MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Consider the demons exorcised by Miami Dolphins pass rusher Bradley Chubb.
Just six days after his ill-timed emotional outburst directly cost the Dolphins four points in a game they lost by one, Chubb was basically unstoppable.
Chubb made up for his illegal helmet chuck against the Tennessee Titans by putting together probably the finest game of his six-year NFL career.
His stat line Sunday: Seven tackles (two for loss), three sacks, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. Chubb was the No. 1 reason the Dolphins blanked the Jets 30-0 in a statement game for Miami.
Miami Dolphins’ Week 15 Defensive Dominance
“Of course, I wasn’t happy with how I approached last week for sure — about the game and all that,” Chubb said. “The infamous play, everybody talking about it, and I was hard on myself about [it].
“It’s just about how you move on from that, how you better yourself from stuff like that, situations like that, and I feel like today we answered the call. Not only me, this whole defense. You can’t pitch a shutout with just one person. We were able to do [it] with all 11 guys flying around. Some guys stepped up in big key spots that we needed, so just a blessing to see everybody put the work in and for it to come to fruition like it did today.”
The Dolphins blanked the Jets even though three-fourths of Miami’s starting secondary was inactive (Xavien Howard, Jevon Holland, and DeShon Elliott).
Bradley Chubb on the ultimate bounce back game pic.twitter.com/zr5OEPvlBF
— Adam Beasley (@AdamHBeasley) December 17, 2023
Brandon Jones got the start with both safeties out and responded to the opportunity with two interceptions Sunday after having just one in his first 50 NFL games.
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The Dolphins’ front and back ends played in unison. The Dolphins pressured Jets quarterbacks on 22 of their 43 dropbacks; nine of New York’s 19 incompletions were due to pass breakups.
But that’s just the start of Sunday’s remarkable defensive stats.
Here are some more, courtesy of the Dolphins’ Brett Brecheisen:
The Dolphins did not allow a rushing first down today for the first time since Sept. 24, 2017 (against the Jets). It’s the ninth time that has happened in team history.
Not only did the Dolphins shut out the Jets today, but they held them to just 103 yards, which ranks second in Dolphins history. It was tied for the fourth-fewest yards totaled by the Jets in any game in their history.
The 23 rushing yards allowed by the Dolphins are the team’s fewest since Nov. 28, 2010 (at Oakland), and tied for the seventh-fewest rushing yards allowed in a game in Dolphins history. It’s the Jets’ fewest gained since Nov. 2005 (19, at Denver).
The Dolphins held the Jets to just 80 passing yards, which was the Jets’ lowest output this season. Miami hadn’t allowed 80 passing yards or fewer in a game since Dec. 1, 2014 (49, at the Jets).
So, it was a collective effort. And yet, Chubb — whose six forced fumbles were the most in the NFL through the 1 p.m. window — was the brightest star.
“Every so often, you are trying to take yourself to another level, and you’re inspired to take your game to another level, and you kind of have to realize that it’s the work that you do day in and day out, and nothing has to change on game day,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. “You have to be yourself. Yourself is absolutely good enough. You don’t have to try and go above and beyond. You just have to be diligent and play with your teammates.
“He’s one of my favorite players on the team simply because of how important it is for him to do right by his teammates, and as you can see, him being him is plenty good enough. He was really, really hard to block today.”
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