Do you hear that?
That is, the sound of the cork popped from a bottle of champagne. The Miami Dolphins will not go winless this year.
Not that I expected them to.
I predicted seven wins and nine losses this season in my Dolphins preview.
It was a quick turnaround playing Thursday night. It was just north of Miami on the road, but the Dolphins won their first football game of the season.
The credit for this win goes to “Fitzmagic” making a return.
Ryan Fitzpatrick accounted for three touchdowns and led Miami (1-2) to a 31-13 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-2) Thursday night, becoming the first NFL quarterback to have six wins over the same opponent with six different teams.
The 37-year-old quarterback appeared to look 23 at times. Fitzpatrick entered the game, completing his last nine passes against Buffalo. He completed his first 12 passes — a career-high, totaling 21 straight completions. The second longest streak in Dolphins history.
“I feel like the luckiest guy in the world sometimes getting to go outside and play football with my friends,” Fitzpatrick shared.
Ex-Dolphin Ryan Tannehill has the NFL record with 25 straight completions. Miami scored touchdowns on its first three drives for the first time since 2011.
It was the Dolphins’ first double-digit victory in 39 games, ending the longest drought in the NFL. The first time the Dolphins have won a game by more than eight points since Dec. 3, 2017, a 35-9 victory over Denver.
“Fitz played well. We moved the ball efficiently in the first half, could have been better in the second half,” Dolphins head coach Brian Flores said. “He made good decisions; he ran the ball when he needed to run it. He had a good command of the offense tonight.”
“Fitzmagic” also ran for 39 yards and a touchdown. He improved to 6-2 as a starter versus Jacksonville, with wins coming with Cincinnati (2008), Buffalo (2012), Tennessee (2013), Houston (2014), the New York Jets (2015), and now Miami.
Fitzpatrick was in a facial hair war of words with Jaguars quarterback Gardner Minshew leading up to the game. Beard against mustache. Beard dominated.
Minshew and Jaguars are a team appearing to rebuild. The Jaguars barely converted third downs and committed two turnovers.
“As a group, we just didn’t get it done,” said Minshew, who completed 30 of 42 passes for 275 yards. “We had too many mistakes. That’s plain and simple.”
Left tackle Cam Robinson was disqualified for making contact with an official following Minshew’s turnover.
Rookie running back James Robinson was impressive for the Jaguars. He rushed 11 times for 46 yards and two touchdowns and had six receptions for 83 yards.
The beat goes on.
Miami hosts Seattle on Oct. 4.
Jacksonville plays at Cincinnati on Oct. 4.
Photo/MiamiDolphins/
