Mostert, Tagovailoa lead Hill-less Dolphins to 30-0 blowout of Jets

By ALANIS THAMES

The Associated Press

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Mike McDaniel was certain his team would avoid another week of disappointment after the Dolphins saw a 14-point fourth-quarter lead fizzle in less than five minutes in their last outing.

Last Monday’s collapse against the Tennessee Titans was a “punch to the gut,” McDaniel said Sunday. He expected the Dolphins to respond in a huge way — and they did, blowing out the New York Jets for the second time in just over three weeks.

Raheem Mostert scored two more touchdowns to set Miami’s single-season record with 20, Tua Tagovailoa threw for 224 yards and a score and the Dolphins shut out the Jets 30-0 on Sunday without star receiver Tyreek Hill, who injured his left ankle against the Titans.

“You can’t do anything about the past, and the future doesn’t exist,” McDaniel said. “They really leaned into the day each and every day this week, and I was very proud, as proud as I’ve been of any performance from this team since I’ve been here.”

Mostert walked into the end zone untouched on a 2-yard run that put AFC East-leading Miami (10-4) ahead 7-0 and gave the ninth-year running back his 17th rushing touchdown of the season — one more than Ricky Williams, who set the record in 2002. The score was also Mostert’s 19th overall, which broke the team record of 18 set by Mark Clayton in 1984.

Mostert said it felt great to break both records, but he wasn’t satisfied with his overall performance.

“I felt like I didn’t help my team enough in the run game,” said Mostert, who had 42 yards on 15 carries. “It’s just a standard that I set for myself.”

Tagovailoa was 21 of 24 with an 87.5 completion percentage and a 60-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Waddle. He was replaced by Mike White with 8:32 remaining and the Dolphins up by 30.

A week after Zach Wilson threw for over 300 yards against Houston, the Jets’ third-year quarterback’s day was cut short when he left late in the second quarter with a concussion. New York (5-9) had just 103 total yards of offense and was shut out for the first time since losing 26-0 at Denver in Week 3 of the 2021 season.

The loss, combined with wins by Houston and Cleveland, eliminated the Jets from playoff contention for the 13th straight season — and severely lessened the chances of Aaron Rodgers returning this season from a torn Achilles tendon. Rodgers has said one of the conditions of his comeback would be New York remaining in contention.

“It’s disappointing,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “Starting from the first series of the year all the way to now, it’s just been a constant battle. I do appreciate the heck out of our guys. We still got three games left to finish strong.”