New York Jets: Breaking Down Loss to Miami Dolphins
The New York Jets gave one away in Week 9 against the Miami Dolphins
The New York Jets had their chances on the road against the Miami Dolphins. They put up 330 yards on offense, but shot themselves in the foot several times on the way to a key AFC East loss to the Dolphins.
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All in all, the football game wasn’t a bad one. It went back and forth and there were several lead changes. The Jets offense moved the football quite well for most of the afternoon. It just wasn’t enough.
There were all kinds of stupid penalties, especially in the first half. Calvin Pryor took an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. There were personal fouls. Brandon Marshall was getting into it with Byron Maxwell. The Jets had no composure early in the game and it cost them opportunities. You cannot allow teams to extend drives with stupid penalties. Even the worst teams in the league, which the Dolphins aren’t by the way, will excel when given extra chances.
They went into the halftime break down 14-13, which was not a good sign. Allowing teams to stay close is a recipe for losing games. The Jets are better than the Dolphins; they should have been able to take it to them from start to finish.
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I don’t think that Tannenhill is as bad as most, but he should have been thrown around all day. Instead, they took him to the turf for one sack. That’s not good enough. Jay Ajayi is a talented back, but he isn’t Barry Sanders. No he didn’t rush for 200 yards, but he did rack up 111. The vaunted Jets run defense that entered the game leading the league in that department gave up 137 yards on the ground.
The yardage numbers on offense, as mentioned earlier, look good. 330 yards is solid production. But as we all know, an offensive performance is not all about the net yards. Going 3-11 on third down is never going to be acceptable. It doesn’t sustain drives and is a perfect recipe to tire a defense out.
Moreover, Ryan Fitzpatrick found the interception-throwing ways of weeks past. Both interceptions were terrible and one was in the red zone. The first one was by a defensive lineman. We all killed Mark Sanchez when he was intercepted by one of the guys up front, yet here we are. The other may have been a miscommunication, but that doesn’t change the fact that it was in the red zone with no receivers around. We all know that can’t happen.
It’s time that all Jets fans look at Fitzpatrick for what he is. I was a major advocate for his return, but the facts remain the facts. He’s a journeyman quarterback that played out of his mind in 2015. Players play to their career averages and Fitz is a guy that makes great throws and then some questionable throws. That’s his story, folks.
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Despite all of that, the Jets still should have won the game. Jalin Marshall‘s first career touchdown reception just after the midway point of the final quarter should have been the game-winner. But, an Antonio Allen penalty on the kickoff set up a re-kick which ended in a 96-yard return—and the Jets never got it going again.
At 3-6 the Jets come home to face the Los Angeles Rams next week. It may not be mathematically over for them, but it’s close. They certainly need a huge performance to keep their hopes alive.