– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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EAST RUTHERFORD, NEW JERSEY — Pulling out the coach speak, it was going to take every member of the Miami Dolphins pulling the rope the same direction if they were going to snap their near two-month funk to start their heretofore winless season.
But really, all that was needed at the end of the day was 10 other member of the Dolphins’ offense to push the 11th player, quarterback Malik Willis, across the first-down line at the end of Sunday afternoon.
Along with rushing for the game-clinching first down in the final minute, Willis accounted for three total touchdowns to lead the Miami Dolphins to a 28-25 victory over the New York Jets inside MetLife Stadium and give Miami its first win of the season after an 0-5 start. Wide receiver Caleb Douglas, who missed each of the last three games due to injury, caught both of Willis’ touchdown passes, including a 63-yard catch-and-run on Miami’s next-to-last possession for the game-winning points.
The win was also the first win in the NFL head coaching career for Jeff Hafley, who came over from Green Bay along with Willis as part of the hard reset and rebuild in South Florida that, until today, yielded no wins, a sieve-like defense and questions as to when — and maybe if — Miami would win their next game. But that winning feeling finally did come, immediately after they dominated the line of scrimmage for most of the game, and, though the season is already seven weeks old, the Dolphins feel like they can start the campaign anew again now that the albatross is lifted off from around its collective neck.
“[The locker room] was very excited. It was probably pent-up excitement because we feel like we could have won the last few games we played in,” Willis said. “We’ve been competing in them. We just got the result we wanted today, so guys can really let loose and be super proud of all of the work they’ve put in and not feel like it’s all for naught.”
The Dolphins might have turned a corner, but what the Jets thought was the same feeling a couple weeks ago now looks to be a straightaway to a cul-de-sac. New York allowed 147 rushing yards in the first half, targeted star receiver Garrett Wilson just three times the entire game and, once more, allowed an opponent to score late in the first half while not using any timeouts for a possible response before halftime. (In the final two minutes of the first half since head coach Aaron Glenn arrived last season, the Jets have been outscored 107-6.)
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