EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Tua Tagovailoa warmed up pretty quickly against the New York Jets and put his cold weather woes on ice.
Tagovailoa threw a touchdown pass to stay undefeated against his AFC East rivals, Miami rushed for three scores and the Dolphins ran away with a 34-10 victory Sunday for their fourth straight win. The defense also stifled an already struggling Jets offense.
“That's a formula to win games in December,” coach Mike McDaniel said.
Tagovailoa improved to 7-0 against the Jets as a starter and 8-0 overall in games in which he has played against the AFC East rivals. And with the temperature 41 degrees at kickoff, Tagovailoa moved to 1-7 in his career when the temperature is 46 or colder.
“I felt good, but it’s football," Tagovailoa said. “Whether it’s hot, whether it's cold, you've got to go out there and you've got to play.”
De'Von Achane ran for 92 yards and a touchdown before leaving in the second quarter with a rib injury following a 29-yard run, but McDaniel said the star running back could've returned in “an emergency.”
He wasn't needed, though. Jaylen Wright filled in and had a career-high 107 yards and his first NFL score. Rookie Ollie Gordon II also ran for a TD for Miami (6-7), which rushed for 239 yards overall and has won five of its last six to remain in the playoff hunt after starting the season 1-6.
“I don’t think I’ve been in the league where I’ve had a stretch necessarily like this one," Tagovailoa said, "in terms of the start to the year and finding that flow toward the later end of the year.”
Tagovailoa was 13 of 21 for 127 yards with a touchdown pass to Jaylen Waddle before sitting for the final minutes with the game well in hand. Zach Wilson, New York's No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 draft, finished for Miami.
Zach Sieler had 2 1/2 of the Dolphins' six sacks of the Jets (3-10), who were officially eliminated from playoff contention with the loss. It's the 15th straight year — the NFL's longest active drought — without a postseason appearance for New York.
“This game was definitely disappointing," first-year coach Aaron Glenn said. "Really hard to try to put this in words. The only thing I can say is I didn’t have these guys ready to play. That was obvious by the way we went out there and played.”
Undrafted rookie quarterback Brady Cook made his regular-season NFL debut for the Jets when he replaced the injured Tyrod Taylor with 3:39 remaining in the first quarter. Taylor left with what the team announced was a groin injury. Glenn didn't have an immediate update on Taylor, who was 1 for 4 for 6 yards and an interception.
Cook, who was Taylor's backup because Justin Fields was ruled out with knee soreness, was 14 of 30 for 163 yards and two interceptions. The rookie said he “absolutely” felt more comfortable as the game went on after a rough start.
“I think you definitely saw flashes there in the fourth quarter of us moving the ball," Cook said. "We need more of it.”
Fast start
On Miami's opening drive, Tagovailoa was hit as he was throwing, but got enough on the pass to complete it to Waddle for a 3-yard touchdown that gave Miami a 7-0 lead.
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Achane made it 14-0 a few minutes later with a 13-yard touchdown run to cap Miami's second possession.
“We knew they were going to come out fast and the biggest thing was us coming out fast, too,” Jets linebacker Quincy Williams said. “We didn't do that the first series. ... We didn't show up earlier.”
Tyrel Dodson gave the Dolphins the ball right back when Taylor's pass went off Mason Taylor's hands and right to the linebacker. It was originally called an incompletion, but McDaniel challenged the call and it was ruled via video review that Dodson kept the ball from hitting the ground for an interception by pinning it between his knees.
Tyrod Taylor, who made his third straight start in place of the benched Fields, was hurt on the play.
Special special teams
Isaiah Williams gave the Jets a spark when he returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown — his second score on a punt return this season — to make it 21-7 with 20 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Trailing 24-7 late in the third quarter, New York's special teams again came up big. With Austin McNamara set to punt on fourth-and-8, Malachi Moore took the direct snap and then lateraled to Isaiah Davis, who gained 20 yards and a first down.
The Jets' offense stalled, though, and New York settled for Nick Folk's 31-yard field goal.
Injuries
Dolphins: LB Caleb Johnson left in the first quarter with a shoulder injury and didn't return. ... S Elijah Campbell was ruled out in the third with knee and ankle injuries.
Jets: Glenn said TE Mason Taylor has a stinger. ... TE Stone Smartt has a possible concussion. ... Rookie DE Tyler Baron was ruled out with a knee injury. ... Rookie LB Kiko Mauigoa cleared the concussion protocol, but didn’t return because of a shoulder injury.
Up next
Dolphins: Take on the Steelers in Pittsburgh next Monday night.
Jets: Travel to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars next Sunday.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
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