Thursday Night Football on NFL last night was probably not what most fans expected.  The Miami Dolphins and the Jacksonville Jaguars didn’t follow most sportsbooks’ plans, but this made for an even more interesting game.

The touchdown run by Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and the ejection of Jaguars left offensive tackle Cam Robinson certainly added to the excitement.

Fitzpatrick Found His Sweet Spot

Fitzpatrick achieved a great mark in his career.  He scored three touchdowns on Thursday night that led his team to a 31-13 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars, including one score he punched in on his own.  The other two were, as anyone would have expected, passing touchdowns, and the Dolphins kept control of the game from the very beginning.

After this milestone, Fitzpatrick is the first QB in the NFL to get six wins over the same rival with six different teams.  He outsmarted the Jaguars during the time he was with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2008, then with the Buffalo Bills in 2012, the Tennessee Titans in 2013 and the Houston Texans and the New York Jets in 2014 and 2015, respectively.  This is a great record for him and might give him fuel to become MVP of the 2020 regular season.

Fitzpatrick made his first 12 pass attempts to put his team up 21-7 in the first half.  Two touchdown throws were to Preston Williams and Mike Gesicki.   Fitzpatrick did everything right for the Fins.  One of the touchdowns he scored had the Dolphins take a 28-7 lead in the third quarter, even though he only threw for 160 yards during the game.  Some believe that QB Tua Tagovailoa is the future in Miami, but Fitzpatrick is the most acclaimed player for the moment.

Robinson Makes An Early Exit

Robinson was kicked out of the game with 4:04 remaining during the third quarter after making contact with an official.  On a play at the Jaguars’ 12-yard line, Jacksonville QB Gardner Minshew lost the ball while being sacked by Dolphins linebacker Kyle Van Noy.  At that moment, Robinson fell down on his back at the bottom of a pile while losing the ball, which was recaptured by Van Noy.

The former Alabama standout and holder of the Outland Trophy was at the bottom of the pile when referees stepped in to untangle the mass of players.  At one point, Robinson pushed a ref’s hand away from him, which seemed to be the cause of the pinstripe’s ire.  The ref reached for his yellow flag and threw it high into the air before signaling that Robinson had to hit the showers.  To say that the ref blew the incident out of proportion would be an understatement.

The Jags Can’t Come Together

Minshew had a difficult time connecting last night and couldn’t seem to get in sync with rookie running back James Robinson.  He came in as an undrafted backup, but has had to fill the void left by wide receiver DJ.  Chark, out due to injury.   Robinson brought down six passes for 83 yards, but Minshew had difficulty all night.  He completed 30 of 42 passes and collected 275 yards in the air; however, couldn’t manage a single touchdown and tossed one interception.

The Fins had figured out how to stop the Jags, and they did it well.  Minshew, who found himself the target of one blitz after another, said after the game, “They played a lot of soft zone coverage and weren’t going to let us take any shots.  I thought our guys did a good job for the most part catching the ball and making what they could with it.  But the Dolphins did a good job defensively tonight.”

With that win, the Dolphins improve to 1-2 and will have a little break now before playing the Seattle Seahawks on October 4.  The Jaguars drop to 1-2 and can work on their playbook ahead of their game against the Cincinnati Bengals, also on October 4.