Week 3: Jets @ Dolphins: Good Win?

A Win is certainly a Win but… Boy how ugly the Jets looked in their win Sunday against the Dolphins. The New York Jets sneaked out a win in Miami Sunday that they surely shouldn’t have. Miami place kicker Dan Carpenter missed a game winning FG in overtime that gave the Jets new life, and ultimately a 23-20 overtime victory. The Jets improved to 2-1 on the season with the win Sunday and are now undefeated in the AFC east. However, in the process of the win, the Jets lost All Pro cornerback Darelle Revis (torn ACL) for the season, and displayed proficient evidence as to how inexperienced and inept the offense is.

Now! It can and will be noted by many that this is how the Jets win games. Under the Rex Ryan regime, this is how we have come to know the Jets for their victories. They grind out games and find a way to squeak it out in the end. But against a young, inferior Dolphins team, who lost star running back Reggie Bush (who was having a great game before he went down) early in the game, the Jets certainly did not look like anything that resembled a playoff team, let alone a Superbowl contender.

In the first half of Sunday’s game the Jets failed to produce a touchdown. A Tim Tebow fake punt, which led to a Jets first down, allowed the Jets to continue their drive and kick a FG to put their first points on the board. Quarterback Mark Sanchez played well in spots but certainly had his share of miscues and struggles. Sanchez finished the game 21-46 for 306 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. He and receiver Santonio Holmes looked to be on the same page as they hooked up nine times for 147 yards. Several of Sanchez’s passes were dropped by his young receivers, most notably a dropped pass in the end zone by rookie Stephen Hill. Sanchez got little help Sunday from his run game. The Jets rushed for 95 yards between running backs Powell and Greene but never established a consistent ground game.

My Notes: It is hard to imagine a teams being as criticized as the Jets have been, after winning a game. But what many people see, including myself, is a team that has not been assembled properly. Mark Sanchez is by no means an Elite quarterback but he is a capable one. He has been given no weapons and the lack of experience at receiver is not helping his cause. The run game, on a team that was supposed to have a GROUND AND POUND philosophy, has been non existent. Shonne Green is not a top running back in the NFL and he lacks big play ability. The offensive line, which had it share of issues last year, was neglected this offseason and has not been able to open up holes in the run game to alleviate some pressure from Sanchez.

All that said…. The Jets are 2-1 and 2-0 in the AFC east heading into a tough four game stint. It is hard to believe that there will be any substantial improvement due to a lack of personnel, but as we learned last night with a dreadful TD call on Monday night football, anything is possible in the NFL!!