Jets 24 Dolphins 6: Losing Streak Ends Despite Ugly Start

The Jets are back to .500. Tonight's 24-6 win over the Dolphins at the Meadowlands got New York back to 3-3. The schedule gets tougher from here in the short term. Based on what we saw from Miami, there is no way it could get easier. Simply put, the Jets got the right opponent at the right time. This was a good team to get healthy against because an imperfect effort like this still resulted in a blowout win.

More under the jump.

Darrelle Revis: This was not vintage Revis. In fact, it is about as badly as I have seen a healthy Revis play since the Monday game in Miami two years ago. With that said, bad Revis is better than good almost anybody else. The Dolphins completed less than half of the passes in Darrelle's direction. Brandon Marshall got him a few times as badly as anybody I have ever seen get Revis. The Dolphins also could have completed more passes. No matter what, he finished with two interceptions. The pick and the 100 yard touchdown returns in the first quarter could not have been bigger. The Dolphins seemed on the verge of landing an early knockout blow. The ESPN crew was screaming for a flag, but it sure looked to me like Marshall just lost his footing and fell into Revis near a spot in the field where a lot of guys seemed to be losing their balance.

Kyle Wilson: We did not even hear Davone Bess' name until garbage time.

Jim Leonhard: He led the Jets with 7 tackles. He forced a fumble. Most important, though, was when he saved his teammates' bacon with a shoestring tackle on Daniel Thomas as Thomas was about to bounce outside and walk into the end zone for a potential 10-0 Miami lead. Later in that drive came the Revis interception.

Wayne Hunter: The late sack to Koa Misi is on him. It will count on his stats, but the game was over by that point. He committed a penalty. He ends up with the good, though, because he stonewalled one of the best pass rushers in the game, Cameron Wake, with little help. Really, Hunter has played pretty well the last four games after a brutal first two. It is time for people to let up.

Mark Sanchez: Sanchez looked off early. He missed a few throws. It was not all his fault. His receivers were not open on a lot of those throws, and the playcalling bordered on the bizarre at times. He eventually found his rhythm. He finished 14 of 25 for 201 yards and a touchdown. He did not make any ill advised throws while the game was in doubt. There were also at least three passes other passes that hit receivers in the hands. You have to love that he spread the ball out to seven receivers. The audible to the quarterback draw on his rushing touchdown showed great recognition. The Jets finally gave their receivers a chance to make some plays, calling some long developing routes and taking shots down the field. Mark is at his best when he is on the move and can find guys down the field. It should not have taken so long for the Jets to challenge this defense, but it worked when they did.

Offensive Line Pass Blocking: I already mentioned Hunter because he had the toughest job, but Sanchez had all day to throw, and the receivers had all day to get open.

Santonio Holmes: 3 catches, 63 yards, and a great run after the catch for a touchdown.

Plaxico Burress as a Blocker: One thing Plax is doing well is blocking. He was good helping the run and threw a key block on the Holmes touchdown.

Dustin Keller: Didn't see much action, but 2 catches for 51 yards equals big plays.

Joe McKnight on Offense: Why we cannot see more of him on offense I do not know, but he had 2 catches for 29 yards splitting wide.

John Conner: Threw some key blocks on successful runs.

Antonio Cromartie: The one Brandon Marshall completion was brutal. He cannot keep getting burned like that. The receiver will only stupidly run out of bounds with open field in front of him maybe once a year. Aside from that, Cro was solid in coverage and had a big pass defensed in the end zone on Marshall.

Kenrick Ellis: The legend begins. He held up well, and man the big guy can move to the ball.

Jeremy Kerley: It might not have looked impressive on the stat sheet, but he had a key third down reception to extend a first half drive. That was also New York's first first down of the game. The offense seemed to relax from that point and looked much better.

TJ Conley: He hit some rockets. His long was 63, and the Jets got three inside the 20.

Marquice Cole: Was in on two tackles to pin Miami deep on kickoff coverage.

Calvin Pace: Very good against the run. Was one of the few Jets to do anything rushing the passer early. Finished with 7 tackles and 2 sacks.

Aaron Maybin: Still a one trick pony. Ran himself out of some plays, but forced 2 fumbles, had a sack and a hit. If nothing else, you have to love his hustle.

Nick Folk: Easy kicks, but he made all 3 PAT's and a chip shot field goal. He also was solid on kickoffs and got it deep enough to set up the coverage units to do well.

Marcus Dixon: He was probably the best pass rusher the Jets had all game. He was constantly getting pressure to Matt Moore.

The Bad:

Brian Schottenheimer: It took him too long to call plays that suited Sanchez's strengths. Some of the early calls defied description. There was the run to the weak side where there was nobody blocking. There was the direct snap to the running back throwback to the quarterback. There was the fake screen one way, screen the other way. Why can he not design the offense to suit his young quarterback?

Shonn Greene: I'm officially on the both the line and running back are to blame for the run game's struggles bandwagon. Greene had some carries where he had no chance, but he also had some running lanes where he cut the wrong way and cost himself yardage. There are times he tries to run the guy over where he should bounce outside and times he bounces outside when he should cut in.

Joe McKnight on Special Teams: That was ugly. He lost one fumble by not running up to the ball and directing his blockers out of the way. There easily could have been two others on punt returns. It is time to get him off the punt team.

Plaxico Burress as Receiver: On an offense that spreads the ball out, stats do not always tell the story. I don't like the way Plax is running routes, though. His timing still seems off.

Garrett McIntyre/John Conner on the Muffed Kickoff: McKnight is to blame, but these guys need to have better awareness of where the ball is. Three guys were at fault on that one.

Antonio Cromartie on Brandon Marshall's 46 Yard Reception: We can't just ignore how brutal the coverage was, can we?

Jamaal Westerman: Failed to set the edge on the first play of the game for Miami. That resulted in a big Reggie Bush run. He was quiet the rest of the way until a garbage time sack.

Mike Devito/Muhammad Wilkerson/Sione Pouha/David Harris/Bart Scott: Miami ran it 4.7 yards per carry, and too frequently it looked like the Jets were getting blown off the ball and missing tackles. Not a good performance by the run defenders. I am not sure Rex Ryan would admit it, but it sure felt like Pouha was benched for Kenrick Ellis for a stretch.

Other Thoughts:

• Props to GGN member  ___key for predicting Revis' pick six before it happened.
• Throwing at Revis like Miami kept doing is asking for trouble.
• I never understood why Miami hired Brian Daboll as offensive coordinator. I still don't.
• It looks like the Jets are starting to get LaDainian Tomlinson more involved with the run game. Greene has clearly been a disappointment. In his old age, LT is only productive for a few carries. Might I suggest giving some to Joe McKnight?
• This was a good opponent for the Jets to work out some of the kinks. The first half was brutal at times. Against most opponents, they would have been in deep trouble. Miami came at the right time of the season.
• On the other hand, this takes a ton of tension away. In baseball you frequently see a weak infield single to get a hitter out of a slump. The hitter relaxes even though he did not hit the ball hard. Hopefully that happens here.
• Holmes sticking the ball out the way he did before reaching the end zone on the touchdown is just begging to get stripped.

It could have been better, but we cannot be too picky after the last month. The Jets are back in the win column. San Diego is next and then the bye. If the Jets can finally deliever a big performance, they can feel good about themselves heading into their week off.