EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Progress doesn’t always have to be pretty.

With some opportunistic turnovers and a dash of fortune that they desperately missed in 2017, the Miami Dolphins are 2-0 for the first time since 2013.

We are seeing signs of a team that could be a surprise wild-card contender if it maintains an aggressive defense and gets efficient play from quarterback Ryan Tannehill throughout the season. In a weak AFC East and AFC in general, that no longer seems like a pipe dream.

“It started for us in April -- it’s just nobody else realized that, so we’ll keep getting better and keep surprising people,” Dolphins coach Adam Gase said.

There were no huge fantasy football stat lines for the Dolphins in Sunday's 20-12 victory over the New York Jets. And they spent most of the second half sweating to hold an early lead, but an accurate and mobile Tannehill showed up when they needed him.

One lasting memory of the game was the Dolphins chewing up the last six minutes of the clock to seal a victory with clutch first down after clutch first down. It was the type of drive you see from playoff teams to win ugly games.

The always reliable Frank Gore converted a third-and-19 on a dump-off pass for a huge first down. Two more first downs came thanks to runs from Tannehill, who seemed to prove he’s healthy and back to his 2016 self.

Tannehill celebrated and shared hugs with his offensive line as they sealed a division win.

"I was fired up. I was proud of our guys and the way we battled through,” said Tannehill, who went 17-of-23 for 168 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions and a 123.1 passer rating. He also added 44 rushing yards.

Don’t look now, but Tannehill is 9-1 in his past 10 starts. Tannehill isn’t going to transform into a new player, but he can maximize who he already is, and that along with a strong defense might be the recipe for a successful Dolphins season.

The chaos of 2017 now seems far in the rearview mirror. We still have a few more weeks to see if optimism is truly warranted, but as safety T.J. McDonald said after the game: “We aren’t there yet, but we can see who we want to be."

McDonald baited Jets QB Sam Darnold into an interception by dropping into a zone when the rookie thought he was in man coverage. Xavien Howard bailed out the offense with an interception in the end zone one play after a Tannehill fumble. Kiko Alonso forced a fumble after a Robby Anderson catch. The Dolphins added three sacks to go with those three turnovers.

“Just on the surface, it was good. But there’s more to be desired,” defensive end Cameron Wake said. “There are plays that we should have made -- there’s more out there.”

Maybe the best Dolphins stat: two penalties for 10 yards. It was a fairly clean performance, something that has been rare over the past two seasons (bottom five in penalties in 2016 and 2017).

The margin of error is small. The Dolphins have a propensity to level off after hot periods offensively, and that showed up in the second half of Sunday’s win. They admittedly have plenty to clean up.

The Patriots are still kings of the AFC East until proved otherwise. But maybe we should start taking notice of a team that could be better than many thought. If things go right, we could be talking about this team in the playoff hunt toward the end of the year.

“I saw we ranked 32nd at the beginning of the year. You should never let someone else’s words dictate your future,” defensive end Robert Quinn said. “I guess if they want to keep talking about us, they’ll keep biting their words one week at a time."