The Miami Dolphins are finally in the win column and Thursday’s 31-13 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars comes with several key facts and oddities. Miami’s performance should inspire the team moving forward, as there’s plenty of good for Dolphins players to hang their hats on as the team starts to shift their focus to Week 4 and the Seattle Seahawks.
Here are five key facts from the Dolphins’ win over Jacksonville that you may not have known.
Ryan Fitzpatrick set an NFL record with win
Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has become a terror for the Jacksonville Jaguars organization. Fitzpatrick logged his 6th win over Jacksonville for his career — with his sixth different team. He becomes the first quarterback in NFL history to own 6 wins over a single team and them all come with different teams. He has also scored wins in starts against Jacksonville with Tennessee, Buffalo, New York (Jets), Houston and Cincinnati.
Unprecedented offensive efficiency
The Dolphins scored touchdowns on each of their first three possessions to open the game. That may be a typical day at the offense for someone like Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes or Tom Brady, but that’s hardly a common occurrence for the Miami Dolphins. How rare is three straight touchdown drives to open the game?
It is just the second time since at least 2000 that Miami has been able to log three straight touchdowns to start a game. The other occurrence came against the Buffalo Bills back in 2011.
This is just the second time since at least 2000 the Dolphins have scored touchdowns on their first three drives of a game. The other instance was Nov. 20, 2011 vs. Buffalo.
— Brett Brecheisen (@bbrech) September 25, 2020
A long, long opening salvo
The Miami Dolphins put Jacksonville on their heels immediately to start the game. The offense, fresh off some momentum in the second half against the Buffalo Bills, marched down the field on a 12-play opening drive to crack open the scoring for the night. It was Miami’s longest opening drive to start a game since 2011, when Miami squared off against New England to open the 2011 NFL season. Miami would go on to lose that game 38-24 while giving up a 99-yard touchdown to former Dolphin WR Wes Welker.
This 12-play opening drive feels a little better with a win.
The Dolphins took up 6:51 of clock on their 12-play, 84-yard TD drive to open the game. That's their longest TD drive to open a game, in terms of time, since Chad Henne and Reggie Bush led a 7:18 march downfield in Week 1, 2011 against the Patriots #TNF
— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) September 25, 2020
Mike Gesicki’s scoring tear
The former 2nd-round pick took quite a while to find the end zone to start his NFL career — but he’s making up for lost time in a hurry. Gesicki logged just one catch on the day, but it got into the end zone and now the third-year Dolphins tight end has logged 7 touchdowns going back to Week 12 of the 2019 NFL season. No one has more than that number throughout the entire NFL: Gesicki is budding before our eyes and continues to thrive as a receiver after his big breakout in 2019.
TE Mike Gesicki now has seven touchdown receptions since Week 12 last year. That's tied for the most in the NFL in that span.
— Brett Brecheisen (@bbrech) September 25, 2020
Ryan Fitzpatrick also claims team history
Quick! Name the Miami Dolphins quarterback who owns the record for the best completion percentage in a single game!
If you guessed Ryan Fitzpatrick, you’d now be correct! Fitzpatrick was 18-20 passing (90%) in Miami’s win, with his two incompletions coming during a 3 and out possession to close the first half. The first incomplete pass was a ball that clipped TE Mike Gesicki in the face, too — this number could have been even better. But with 20 attempts, Fitzpatrick meets the minimum threshold to secure the team record for best completion percentage in a single game.
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick set a single-game franchise record with a 90.0 completion percentage tonight (min. 20 attempts).
— Brett Brecheisen (@bbrech) September 25, 2020
