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The Miami Dolphins finally secured their first victory of the season Monday night, but at what cost? A brutal, possibly career-ending injury to Tyreek Hill was the steep bill paid for a moment of tentative joy amid a season of disgust and despair.
If there was ever a Dolphins game that felt like pooping your pants on your favorite Disney World ride, this was it.
On paper, the Dolphins’ 27-21 victory over the New York Jets is the kind of divisional win that should spark optimism. Tua Tagovailoa looked more in sync. Hill — before his injury — looked like his former Pro Bowl self. Wildcard offseason acquisition tight end Darren Waller scored two touchdowns in his Phins debut. And as a whole, Miami resembled a team with its focus on getting back in the hunt for a playoff berth as opposed to one that’s jockeying for the first-overall pick in next April’s NFL Draft.
In reality, it was the quintessential Miami Dolphins fan experience: Any taste of joy must be followed by a sacrifice to the unrelenting Curse of the Tequesta. Because if there is anything we’ve learned since the Dolphins moved from the Orange Bowl to what is now called Hard Rock Stadium in 1985, it’s that building a stadium on a literal Indian burial ground is the ultimate FAFO situation.
After a promising start to the game that featured his classic digs-and-darting around the field, Hill crumpled to the turf in the third quarter with a gruesome leg injury. The cameras caught what no fan ever wants to see: a foot pointing the wrong way — the realllllly wrong way — which was followed by trainers frantically cutting off his cleat, and Hill being carted off as his mother rushed to his side to kiss his forehead before he was wheeled off. (Editor’s note: Google “tyreek hill knee injury” if you must, but don’t hold us responsible for what you can’t unsee. It’s gnarly.)
Hill grinned and waved to the crowd, but the gesture felt less like reassurance that his injury wasn’t as bad as it looked and more like goodbye. A player who once stacked back-to-back 1,700-yard seasons and transformed Miami’s offense now faces a career-threatening injury at age 31.
The Dolphins ruled Hill out quickly with what was initially reported as a dislocated knee, and reports of hospital imaging confirmed the worst fears: multiple torn ligaments, including an ACL, that will keep Tyreek Hill off the field for at least the next year, if not longer.
Yes, the Dolphins won. The scoreboard said 27-21. The record shows 1-3.
But the biggest news to come out of the game was Hill being carted away — and with him likely any hope of the Dolphins seriously contending for a playoff seed, and possibly their star wideout’s tenure with the team, if not his entire career.
