If you didn't see the game, consider yourself lucky. The Dolphins pounded and destroyed the Jets for 3 quarters, racking up a well-deserved 30-7 lead by the start of the 4th quarter. Miami ran the ball very well, threw efficiently and played stifling defense.

Then, in the 4th quarter, everything fell completely apart. It was like watching a microcosm of the playoff game against the Jags last January. Miami could do nothing right and the Jets could do no wrong. The Dolphins started playing like the game was already over, laughing and joking about their lead until they suddenly didn't have a lead anymore.

In more detail, the Jets went to a 5 receiver set on offense and created mismatches between their best receivers and Miami's linebackers and defensive backs. Miami did nothing to counter this and got sliced and diced until they lost.

Fans everywhere will want to find a scapegoat for this disaster and assign blame, but this was truly a team failure. The offense couldn't move the ball to sustain a drive at the end. One extended drive would have sealed the victory, but a combination of uninspired play calling and poor execution turned into an endless series of 3 and outs.

In turn, the offense's failure left the defense on the field for extended periods, where they were clearly getting tired and committing penalty after penalty to keep Jets' drives alive. The normally ferocious pass rush turned into a bunch of Pop Warner players pounding on the cement wall of the Jets' offensive line, giving Vinny Testaverde all night long to complete passes. All in all, the Jets got 20 first downs in the 4th quarter - 6 of them on defensive penalties on Miami.

If Miami had pulled this one out, it would have been a boost that would have resonated throughout the rest of the season.

Now, however, the Dolphins have been humiliated on national TV in the worst way possible against a team they should have beaten. This game will haunt them for the rest of the year. This could be the start of the annual slide into mediocrity that Miami has been famous for in the past decade.

The only small ray of hope the team has is that they play the truly mediocre Packers in Miami on Sunday. If they can get back on track against Green Bay, they may be able to salvage their pride before they get into their murderous final 6 games of the year.

I do think that the Dolphins will beat Green Bay on Sunday, but I don't see them doing it in such a way as to prove that they're really one of the league's better teams. I think that other teams will take advantage of the weaknesses that the Jets highlighted and will have more success against Miami as the year progresses.

I'm sorry I can't be more positive, but my hopes have been dashed too many times over the past few years.