The Dolphins finally found their ‘Juice’

LANDOVER, MD -- All things being equal -- and that was exactly the case with Miami and Washington tied at 10 points apiece with fewer than 11 minutes left in their opener -- someone needed to rise. A player needed to provide extra juice.

Jarvis Landry knew he could do it.

“I hadn’t done a lot of punt returns here, and I was over on the sideline begging for them to put me in, let me have it,” Landry said. “Big-time players want to be in big-time moments. I have always believed that about myself. I feel like I am the type of player that guys can feed off. That’s why they call me ‘Juice.”’

Not a word of that was bodacious from this Dolphins receiver. Because Jarvis Landry rose, juiced Washington in Miami’s 17-10 victory here on Sunday at FedExField that showed once again in the NFL that when all things are equal, speed is the difference. That speed destroys. It wins.

The plodding, conservative approach that Washington had employed led to its 10-0 lead. But it could not keep pace. Miami scored the game’s final 17 points.

Washington, recovering from a 4-12 season and a draining quarterback controversy, started Kirk Cousins at quarterback. It kept Robert Griffith III on the sidelines. It played peek-a-boo football. They ran it 37 times and passed it 31 times. It was conservative, it was cautious, it was the kind of thing you do when the other team has faster, quicker, more bold players.

For Washington head coach Jay Gruden this meant embracing a turtle-like approach over a cheetah-like one. That is not his nature. But he worked the plan impressively.

Gruden and all of his team did. It was working. Washington was in it, all in, hitting hard and winning the yardage and possession time battles and keeping the game manageable, winnable.

And then the 22-year-old from LSU with 10:22 remaining sped 69 yards, untouched, up the middle on a punt return that won it for the Dolphins. Great blocking, yes. But the blur of the return was even more stunning.

Landry is from the same college and the same 2014 draft as rookie of the year and New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. While Beckham was soaring in big plays and popularity last year in his NFL debut, Landry was quietly catching 84 passes, five for touchdowns.

It’s Landry’s turn now.

“Me and Odell grew up in two different situations in Louisiana,” Landry said. “I grew up in a country town and he grew up in the city. We jelled at LSU. He was more than a teammate, he was a brother. We promised each other that we would make it out, that we would make a name for ourselves in this league.”

Dolphins robust defensive end Cameron Wake explained: “Opportunity and confidence in this league can take you a long way. Every player that steps on that field has to find that. I think Jarvis is a player now with a little more wisdom. I think he is seeing things differently. I think he is putting things together now. He is truly a diamond. He can change things in any game. He is ready to do more.”

The Dolphins feature new prize defensive hammer Ndamukong Suh and rising quarterback Ryan Tannehill. Head coach Joe Philbin has been helping to mold this team for four seasons now and it is displaying an endurance quality spiced by a handful of playmakers in all phases of its game.

Washington is not there yet.

Gruden’s is only in his second year building the roster in his image.

Things changed dramatically in this game when on the team’s second possession, fleet receiver DeSean Jackson injured his left hamstring and was lost for the day.

“Anytime you lose a guy that runs a 4.25/40, it’s going to damage some of your action shot games,” Gruden said of Jackson’s speed lost and the bombs that would have been thrown his way, too. Gruden said there would have been “seven or eight more built for him, designed for him.”

None of the other receivers can fly like Jackson. His hamstring injury could be a tricky and ongoing one.

Washington has to find the fastest of the bunch left and get that element clicking.

Their simplified offensive approach -- run Alfred Morris on first downs repeatedly and keep feeding him as the nucleus -- is sound. Morris rushed 25 times for 121 yards. Washington won in first downs, total yardage and possession time. But the plan has to include more shots at big plays or scores by the defense or in the return game, like Landry provided for the Dolphins.

Otherwise, the margin for error is too tiny. And there were plenty of errors that surfaced for Washington, including Cousins’ two interceptions, too many dropped passes and at least two defensive backs dropping potential interceptions.

One of them was cornerback Chris Culliver, who had the ball squarely in his hands with open field for a return but simply dropped it. He said after the game: “They won, we lost, that’s it.”

No, make a play, provide some juice, help your team win.

Third-year Washington tight end Jordan Reed had the right approach. He caught seven passes for 63 yards and a touchdown. He fought for extra yards after his catches. He was instrumental in run blocking. He is developing into a terrific tight end.

But on Washington’s final possession, on fourth-and-7, he blew it. And he knew it.

“I was supposed to take that route inside,” Reed said. “Kirk was under a lot of pressure on the blitz, and I was supposed to be in a certain place inside, over the middle, there for him. But the safety crossed my face on that play. He bottled me up there and I wasn’t able to get inside. I should have found a way to get inside and be where I was supposed to be. He (Kirk) trusted me to do that. It’s my fault. That is a situation I will correct.”

Gruden needs more players like Reed. More accountable ones. More ready to provide juice. More speed.

Washington committed 11 penalties for 88 yards lost. That was extremely costly.

But they looked so good early.

“It’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish, and that is a lesson we can continue to highlight moving forward,” Washington nose tackle Terrance Knighton said. “I really felt badly about their touchdown that we allowed just before halftime (with :27 seconds left). That gave Miami momentum. We had shut them down pretty good and we gave them hope there that they rode into the second half.”

Gruden knows the Dolphins have a playoff-caliber team. Will he stick with this run-first mentality in hopes of getting Washington there?

He should. And keep looking for extra juice in every nook of his roster.

“We are going to have a lot of close games, just like this one, I believe, close games that can be won or lost on one play,” Gruden said. “I’ll just have to find in our team one more play.”