After Further Review: Jets-Dolphins

By popular demand, we're again going to have a post after each game that breaks down some of the controversial decisions from the officiating crew in the game.

Penalty Count

Dolphins 6-40 (leading to two Jets first downs)

Jets 13-101 (leading to two Dolphins first downs)

Note: This does not include penalties that are declined or off-set.

Plays where the call was obvious, uncontroversial or not visible on broadcast footage

Jets Penalties

Delay of game on Justin Fields in the red zone.
Illegal shift. This was on Fields too, as two tight ends (Max Mitchell and Jeremy Ruckert) shifted over to the right side and he didn't allow them to get set before sending Garrett Wilson in motion.
False start on a Mason Taylor flinch.
Illegal motion on Wilson. This was Fields' fault again, or at least caused by communication issues between himself and the line. Wilson went in motion with the goal of starting to turn upfield as the ball is snapped, but he curved his run too early and was going upfield before the ball was snapped. He would have to lose all of his momentum if he slowed down or go too wide and mess up the spacing and route precision if he stayed parallel to the line of scrimmage. If the Jets can't get the ball snapped at the right time, maybe they need to get rid of some of these motions.
False start on Allen Lazard. One of five offensive penalties in the first half, all of which were pre-snap.
Jay Tufele encroachment. Jumped early.
John Simpson personal foul for unnecessary roughness. Frustration flag, as he legally took his man down but jumped on him unnecessarily on or after the whistle.
False start on Joe Tippmann. Wrongly attributed to Mitchell, who wasn't on the field, but the right call as he flinched.

Dolphins Penalties

Illegal use of the hands by Jaelan Phillips on Armand Membou. Clearly shoved his head/helmet back.
Neutral zone infraction on Zach Sieler. Olu Fashanu moved while he was still in the neutral zone to ensure the call went against Sieler.
Borom offensive holding on Will McDonald. Basically tackled him to prevent a sack. This penalty negated a big play.
Dante Trader illegal contact on Mason Taylor. Clearly grabbed him around the neckplate. Can you have a horse collar tackle on someone without the ball?
Illegal formation on a kickoff. This was unclear from the footage but someone lined up on the wrong side or in the wrong place.

Penalties warranting further discussion or explanation

Jets Penalties

Two penalties on a kick return. This should have been a simple block in the back on Mark Robinson and we move on, but the way this was applied was symptomatic of how incompetent this officiating crew was. Instead, they announced this as two penalties: A block in the back on #80 and a low block with no number announced. In the official gamebook they gave both penalties to Robinson, presumably because there was no sign of a low block from anyone. Furthermore, the Jets don't have a #80 or even anyone on special teams that wears a number that could easily be mistaken for #80...unless the official misheard #18, but Isaiah Williams did nothing wrong.
Sauce Gardner defensive pass interference. There was no contact beyond five yards, no grab at the top of the route and Gardner was in blanket coverage at the catch-point. There was contact as the ball arrived that was perhaps a beat early, but this wasn't Gardner interfering with the receiver's opportunity to catch the ball, this was them colliding because the pass was late and high. Had it been on time and accurate, Gardner breaks it up but here he is being punished for good coverage on a bad throw.
Late hit on Mauigoa. If the Cole Bishop late hit on Fields two weeks ago was not a penalty then this definitely wasn't. Mauigoa made contact with Tua Tagovailoa up high primarily because he was diving out of the way to try not to make forcible contact because Tagovailoa decided late that he would slide, with Mauigoa already committed to the tackle.
Isaiah Oliver illegal contact. Any contact beyond five yards was incidental and just constituted Oliver resting his hands on a player to keep in contact with them. There was no push, grab or leaning on the receiver, so this was soft.
Offensive pass interference on Wilson to negate a touchdown. Unbelievably soft. Rested a hand on the cornerback's chest more to retain his balance as they pair were hand-fighting legally. He did not extend his arm fully and this is not a call that goes against the other top receivers in the league.
Josh Myers offensive holding. Fair call here, as he basically put the guy in a half-nelson. But the officials ignored Joe Tippmann's helmet being ripped off by Sieler on the same play, which was obviously illegal hands to the face.
Illegal forward pass on Jeremy Ruckert on the final Rugby/Stanford Band play. This one was debatable. The official was behind the play and wouldn't have been able to see the angle closely but it looked like Ruckert released this pass on the 29.5 yard line and it was caught on the 29.5 yard line by Stone Smartt. So that's sideways and therefore legal. It may not have been clear enough to overturn had the play needed to be reviewed though.

Dolphins Penalties

Patrick Paul offensive holding on Kiko Mauigoa. Very clear hold at the end of this play although it wasn't clear why Paul did this as Mauigoa was nowhere near the ball. Officials usually miss or overlook these.

Notable no-calls etc

Here were some of the other notable missed calls, replay situations and controversial moments:

Brandon Stephens arguably got away with a third down pass interference. Certainly seemed more like a penalty than the Gardner one.
Lazard got away with an obvious false start.
Breece Hall got away with a hold in pass protection.
Tyreek Hill was awarded a first down on a play that was initially ruled short but this seemed to be correct.
Miami challenged the down by contact ruling on the kickoff return that saw Braelon Allen injured. He did lose the ball as he was going down but still had control as his helmet and then forearm hit the ground.
Both teams had a couple of rub routes that were just about on the right side of legal.
Isaiah Williams' fumble was reviewed and seemed to be correct as the ball started to come loose and he never fully regained control before he hit the ground and then it was ripped out.
Malachi Moore got away with a hold on a kickoff.
Tyler Baron was clearly held by Borom on one play.
It was moot anyway because of the offensive pass interference call but Wilson did in fact make the catch inbounds on the negated touchdown. The announcers did not realize this but the original call of incomplete on the field was corrected after discussion, perhaps with help from "upstairs".
Matthew Judon tackled Fields in the white and tossed him down five yards out of bounds. That's a late hit against any other team.
The officials initially flagged a Miami play for illegal man downfield but then picked it up. That was correct, as this was timed well.
Matthew Butler dived on Ruckert well after the end of a play, which was an obvious late hit and a suspiciously clear missed call.
And finally, yes, Wilson's touchdown catch was a catch. He controlled the ball in one hand as both feet touched in bounds and never lost that control as he went to ground.

Let us know what we missed - or misinterpreted - in the comments...