the headline "U-G-L-Y! Dolphins historically hapless in blowout loss to Jets."