MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Trailing 23-15 to the New York Jets at the start of the fourth quarter Sunday, Miami Dolphins players knew their season was likely over if they didn't get things going on the field.
"When we were trotting back on the field, everybody knew what was at stake at that moment," wide receiver Tyreek Hill said. "We know if we lose, it's over. Our season is over. Fortunately, we've got a lot of great guys on this team who don't want to end our season in January ... We just played ball, man, when it mattered the most. We executed. Guys lined up in the right spot, guys played fast, got guys playing for each other, and that's what it's all about.
"When it's on the line, give us your best stuff. That's what everybody did. No questions were asked, no fingers were pointed. That's the beautiful thing about it."
The Dolphins went 60 yards in 9 plays to tie the game on a pass from Tua Tagovailoa to Hill for a touchdown, and another to Jaylen Waddle for the 2-point conversion. Miami went on to win the game 32-26 in overtime to keep its slim playoff hopes alive.
The Dolphins entered Sunday's game against the Jets with an 8.8% chance of making the playoffs, according to ESPN's Football Power Index, and that number would have dropped to 2.3% with a loss.
Tagovailoa completed 33 of 47 passes for 331 yards and two touchdowns, eclipsed 300 passing yards in three straight games for the first time in his career. He threw the game-winning touchdown to tight end Jonnu Smith on the Dolphins' opening drive of overtime.
The former first-round pick didn't want to go into detail as to what exactly was said before Miami's game-tying drive, but acknowledged it was a group effort to get everyone on the same page.
"I probably wouldn't want to share some of the things we were saying, just to get everybody going," Tagovailoa said. "But just know we were getting after everyone inside the huddle to make sure that you're blocking the way you need to block, you're running the routes where you need to be. You need to be in the right spots. Just all of that. I thought it was super cool that on a fourth down you've got to find your best player, give it to your best player, and that's what happened. Then we came back to our next best player on the two-point drive. That's what happened."
Smith caught three passes for 44 yards and a touchdown -- all in overtime. Tagovailoa said the tight end didn't complain despite only seeing one target in regulation and continued his career year with the game-winning catch to cap off the Dolphins' comeback.
The game likely wouldn't have gone to overtime were it not for rookie wide receiver Malik Washington. After the Jets' field goal gave them the lead with 52 seconds remaining in the game, Washington returned the ensuing kickoff 45 yards to the Dolphins' 46-yard line - which set up Jason Sanders' game-tying field goal to send the game to overtime.
It was a euphoric moment for the rookie, whose muffed punt last week set up the Green Bay Packers' opening touchdown.
"Last week did not define him," Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel said. "An absolutely critical return."
Miami's resilience could also be credited to a mid-week meeting McDaniel called to impart on his players the value of not giving up even when they're counted out.
"At the time I kind of was mad because I'm like, man, I don't want to hear this anymore, but it's just the resilience of the team, and he hit the nail on the head," Dolphins defensive tackle Zach Sieler said. "Today was just -- it just showed all three phases, the resilience. We had issues on all three phases, but we were able to bring it back in and finish the game how we did, which was awesome. I need to tell him that was probably the best meeting now."
McDaniel said the meeting "isn't the headline" and that the headline is "guys coming together" to have a motivated week of practice and choosing not to give up Sunday.
The Dolphins have four games remaining, including next week's game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. At 6-7, they remain two games back of the Denver Broncos for the AFC's final playoff seed and would also need to jump the 6-7 Indianapolis Colts, who own the head-to-head tiebreaker thanks to their matchup in Week 5, which was won by Indianapolis.
But McDaniel said he's not looking ahead to potential playoff scenarios; he's focused on the Texans and will make "absolute" sure his players are, too.
"I know we got a game against the Houston Texans and I absolutely, positively will not have anyone on this team think about anything else," he said. "The Houston Texans are a great team and once my eyelids open for post sleep tomorrow morning, our energy will be focused on our game in terms of cleaning up stuff as it applies to Houston ... I don't care who plays, I don't know who has a bye. I don't really care. We have Houston and we need to build upon what we did this week and they'll certainly be deserving of every ounce of our time and effort."