As big as last weeks game was for the Jets to prove their worth, a week three match up against division rival Miami Dolphins has much bigger playoff implications. The Jets can ill afford a loss in week three to a young Dolphins team. With the 49ers (who sit atop the NFL power rankings) and league defensive leading Houston Texans ahead on the schedule, the Jets must win the easier games if they hope to have a legitimate chance of making the playoffs.
Miami Dolphins: The Miami Dolphins are a young team and looked like it in week one. They were beat handily by a legit Super Bowl contender in the Houston Texans. Miami was able to bounce back in week two and get a win, albeit against a miserable Oakland Raiders team. Reggie Bush showed that he has big play ability. The Jets will have to game plan for Bush as he is one of a few weapons the Dolphins offense has. Rookie Quarterback Ryan Tannehill is raw but is capable of making big throws. The Jets will certainly look confuse the rookie by sending pressure early and shutting down the run game.
Miami’s defense has been night and day in their first two games. A poor performance against Houston was followed by a great defensive game, again, against the Raiders. Currently, with two NFL weeks passed the Dolphins rank 18th in the league in total defense. They rank an astonishing 4th against the run but have been far less proficient against the pass ranking 30th overall.
New York Jets: The Jets should look to take advantage of a horrid Miami pass defense. The Jets had their own night and day passing performances the past two weeks and should aim to get Mark Sanchez back on track with his receivers. In the final three quarters of last week’s game against Pittsburgh, the Jets receivers were non existent. Against a weaker Miami secondary, young wide out’s Jeremy Kerley and Stephen Hill should have more success.
And Dare I say Unleash Tim Tebow!!! Till this point the Jets have not given any indication that trading for Tebow was a good acquisition. I have stated before and I will stick to my gut feeling that Tebow will have to play a roll for the Jets, in some way this season, if they are going to be successful. I said last week that I thought he would have to be a big part of the Pittsburgh game if the Jets (he was not but should have been). Whether it is in the run game or the spread option, the Jets don’t have a strong enough offense to leave Tebow on the sidelines. With a weak Miami pass defense this could be a good week to test Tebow’s ability, not only as a runner, but throwing the football out of the spread option as well.
The Jets are a much better team then Miami but as we all know that seldom means anything in the NFL (Arizona vs. New England). The Jets must show up on Sunday and be the better team on the field. A loss to Miami certainly doesn’t kill chances of winning the division but it makes it drastically harder. Sunday’s game is vastly approaching!!