The 0-5 Miami Dolphins were a game away from matching a record set by the moribund mid-2000s Houston Texans: the longest start to any NFL season without a victory.

A visit to the 2-4 New York Jets at MetLife Stadium, one of two road venues the Dolphins won at last year, proved to be just the trick for quarterback Malik Willis and company, a team still with a serious chance of becoming the first 0-17 side in NFL history.

Willis marched the Miami offense 76 yards in just seven plays, highlighted by a 25-yard run by Ollie Gordon and a 32-yard pass to Greg Dulcich, capped off with a seven-yard touchdown strike to Caleb Douglas in the back of the New York end zone.

Miami had scored on the team's opening drive before; in fact, Willis piloted two in previous matchups. However, coach Greg Hafley's team did not receive the ball first in those games.

The Dolphins lead didn't last long — Jets quarterback Geno Smith piloted the New York offense down the field a drive later in just two minutes and 16 seconds.

Willis led another Miami touchdown drive right after, culminating in a Gordon touchdown, to give the Dolphins their second lead of the season.

Miami entered halftime up 21-7 after posting 231 yards of total offense while recording 18 first downs. The Dolphins haven't surpassed 350 yards in a full game yet this year.

Dolphins ineptitude

The Dolphins, after gutting their roster over the last two years, are historically bad. The team's -45.6% DVOA entering Week 7 is the NFL's worst by a wide margin (the 31st-ranked Los Angeles Chargers are -37.0%). -46.7% (2005 San Francisco 49ers ) is the NFL record worst.

The 2005 Texans, piloted by former No. 1 overall pick David Carr, never led in their first six games of the season. A Week 8 home matchup against the Cleveland Browns was enough not only to hold a lead but also to earn their first win of the season.

The Browns franchise knows a thing or two about ineptitude: the team won just a single game in 2016 and 2017 combined, highlighted by a 0-16 2017 season, the most recent of five modern NFL winless campaigns.

Those 2017 Browns trailed in a remarkable 85% of game minutes that season, with struggling rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer posting an 11-22 touchdown-interception ratio in his only full season as a starter.