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GAME TIME: 8:30 PM EST on Monday, Oct 12th. The game will be
broadcast nationally on ESPN.
PLACE: Land Shark Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL WEATHER FORECAST: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a low around 79. FIELD CONDITIONS: The Hurricanes will be playing on Saturday night at Land Shark, but the weather is supposed to be generally good, so the grass should be in good shape. STANDINGS & STATS: The Dolphins are 1-3 and tied with the Bills for last place in the AFC East. The Jets are 3-1 and tied with the Patriots for first place.
Dolphins Pts/Game Rank Jets Pts/Game Rank
Scored 20.2 18 Scored 18.5 25
Allowed 19.8 14 Allowed 14.2 3
Dolphins Yds/Game Rank Jets Yds/Game Rank
Total Offense: 322 18 Total Defense: 278 4
Rushing: 184 1 vs Rush: 100 13
Passing: 138 31 vs Pass: 178 5
Jets Dolphins
Total Offense: 297 24 Total Defense: 299 10
Rushing: 130 9 vs Rush: 61 2
Passing: 167 27 vs Pass: 238 24
Sacks Made (Avg/G) Allowed (Avg/G)
Dolphins 11 2.7 13 3.2
Jets 4 1.0 9 2.2
Turnover differential:
Dolphins -3
Jets 0
Individual Skill Position Stats:
Dolphins
QB: QB Henne: 24-41-207-1-1-69.9
Rush: RB Brown: 72-369-5.1-4
Rush: RB Williams: 50-248-5.0-2
Rec: WR Bess: 20-157-7.9-0
Rec: WR Ginn,Jr: 14-138-9.9-0
Rec: WR Camarillo: 11-86-7.8-0
Jets
QB: QB Sanchez: 63-110-744-4-5-71.2
Rush: RB Jones: 61-229-3.8-3
Rush: RB Washington: 45-181-4.0-0
Rec: WR Cotchery: 23-356-15.5-1
Rec: TE Keller: 12-171-14.3-1
Rec: RB Washington: 11-72-6.5-0
Legend
QBs: completions-attempts-yards-touchdowns-ints-rating
RBs: rushes-yards-average-touchdowns
WRs: receptions-yards-average-touchdowns
HISTORY: New York has won eight of the last 10 meetings and leads the
overall series, 46-40-1, including the playoffs.
Dolphins:
QUESTIONABLE: LB Joey Porter (hamstring)
DE Phillip Merling (ankle)
PROBABLE: LB Akin Ayodele (back)
Jets:
DOUBTFUL: CB Donald Strickland (ankle)
T Damien Woody (foot)
QUESTIONABLE: WR Jericho Cotchery (hamstring)
S Kerry Rhodes (knee)
CB Lito Sheppard (quadricep)
PROBABLE: LB Larry Izzo (hamstring)
S Jim Leonhard (knee)
LB Bryan Thomas (wrist)
DOLPHINS STARTERS:
Offense: Defense:
QB - 7 Chad Henne LE - 70 Kendall Langford
RB - 23 Ronnie Brown NT - 95 Jason Ferguson
FB - 39 Lousaka Polite RE - 94 Randy Starks
WR - 19 Ted Ginn,Jr SLB - 99 Jason Taylor
WR - 83 Greg Camarillo ILB - 51 Akin Ayodele
TE - 80 Anthony Fasano ILB - 52 Channing Crowder
LT - 77 Jake Long WLB - 55 Joey Porter
LG - 65 Justin Smiley LCB - 25 Will Allen
C - 64 Jake Grove RCB - 24 Sean Smith
RG - 66 Donald Thomas SS - 37 Yeremiah Bell
RT - 72 Vernon Carey FS - 28 Gibril Wilson
K - 5 Dan Carpenter P - 2 Brandon Fields
PR - 15 Davone Bess KR - 38 Patrick Cobbs
NOTES: Joey Porter, Phillip Merling and Akin Ayodele all participated
in practice on Thursday after sitting out Wednesday.
JETS STARTERS: Offense: Defense: QB - 6 Mark Sanchez LDE - 92 Shaun Ellis RB - 20 Thomas Jones NT - 77 Kris Jenkins HB - 49 Tony Richardson RDE - 93 Marques Douglas WR - 17 Braylon Edwards LLB - 99 Bryan Thomas WR - 89 Jerricho Cotchery MLB - 57 Bart Scott TE - 81 Dustin Keller MLB - 52 David Harris LT - 60 D'Brickashaw Ferguson RLB - 97 Calvin Pace LG - 66 Alan Faneca LCB - 24 Darrelle Revis C - 74 Nick Mangold RCB - 26 Lito Sheppard RG - 65 Brandon Moore SS - 36 Jim Leonhard RT - 67 Damien Woody FS - 25 Kerry Rhodes K - 3 Jay Feely P - 9 Steve Weatherford PR - 36 Jim Leonhard KR - 29 Leon WashingtonNOTES: Braylon Edwards was added to the Jets roster this week and coach Rex Ryan has said that he will start. RT Damien Woody and CD Donald Strickland have not practiced this week.
Chad Henne is starting his second game as a pro, but will have a much more challenging task this week. Once again, Henne's primary job will be to avoid mistakes and take what the Jets will give him. Ted Ginn has caught 1 pass for 4 yards in the last two games. If he doesn't start to get more production, he could find himself moving down the depth chart. But while Ginn is moving down, Brian Hartline is moving up. However, perhaps the most important player on Miami's offense this week will be Jake Grove who as acquired to deal with Kris Jenkins. Last week, the Dolphins' defense picked up 6 sacks with Cameron Wake finally having the kind of impact they hoped he would have when they signed him. Jason Taylor also got two sacks and Joey Porter will be returning this week. That, as much as improved play by the secondary, was responsible for shutting down the Bills' passing game. The Jets' rookie Mark Sanchez started the season with a bang, but has been slipping ever since his first game. He has committed a lot of turnovers (5 INTs and 5 fumbles) and was primarily responsible for the Jets' loss last week. Jets' running back Thomas Jones has been effective against the Dolphins in the past, but is only averaging 3.8 ypc this year. The most dangerous player on the Jets' offense right now is probably Jericho Cotchery, but the acquisition of WR Braylon Edwards is the big question mark for this weekend. The Jets' Kris Jenkins gave Dolphins' center Samson Satele a lot of trouble last year, but Satele is gone. The Jets get LB Calvin Pace back this week and CB Darrelle Revis is an outstanding defensive back. MLB David Harris leads the defense with 33 tackles, 2 sacks and one forced fumble. On special teams, the Jets have two very good return men in Leon Washington (25.2 yards per kickoff return) and Jim Leonhard (15.7 yards per punt return). The Jets this year have been impressing a lot of people with their improved play this year, especially on defense and at quarterback. However, some of that came crashing down last week when Mark Sanchez suddenly looked like the rookie he is, turning the ball over 4 times and losing the game against the Saints almost single-handedly. The Jets defense has been improved by new head coach Rex Ryan, who directed the Ravens' defense last year that crushed the Dolphins. This year, the new Jets' defense is 3rd in the league in points allowed and 4th in yards allowed and held the Saints' offense to just 10 points last week. The Jets are the most blitz-happy team in the NFL right now - if you define blitz as bringing pass-rushers from an unexpected position on the field. They don't actually bring more than 4 rushers on most plays, but the do a lot more blitzes with defensive backs and interior linebackers than most teams. As a result, the Jets only have 4 sacks on the season, but their unusual defensive alignments and pass rushes have confused nearly every offense they've faced and enabled them to beat the Patriots, which has one of the most savvy quarterbacks in the league. And, of course, they'll try every trick they can think of to put pressure on Chad Henne. Ultimately, however, the key to Miami's offensive success will be how well Miami's league-leading rushing attack can deal with the Jets' defense. And while the Jets do have a good defense, they're better against the pass with their blitzes than they are against the run. As I noted above, the biggest match-up in the game - and the key to the Dolphins' offensive success - could be how well the Dolphins' interior linemen can handle Jets' NT Kris Jenkins. It will be up to Justin Smiley, Jake Grove and Donald Thomas to create the interior running lanes that Ronnie Brown thrives on. When the Dolphins do pass (which won't be often), Chad Henne needs to continue to show the kind of patience and mistake-free play he showed against the Bills. He didn't put up any big numbers against the Bills, but he did keep his cool, despite being sacked 6 times, which I found impressive for a guy who was starting his first game. He needs to show the same poise against a much more difficult opponent. The most interesting thing to look out for will be whether or not the Dolphins put Tyler Thigpen in the game to run the Wildcat. Thigpen ran the spread formation in college and last year for the Chiefs. He's only been with the Dolphins for a little over a week, but they may put him in to run 3 or 4 plays. Thigpen is a good runner (he averaged 6.2 ypc on 62 carries last year) and he can throw the ball. With Pat White being totally ineffective this year, it will be very interesting to see if Dan Henning gives Thigpen a try. The Dolphins should be able to run on the Jets and hopefully knock them back on their heels. If that happens, then the passing game could become effective. On the other hand, if the Dolphins can't establish the run, they will probably not be able to throw against the Jets' defense and that could doom the Dolphins. When the Jets have the ball, they will want to run first and try to set up the big play to take advantage of Miami's perceived weakness in the secondary. However, they will have to be aware of a new threat this week - Cameron Wake. With Wake exploding out of the gate last week, Jason Taylor improving and Joey Porter returning, the Dolphins could have a devastating pass rush to throw at the Jets. Last week, Mark Sanchez looked awful against the Saints and if the Dolphins can put the kind of pressure on him that they put on Trent Edwards, they can completely shut down the Jets' offense. The Dolphins are second in the league in rushing defense, mainly because of the dominating play of Miami's defensive line, especially Jason Ferguson, Randy Starks, Phillip Merling and Kendall Langford. If they continue their play, they will keep the Jets from running and that will allow the Dolphins' pass rushers to completely rattle Sanchez. If Miami can't put pressure on Sanchez, the Jets do have enough good receivers to set up some of the big plays that have beaten the Dolphins this year. But Sanchez is not Rivers or Manning and obviously can be rattled. On special teams, the Dolphins will need to continue to play well in coverage, because the Jets have two very dangerous return men and one big return could make the difference in this game. With all the bad blood between these two teams and all the words exchanged, there will be no lack of motivation or energy in this game. Both teams will come out and play very hard and the hitting will be intense. Coach Rex Ryan of the Jets had it right when he said this would be a very physical game. I don't see the Jets having much success on offense against Miami's defense. Mark Sanchez has been playing a little worse each week and Miami's strong pass rush and tough run defense will keep the Jets' offense in check. The only real danger is the big pass play, but I don't think that Sanchez will be able to complete those plays in the face of Miami's pass rush. Even in winning, the Jets have not been scoring many points and Miami's defense should be able to contain them. The bigger question is how Miami's offense will do against the Jets' defense. If they can continue to dominate in the running game, they have an excellent chance of rolling over the Jets. If the Jets can stop Miami from running and force Chad Henne to pass, the Dolphins will be in trouble. But either way, Chad Henne must continue to play with poise, confidence and patience and not make any big mistakes. The Jets are favored in this game, but that is based more on early season results than the past week. I believe that the Dolphins will control the game on Monday night and as long as Chad Henne doesn't make any big mistakes, they will win. To watch the game on TV, you may go to one of the sports bars listed on my "Places To Watch" web page. To listen to the game live over the Internet, you must now pay the NFL for the privelege. They are charging .99 (US) per month or .99 for the season for something you used to get for free. If you want to sign up for that, go to the following link NFL Field Pass. Also, here is a list of some websites that have live scores and updates. Both the Official Website and NFL.com have almost live applications that run in your browser and give you current stats and play-by-play information.
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