Words you haven’t read since December 2018: Miami Dolphins win!!!!!
It is never bad to win.
Never!
The Miami Dolphins have been on a road to losing as many games as they could this year and it has been all about setting up for a great draft pick in 2020. And I get it.
And I tell you, the draft will work itself out next spring. Meanwhile ...
Dolphins 26.
New York Jets 18.
The Dolphins have won their first game of the season.
And that is a wonderful thing. The right thing. The best outcome.
I’m not going to apologize for this awesomeness. The Dolphins won for the first time in 2019 and the first time dating back to December 9, 2018.
And although the rest of the season may bring ups and downs, and probably more downs than ups, this win means something: The Dolphins, you see, are the only NFL team ever to author a perfect season.
The Dolphins were 17-0 in 1972. And that has been the franchise’s legacy ever since.
The franchise this century has not enjoyed near that same type of success. But the franchise also will not be winless in 2019.
The franchise will not be the first in NFL history to go both undefeated and winless in its history.
That ugly possibility is erased now. Gone.
Hallelujah!
And so, after seven consecutive losses, how did the Dolphins break through today?
Well, there were multiple individual heroes:
Preston Williams caught two touchdown passes before he left the game in the fourth quarter with a knee injury.
Williams and tight end Mike Gesicki generally owned the New York secondary. Williams caught five passes for 72 yards and Gesicki caught a career-high six passes for 95 yards.
The Dolphins got great work from their pass protection by limiting pressure on Ryan Fitzpatrick to practically zero. The work made the Jets look every bit as inept at putting pressure on the quarterback as their 31st-ranked defense collecting sacks per play suggest.Ryan Fitzpatrick avoided any turnovers.
Fitzpatrick threw three touchdown passes.
The defense absolutely dominated the New York offense -- including a safety with 6:29 to play when Sam Darnold simply let the snap fly past him and out of the end zone.
Now be honest: Which among you were booing your team when that happened? Because those points helped seal the win.
Which of you hated that?
Which of you were upset the Dolphins were dominating the New York Jets?
My guess is not many of you. My hope is not many of you. I know that many of you are into the tanking strategy because in theory you’re playing the long game for a better draft pick next April.
Look, one win is not going to make a huge difference in that strategy. They Dolphins will still be drafting high. They’re still likely to get a good pick.
But a win is a precious thing in the NFL.
And count me among those happy to see the Dolphins have success for the first time in 2019.
