The Miami Dolphins are no longer among the winless teams in the NFL.
After never leading at any point in any game this season, the Dolphins (1-5) never trailed in a 28-25 victory Sunday over the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium.
Miami turned a 7-7 game into a 21-7 halftime lead before Chop Robinson capped the team's best defensive stand of the season in the fourth quarter and preserved the lead.
Miami then hung on to give Jeff Hafleythe first victory of his NFL head coaching career.
Miami's win means the Los Angeles Chargers (0-6) remain the lone winless team in the league. The Chargers were off Sunday.
How bad was it for the Jets (2-5)? A fan was shown with a paper bag over his head that read: "Not even Miami?"
Miami returns home Sunday, Nov. 1,
to face New England (4-3). The Patriots are coming off a Thursday night loss at Chicago.
Here are five instant takeaways from the Dolphins' first win of the season:
Rookie receiver Caleb Douglas returns from injury with a big game
Caleb Douglas, a third-round draft pick from Texas Tech, played for the first time after suffering an ankle injury in Week 2 and recorded the first two touchdowns of his career, scoring on his only two catches.
Douglas, who started his college career at Florida, scored on the opening drive on a 7-yard pass from Malik Willis. Douglas then scored what became the game-winning touchdown with 4:44 remaining on a 63-yard catch-and-run in which he tip-toed the sideline around midfield as former Dolphins safety Minkah Fitzpatrick attempted to shove him out of bounds.
The touchdown gave Miami a 28-17 lead.
Jeff Hafley's happy homecoming
It took six games but Dolphins coach Jeff Hafley got his first win as an NFL head coach. And it could not have come in a better spot.
The game in the Meadowlands was 17 miles from Hafley's hometown of Montvale, N.J. His mom, brother and sister were in the stadium, as were about 30 other friends and family members. They all witnessed the biggest victory of Hafley's career.
The Dolphins looked like anything but one of two remaining winless teams in the NFL entering Week 7. They dominated early, leading 21-7 at the half and outgaining the Jets, 231-114, in the first 30 minutes with a very balanced offense. Miami then held on for the win.
"The offense did a great job in every one of their possessions," Hafley told CBS at halftime. "Malik is using his legs, he's throwing the ball well. We settled down on defense after we busted that first drive (allowing the Jets to drive down the field and tie the game at 7). We just got to come out and be consistent and keep doing what we're doing."
Hafley three-times went for a first down on fourth down and was 3-for-3. The biggest came at the end of the game after the two-minute warning when Willis got 2-yards with the ball on the Jets 49.
In the first half, Ollie Gordon's 1-yard touchdown on fourth down gave Miami a 14-7 lead, and Willis scrambled for 5 yards on 4th-and-2 from the Jets' 41, extending Miami's third TD drive.
Hafley was hired by GM Jon-Eric Sullivan, 10 days after Sullivan came to Miami. They knew each other well having worked together in Green Bay, Sullivan as the VP Player Personnel and Hafley the defensive coordinator. While they embarked on a very deliberate rebuild, no one knew how the season would unfold.
But that first win has to be sweet.
More than just the first win
As CBS went to a commercial after Miami drove 76 yards on the game's opening drive for a touchdown, Foreigner's "Feels Like the First Time" was playing. The reason: It marked the first time Miami held a lead this season. The Dolphins were the only team entering Week 7 that had not led at any point in a game.
That lead, which came on a 7-yard pass from Willis to Douglas, lasted all of 2:16 as the Jets needed just four plays to drive 65 yards to tie the score. Miami regained the touchdown lead again on a 1-yard Gordon run with less than a minute to play in the first quarter. This time the lead held for good.
Malik Willis in control with zero turnovers
Willis had his best half with the Dolphins in the first 30 minutes and held steady in the second half. The five-year veteran entered the game with a 68.4 passer rating and had a first-half rating of 132.9 after completing 10-of-13 passes for 128 yards. He closed 14 of 21 for 208 yards, 2 touchdown passes and a 130.7 rating.
More importantly, Willis protected the ball. He entered with four interceptions and five fumbles. The Dolphins did not commit a turnover against the Jets. Early on, Willis received great protection, often times throwing from a clean pocket. Willis was sacked twice in the second half.
Chop Robinson, defense tightens late in the game
The Jets were 1-yard from completely erasing the Dolphins' two-touchdown lead before Miami's most impressive defensive stand of the season.
The Jets went from first-and-goal at the 1 to fourth down from the 15 after Chop Robinson chased down Jets quarterback Geno Smith for a 12-yard sack, forcing New York to settle for a field goal to make the score 21-17.
Miami got key tackles from Zach Sieler on first down and Josh Uche on second down, both for losses of 1-yard before Robinson's sack.
The Jets went 3-and-out on their next series and cut the Dolphins lead to three with a late touchdown and two-point conversion, but Miami was able to run out the clock.
Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Miami Dolphins no longer winless after defeating New York Jets
