Final Score: Jets 31 - Dolphins 23
By The Numbers :
Passing
Sanchez : 15/28 - 256 yds - 3 TD - 120.5 Passer Rating
Rushing
NYJ : L. Tomlinson - 15 car 70 yds 4.7 ypc 1 TD
B. Smith - 3 car 41 yds 13.7 ypc
S. Greene - 10 car 36 yds 3.6 ypc
Receiving
NYJ : D. Keller - 6 rec 98 yds 2 TD
B. Edwards - 2 rec 87 yds 1TD
J. Cotchery - 2 rec 20 yds
Efficiency
1st Downs - NYJ - 20 - MIA - 24
3rd Down Efficiency - NYJ - 6-11 - MIA - 7-15
Turnovers
NYJ - 0
MIA - 1
Penalties
NYJ - 9-81
MIA - 6-52
So much for the low scoring defensive affair I expected to see. I should have known better. The Jets and Dolphins never play conventional games and this one falls right into that category. In fact, this game was almost an instant replay of the Monday night match up last year. The Jets were coming into Miami on a roll. The game was expected to be a defensive contest but turned into a slugfest on offense. The highly touted Jets "D" was gassed then torched by the wildcat and Chad Marino.....oops I meant Henne.
The only difference was this time....THE BETTER TEAM WON!!!!!!!!
This game had a lot riding on it considering how early in the season it was being played. After beating the Pats in Week 2, it was vital for the Jets to take this game against the Fins since they were the only undefeated team left in the division and the winner would control 1st place. It was important for the Jets to get off to a good start on both sides of the ball which is exactly what happened.
The Jets got the ball to start the game and proceeded to march 72 yards down the field in 10 plays for the games 1st score and a 7-0 lead highlighted by a tremendous catch by Dustin Keller and a better throw by Sanchez. This drive was huge on several levels starting with the play of Sanchez. He was 2 for 2 on 3rd down on that drive. On both plays, the Dolphins came with pressure and Sanchez stood tall and found the hot receiver for the 1st down each time. This gave the "O" and Sanchez momentum. They picked up right where they left off last week.
Now it was up to the defense to follow the offense's lead. 1st play of the night, Henne fires a bomb deep over the middle for Brian Hartline that was just a bit too long. All the "experts" figured that Cromartie would get picked on first going up against Brandon Marshall. Nope. They went after Kyle Wilson and he was beaten down the field. Thankfully, Henne put too much on the pass and Hartline couldn't come up with it. The Dolphins would not gain another yard. A sack by Ellis and another incomplete pass set up 4th down and a great start for the Jets.
As the 2nd quarter got underway, the Jets went ahead by another score. Sanchez once again found Keller in the end zone for a 12 yard strike. This was another perfect throw by the kid. Middle linebacker Bobby Carpenter was crowding the line of scrimmage faking a blitz. Sanchez saw that Carpenter was out of position and realized that Keller had the inside part of the route so he fired a laser right to Keller's outstretched hands.
Jets up 14-0.
The way the game started it looked like the Jets were headed for blowout city but the Dolphins showed some fight in their house and started to take it to the Jets defense. They would engineer a 9 play 69 yard drive for a touchdown cutting the Jets lead in half. So now the Jets get the ball and Brad Smith proceeds to take the kickoff to the 43 yard line. Great return. The Jets had to capitalize on the great field position and they went 3 and out giving the ball right back to Miami. Not good. The Dolphins got the ball back and was able to manage a field goal to cut the Jets lead to 14-10 and went into the locker room with all of the momentum leading into the 2nd half.
The fish would get the ball to start the 3rd quarter and in my mind it was HUGE for the Jets to get a stop. They weren't dominant in the 1st half and they showed some leakage in the secondary. Well Miami once again exposed the misaligned "D" and scored on a 12 play 74 yard drive. This gave the Dolphins a 17-14 lead and 17 unanswered points. The crowd was back in the game and you got the feeling that the Jets were going to let this one slip away.
Then comes one of the plays of the game. After the kickoff, Sanchez went under center at the 33 yard line. He drops back to throw, scans the field and fires a pass toward the left sideline for Braylon Edwards. Braylon makes the catch, The CB Jason Allen makes a pitiful tackle attempt, Braylon spins away and takes off down the sideline for a 67 yard TD. Jets now back on top 21-17. Great play, great result but now the defense has to go back on the field after being gassed on Miami's last possession. This is where some "gamesmanship" came into play.
During the Miami kick return, linebacker Jamal Westerman came up lame away from the play. He collapsed to the turf grabbing his right leg complaining of some kind of injury. At the time things seemed normal until the NBC cameras caught Westerman on the sidelines looking fit as a fiddle. They then go to a replay of the kick return and you can clearly see Westerman eyeballing the play and the minute the tackle is made, he goes down in pain. This clearly was a planned "injury" to give the defense a chance to rest after the previous long drive and the quick score by the offense.
Pretty clever. Did it work? Sort of.
The Dolphins continued to pick apart the secondary and get all the way to the Jets 7 yard line. The defense was able to keep them out of the end zone forcing the fish to go for 3 allowing the Jets to keep a very slim 1 point lead. We now move to the 4th quarter where things got very interesting.
The Jets drive down the field pretty methodically. They get inside the Miami 10 yard line. On 3rd and goal from the 5 yard line, Schottenheimer made the call of the game. He called a QB draw, the defense never expected that and Sanchez was able to sidestep a defender and dive forward for the TD.
Until....Holding.....Offense #68....10 yard penalty.....repeat 3rd down.
Left Guard Matt Slauson got called for his 2nd holding penalty ON THIS DRIVE and this one was the killer because it took the TD away and forced the Jets to go for 3. 24-20.
Both teams would trade possessions until the 9:59 mark of the 4th quarter. The Jets have the ball backed up at their own 5 yard line. Here is where the game took a gigantic swing. Instead of being conservative with the ball, Schottenheimer runs the ball on 1st down for 2 yards then calls a pass on 2nd. Incomplete. Now the clock is stopped and it's 3rd and 8 at the Jets 7 yard line. Sanchez in the shotgun fires a pass down field for Cotchery that sails a little too high and goes off his fingertips into the diving arms of CB Jason Allen for an interception. Allen gets up and runs the ball back to the Jets 5 yard line.
Unbelievable.
If there was ever a time for Sanchez to not throw his 1st pick of the season that was the time but.....the replays showed that the ball hit the ground before Allen actually had control of it. Ryan fires the challenge flag and the call is overturned to an incomplete pass. 4th down, Jets punt.
WHEW!!!
The Dolphins get the ball at midfield and drive to the Jets 32 yard line setting up a 50 yard field goal attempt. The kick is good and the Jets once again have their lead cut down to 1. 24-23.
There's now 6:42 left to play and the Jets have the ball at their own 20. They needed a score of some kind but at the very least had to kill some clock on this drive. Well they did both and did it perfectly. The key play on this final drive was a 3rd and 10 play from the 50 yard line. It appeared that the drive was going to stall and end at midfield. Sanchez dropped back to throw and fired a terrific back shoulder throw to Braylon Edwards for 20 yards and a 1st down keeping the drive a live. This was another play of the day. Sanchez tossed that ball anticipating Edwards would be at the right spot and he hit him right in the mitts with the ball. Edwards thankfully held on and we were still rolling.
The Jets would get the ball to the Miami 3 yard line where Sanchez and Edwards hooked up again for another big play. On 3rd and goal, Sanchez tossed a fade pass to Edwards, he leaps over CB Jason Allen who's back is to the ball and snatches it out of the air. It looked like he had scored but as he's coming down, Braylon loses his grip and drops the pass. From euphoria to disbelief when all of a sudden a yellow flag comes flying into the picture. Allen gets flagged for pass interference. Jets get the ball 1st and goal at the 1 yard line. 2 plays later they punch it through for an 8 point lead.
It's now time for the final drive of the game. Dolphins ball....down by 8....1:55 on the clock and 2 timeouts remaining.
That's a lifetime left in the NFL. Confident was one thing I was not, especially considering how easily the defense let Miami stroll up and down the field all night. Well guess what, they did it again.
17 yard pass to Ronnie Brown. 1st and 10 at the Miami 43 yard line.
16 yard pass to Brian Hartline. 1st and 10 at the Jets 41yard line
30 pass to Brandon Marshall. 1st and 10 at the Jets 11 yard line.
In 3 plays the Dolphins got inside the Jets 15 yard line and the last play would have ended in a TD if safety Brodney Pool hadn't tripped Marshall up and pushed him out of bounds. At this point I'm wondering how much time will there be left for the Jets after the Dolphins tie the game. Well I was wrong because after all the throws and yards and scores, the "D" manned up on the last play of the game. On 4th and goal at the 5 yard line, Henne dropped back to throw and fired the ball towards TE Anthony Fasano. Brodney Pool jumped the route and tipped the ball away. CB Drew Coleman caught the deflection intercepting the pass and officially ending the game.
An unbelievable stop by a unit that was being lit up all game long. The Jets came a way with a hard fought, hard earned victory on the road in a hostile environment to move into 1st place in the AFC East and more importantly be 2-0 in the division.
That's a wrap on the recap. Now it's time for some quick hits.
1) Is the Sanchise back? For the second straight game, Sanchez tossed 3 TD's and more importantly no interceptions. He's gradually showing signs of improvement from last season. He's looking down field and making better decisions with the ball in his hands. He's developed a great relationship with Keller that will only mean good things for the team and the offense.
2) So much for the wildcat. Here's a breakdown of both teams stats when using the Wildcat formation.
MIA Wildcat : 6 plays for 2 yards
NYJ Wildcat : 3 plays for 25 yards
I found it funny that the Jets out wildcat'd the Dolphins who were the supposed "masters" of this style of offense. Now was this a result of the Jets shutting down the wildcat or was it because they really didn't need it since the conventional passing game was so successful. We'll never really know the answer until game 2.
3) You gotta love Rex. If there was ever any doubt that Rex Ryan truly cares about his players, look no further than at the end of the game when he gatorade dunked Jason Taylor in celebration of the victory. Rex remembers his history and it was no secret how the Dolphins just kicked Taylor to the curb after 12 years of service. Ryan uses that as motivation and then allows that player to enjoy the victory in style. He did the same thing last year in the playoffs when the Jets beat the Chargers. He gave Brian Schottenheimer a game ball to give to his father Marty as a memento for the ass kicking the Jets gave his former team who also kicked him to the curb after a 13-3 season the year before. He also found a way to honor his brother. Last year when the Jets played the Raiders, the Jets had the game pretty much well in hand but Ryan didn't call off the dogs. They beat Oakland 38-0. This was in response to his twin brother Rob Ryan being fired as defensive coordinator back in 2008. The guy will go out if his way to make sure that if you were wronged by a team that you have every opportunity to get some payback.
4) The offensive line had another up and down game. The up was that Sanchez stayed clean all night. No sacks given up. The down was the costly penalties. Too many false starts and holding calls. That needs to get cleaned up and I mean right now. Matt Slauson has got to get it together. His pass blocking continues to be a weak part of his game. He's lucky that Vladimir Ducasse isn't close to being ready to see some real NFL action otherwise we might be talking about a changing of the guard.
5) Braylon giveth and Braylon taketh away. Braylon Edwards once again finds away to make bonehead plays on the field. After he gets into the game following his 1st quarter benching, he gets flagged for a tripping call right when the Jets were in position to score a TD. The penalty moved them back and they had to settle for a FG. What makes the penalty even more frustrating is that he tripped a guy that NO CHANCE to make the tackle. He was on the other side of the field. A stupid decision from a VERY STUPID player. Mark my words, he will cost us a game this year because of his antics.
6) The Jets miss Revis. Make no mistake about that. The "D" was able to shut down Moss and the Pats in the 2nd half of Week 2. It was not the same story against Miami. Brandon Marshall laid the smack down on Cromartie and Kyle Wilson is showing signs that the speed and power of the NFL is too much for him to handle right now. I still believe that he will be a good corner but right now he's being baptized by fire and it may serve as a confidence killer. Seeing the seconday suffer as much as it has really gives you an appreciation of how valuable Revis really is.
That's it for Quick Hits now it's time for King Rex's Quote of the Game.
Question:
"Can you talk about your pass defense. Without Darrelle and what Marshall was able to do, Hartline, Bess. They were able to do pretty much whatever they wanted....
A visible annoyed King Rex cut off the rest of the question and responded with this.
"Yeah except score when it counted.."
BOOYAH!!! Take that you dumb ass reporter. In your face!
All told, this game was a character builder for the Jets. Coming off a high after the Patriot win it would be easy for this team to lay an egg on the road against a team that always plays them tough. You could also have seen the Jets give the game away after squandering a 14 point lead but the team showed some fight and heart and was able to pull it out. All the Jets need to do now is get healthy and keep this up.
Next up is another divisional game against Buffalo. Two words come to mind......Trap Game!!!
That's all I got....Now Let's Go Eat A God Damn Snack!
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