Dolphins, Jets pull off remarkable Week 2 comebacks

Two AFC East teams were responsible for two comebacks for the ages over two AFC North squads in the early window of Week 2.

Let’s take a look at how each team did it.

Dolphins storm back from 21-down

Tua Tagovailoa threw for 469 yards and six touchdowns, four of which came during a spectacular fourth quarter, and the Miami Dolphins rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens 42-38 on Sunday.

Tagovailoa’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Waddle with 14 seconds left completed the incredible comeback after Miami (2-0) trailed 35-14 with under 13 minutes remaining.

Tyreek Hill had touchdown catches of 48 and 60 yards during that rally, the latter of which tied the game with 5:19 to play.

Justin Tucker kicked a 51-yard field goal with 2:18 remaining to put Baltimore ahead, but that was far too much time for Miami’s offense, which the Ravens (1-1) didn’t come close to stopping in the final quarter.

The Dolphins overcame a spectacular performance by Jackson, who threw three first-half touchdown passes and then gave Baltimore its 21-point lead with a 79-yard TD run in the third. Jackson threw for 318 yards and three touchdowns.

The Ravens got into position for Jackson to throw a desperation pass at the very end, but that fell incomplete.

Tagovailoa was intercepted twice in the first half, but he more than made up for that. Waddle had 11 catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns, and Hill had 11 grabs for 190 yards and his two TDs.

Devin Duvernay returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, and the Ravens never trailed until the final seconds.

They would have scored a TD on all four of their offensive possessions in the first half if not for a fumble near the Miami goal line.

The Dolphins couldn’t recreate their exceptional defensive effort of a season ago, when their blitz wreaked havoc on the Baltimore offense. The Ravens lost that game 22-10 in their lowest-scoring game of the season.

Jackson put the Ravens up 14-7 with a short pass over the middle that Rashod Bateman turned into a 75-yard touchdown. Later in the second quarter, he threw for TDs of one yard to Mark Andrews and 12 yards to Demarcus Robinson.

Then Jackson’s most spectacular play came near the end of the third, when he faked a handoff and breezed through a big hole up the middle and past the Miami secondary. The touchdown was the longest run of Jackson’s career, and it also put him over 100 yards rushing, a record 11th time he’s done that. He previously shared the mark for quarterbacks with Michael Vick, who had 10 100-yard games on the ground.

Jackson became the first quarterback in NFL history with both a touchdown pass and a touchdown run of at least 75 yards in the same game. He finished with 119 yards on nine carries.

Duvernay, who caught two touchdown passes in a season-opening win over the New York Jets, showed why he’s been an All-Pro returner, taking the kickoff 103 yards to open the scoring. Tagovailoa drove the Dolphins into Baltimore territory, but Marcus Williams created a turnover with a remarkable display of concentration. He jumped in front of Hill to break up a pass, and while lying on the ground, he reached out to catch the falling ball before it hit the ground.

The Ravens drove to the 1-yard line, but after a third-down touchdown run by Jackson was overturned on replay, the Baltimore quarterback lost control of the ball on what looked like a quarterback sneak attempt on fourth down.

Miami drove 94 yards and tied it at seven on Tagovailoa’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Waddle.

With the Ravens up 21-7, Tagovailoa’s deep pass was picked off — again by Williams — and that gave Baltimore a chance to score once more before halftime.

Tagovailoa threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Mike Gesicki to make it 28-14 in the third, and his 2-yarder to River Cracraft in the fourth made it 35-21.

Vintage Flacco propels Jets to victory

Joe Flacco’s 15-yard touchdown pass to rookie Garrett Wilson with 22 seconds left rallied the New York Jets to a 31-30 win over the Cleveland Browns, who blew a two-touchdown lead in the final two minutes Sunday.

On third-and-10, Flacco — who had four TD passes — found a streaking Wilson over the middle. Earlier, the 10th overall pick had dropped a crucial pass, allowing the Browns (1-1) to open their lead.

Nick Chubb’s third rushing TD put Cleveland up by 13 with 1:55 left. However, rookie kicker Cade York, who made a 58-yard field goal in the final seconds to beat Carolina last week, pushed his extra point to the right.

The miss would come back to haunt the Browns.

Flacco hit Corey Davis for a 66-yard TD with 1:22 left to pull the Jets (1-1) within six at 30-24. New York recovered the onside kick and Flacco, who’s filling in while starter Zach Wilson recovers from a knee injury, drove to the 15 without any timeouts before hooking up with Wilson.

Greg Zuerlein made the deciding extra point to make it 31-30.

Cleveland had one last chance, but Jacoby Brissett, who had injured his left knee in the fourth, was intercepted by safety Ashtyn Davis with six seconds left.

Flacco improved to 18-3 in his career against the Browns, the most wins for the 37-year-old QB against any team. Flacco went 26 of 44 for 307 yards.

It was a demoralizing loss for the Browns, who were on the cusp of going 2-0 for the first time since 1993, when Bill Belichick was their coach.

Chubb scored on runs of four, seven and 12 yards.

Brissett — starting while Deshaun Watson serves his 11-game NFL suspension for alleged sexual misconduct — threw a TD pass to Amari Cooper and finished 22 of 27 for 229 yards.

Wilson had eight catches for 102 yards.

Reporting by The Associated Press.