Jets vs. Dolphins score: Miami shuts out New York as Ryan Fitzpatrick shines, Tua Tagovailoa makes debut

The Dolphins are now .500, while the Jets remain the NFL's only winless team

Three touchdown passes from Ryan Fitzpatrick along with a dominant defensive effort gave the Dolphins a 24-0 win over the visiting Jets. The Dolphins, a 5-11 outfit last season, are now 3-3 through six games. The Jets, a 7-9 team in 2019, are the only NFL team that remains winless through six weeks. 

After punting on their first drive, the Dolphins scored on consecutive drives when Fitzpatrick hit tight end Adam Shaheen and receiver Preston Williams on three-yard passes. Several possessions later, Fitzpatrick's 43-yard completion to Shaheen set up his four-yard touchdown pass to tight end Durham Smythe. The Dolphins threatened to score again before intermission before Fitzpatrick was intercepted in the red zone by cornerback Brian Poole. 

The two teams exchanged punts at the start of the second half before Jason Sanders extended Miami's lead with a 24-yard field goal. And while the Dolphins wouldn't score again, their defense shut out the Dolphins for the first time since the 1982 AFC title game. Miami secured the shutout after forcing three straight incompletions from Jets quarterback Joe Flacco after New York had reached the Dolphins' seven-yard line on its final offensive possession. 

With the game in hand, the Dolphins brought in rookie quarterback Tua Tagovailoa with 2:27 left. Tagovailoa completed his first two NFL passes while helping the Dolphins sew up the win. 

Why the Dolphins won 

Miami received another stellar game from Fitzpatrick, who completed passes to seven different teammates during Sunday's win. Running back Myles Gaskin, who amassed 126 total yards on 22 touches, also had a strong outing. Defensively, the Dolphins did not allow a third down conversion until there was just under 11 minutes left. The Dolphins applied constant pressure on Flacco, who failed to complete 50% of his pass attempts. Miami gets extra credit for playing Tagovailoa, the fifth overall pick in the 2020 draft, for the first time. 

Why the Jets lost

While defensive coordinator Gregg Williams threw shade on Jets coach Adam Gase last week, Williams' defense deserves plenty of blame for Sunday's loss after allowing six plays that gained at least 15 yards. Conversely, the Jets' offense struggled to create any big plays, and when they did, they failed to parley them into points. An example of this took place in the third quarter, when New York failed to score after getting a 34-yard run by running back Ty Johnson. Three plays after Johnson's run, an intentional grounding penalty of Flacco led to Sam Ficken having to attempt a 55-yard field goal, which came up short.  Moments later, after their defense came up with their second interception of Fitzpatrick, Emmanuel Ogbah's sack of Flacco -- a 28-yard loss -- took the Jets out of scoring range. 

Stat of the day 

The Dolphins and Jets combined to go 0 for 19 on third down until Flacco hit Breshad Perriman for a 22-yard gain on third-and-4 with 10:47 left in the game. For the game, two teams combined to go 3 for 26 on third down. 

Play of the game

Jets safety Marcus Maye made an incredible interception when he was able to corral Fitzpatrick's deep pass intended for Preston Williams two minutes into the fourth quarter. Maye was able to break up the pass and keep the ball pinned to his back before being tagged by Williams. 

Quotable 

"It was awesome. There's obviously a lot of excitement around him. He's worked really hard. It was fun to see him get in there and complete a few passes." -- Fitzpatrick, who led the cheers after watching his backup enter the game, on Tua making his NFL debut

What's next 

The Jets will return home next Sunday to face the 4-1 Bills, who are hosting the Chiefs for tomorrow's "Monday Football Football" showdown. The Dolphins will enjoy their bye week before hosting the Cardinals in Week 8. 

Check out our live blog below for more highlights and analysis from Sunday's game. 

[Oct 18, 2020 at 7:39 pm ET · Bryan DeArdo]

Thanks again for following our in-game coverage of the Dolphins' 24-0 win. Make sure to stay with CBS Sports for all of our NFL Week 6 coverage.

[Oct 18, 2020 at 6:59 pm ET · Bryan DeArdo]

Assuming this lead holds up, this will be the first time Joe Flacco has lost to the Dolphins after winning his first seven starts. Adam Gase will fall to 30-40 as an NFL HC, which is honestly better than I thought. It's easy to forget that the Jets were 7-9 last year after an 0-4 start.

[Oct 18, 2020 at 6:43 pm ET · Bryan DeArdo]

We have a first down! After both teams went 0/19, Joe Flacco hit Breshad Perriman for a 22-yard gain on third down and four with 10:47 left. The Jets are in Miami territory following Marcus Maye's incredible interception.

[Oct 18, 2020 at 6:34 pm ET · Bryan DeArdo]

Frank Gore just had his longest run of the season, a 14-yard gain. But two plays later, Gore was tackles for a loss on third down, as the Jets are now 0-12 on third down. The two teams are a combined 0-19 so far.

[Oct 18, 2020 at 6:25 pm ET · Bryan DeArdo]

We are still looking for our first third down conversion in this game. The Jets are 0-11, the Dolphins are 0-6. New York just wasted a nice 34-yard run by Ty Johnson, as an intentional grounding penalty on Flacco on third down forced a 55-yard field goal attempt that came up short.

[Oct 18, 2020 at 6:08 pm ET · Bryan DeArdo]

Joe Flacco entered the game needing less than 250 yards from passing Joe Montana for 20th all-time time on the career passing list. He's currently at just 59 passing yards midway through the third quarter. The Jets are still looking for their first third down conversion of the game, as they are now 0-10 after Flacco's pass to Crowder came up short on third down.

[Oct 18, 2020 at 5:57 pm ET · Bryan DeArdo]

Crazy stat: Neither team has converted a third down so far. The Dolphins are 0-4, the Jets are 0-8. It hasn't impacted the Dolphins that much, as the score is 21-0 in their favor.