OVERALL SUMMARY:

The Dolphins went into Giants Stadium Sunday with high hopes but with some questions about this year's team still unanswered. Their performance on Sunday against a division rival in an important game answered most of those questions.

This game turned out to be the breakout game for the offense that everyone was hoping for. Dan Marino and the Dolphins offense finally got in sync to the tune of 465 yards of total offense and 4 touchdowns. Marino himself passed for 372 yards, hitting 8 different receivers for 2 touchdowns and no interceptions.

On the other side of the ball, the Dolphins' defense held one of the better running backs in the AFC to 29 yards rushing and while they did give up a lot of passing yardage, they also put consistent pressure on the Jets' quarterback.

Overall, it was a total team effort to beat an important foe in the race for dominance in the AFC East.

GRADES:

RUSHING: Once again, the Dolphins had trouble running the ball consistently, but ended up with their best rushing effort of the season so far. Karim Abdul-Jabbar is still the starter, but Irving Spikes got more carries earlier in the game than he was used to in an effort to get something going on the ground. It didn't help, but it was nice to see them try something a little different.

What the Dolphins did do more effectively was time the running plays. Instead of trying to force the run, they were better at waiting for the right time to try running the ball. The Dolphins ended up with 93 rushing yards on 30 carries for a 3.1 yard/carry average and an 8 yard Irving Spikes touchdown run. GRADE: C

PASSING: The Dolphins came out passing in this game and it worked better than it has all year. Everybody on the offense played an important part in the passing game and they all played their parts very well. The offensive line allowed Marino plenty of time to throw - he was not sacked once, nor even hurried much.

All the receivers got separation from their coverage when they could and made difficult catches when they couldn't get separation. Marino spread the ball around to all the receivers and most of his throws were right on target. The wide receivers, tight ends and running back all contributed and the game plan allowed every one of them to be involved. GRADE: A

RUN DEFENSE: The run defense held Adrian Murrell to 29 yards on 13 carries and his longest run was 4 yards. The defensive line and the linebackers were excellent at shedding tackles, clogging the lanes and getting to the ball carrier. The defensive backs helped when they could. The only negative about the run defense was allowing two runs of 20 yards. GRADE: A-

PASS DEFENSE: The pass rush was as good as it's been this year. With 5 sacks on O'Donnell and a number of hurries, the Dolphins harassed him all day. Tim Bowens, Shane Burton and Jason Taylor each had a sack and Derrick Rodgers ended the day with 2 sacks and a crucial forced fumble that ended the Jets' last threat on offense.

Unfortunately, the pass coverage was not as good. Despite the pressure on him, O'Donnell managed to complete 65% of his passes for 319 yards. Now, to be fair, some of that was during the final series after the Dolphins had gone into a very loose prevent defense, and 70 yards of it was on the one pass to Chrebet, but it's still too much.

Jeff Graham, Wayne Chrebet and Keyshawn Johnson were too open and the Dolphins' defensive backs didn't get an interception all day. Overall, the pass coverage could have been better. GRADE B-

KICKING GAME: Olindo Mare' had a fair day, but missed an easy 30 yard field goal attempt in the 3rd quarter and he only put 1 of his 5 kickoffs in the endzone. Fortunately, the kick coverage was very good, keeping Leon Johnson and Aaron Glenn bottled up. GRADE: B

KICK RETURN GAME: Not spectacular, but no major blunders either. Spikes' longest kickoff return was just 18 yards, but Charles Jordan did return one punt 22 yards. GRADE: B

COACHING: This was the Dolphins' best game plan of the year, emphasizing the team's talents to the best effect, while minimizing it's weaknesses. GRADE: A

GOOD STUFF:

The Dolphins' offense played excellent football. They used a good mix of run and pass for their people and were able to move the ball pretty much at will. The game plan was varied and while they didn't pull and tricks, they played solid football.

The passing offense finally had the breakout game we've all been waiting for. The way in which Marino spread the ball around and the way his receivers played was about as good as you could ask for.

The run defense was also excellent and if it hadn't been for those two 20 yard runs, the Jets would have had virtually no ground offense at all.

The top 2 tacklers on defense were linebackers Derrick Rodgers and Zach Thomas and the next 2 were Jason Taylor and Darryl Gardener. This means that the top 4 tacklers on defense were either linebackers or defensive linemen. This is an important stat because it means that the guys up front are making the tackles. If defensive backs are your leading tacklers, it's not a good sign.

The pass rush was also as good as it's been all season. The new defensive alignment with Derrick Rodgers freelancing was especially effective late in the game and a very important addition to the gameplan.

THINGS TO WORK ON:

The pass coverage was not as good as it could have been. The Dolphins were beaten in coverage a few times, most notably on the 70 yard completion to Wayne Chrebet in the 1st quarter that set up the Jets' first touchdown.

And I'm sure I don't have to say that the run blocking still needs a lot of improvement, even though it is getting a little better every week.

INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES:

Dan Marino had his best game under JJ so far, completing 27 of 38 for 372 yards with 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. That's a 71% completion percentage and a 9.8 yard per pass average. About the only mistake he made all day was fumbling the snap with John Bock at the end of the first half.

The offensive line was superb in pass blocking, allowing no sacks and virtually no pressure on Marino. And this was with John Bock starting in place of Tim Ruddy at center.

Karim Abdul-Jabbar had 18 carries for 62 yards, which is a 3.4 yard per carry average. While that still stinks, it's the best performance so far this year. He also had 3 catches for 47 yards, including the 36 yard touchdown catch on the play-fake.

Irving Spikes got to carry the ball some in the 1st half on one of the early possessions, but only wound up with 23 yards on 8 carries for a 2.9 yard per carry average. However, he did have a nifty 8 yard touchdown run in the 4th quarter. He also had 2 kickoff returns for 32 total yards.

Bernie Parmalee had a terrific day for himself, leading all receivers with 6 catches for 91 yards, including a couple of crucial 3rd down plays.

Right behind Bernie in the receiving department was Lamar Thomas in his first start this season. He caughts 5 passes for 75 yards and a touchdown. He did have one easy drop, but caught his touchdown pass the next time he was thrown the ball.

Troy Drayton continues to impress with 4 catches for 66 yards. He took a ball away from a defender on one of those catches.

OJ McDuffie is still the main man at wide receiver. Even though he was 4th in receptions with 4 for 55 yards, he made a key reception by leaping over Aaron Glenn and taking the ball away from him. Also, OJ scooped up Charles Jordan's fumble and dove into the endzone for a touchdown that gave the Dolphins a big lead late in the game. And the reason he was near Jordon at the time of the fumble was that he was looking for someone to block....

Jerris McPhail had 3 catches for 15 yards and a single run for 9 yards, but again didn't show the kind of exciting play that we'd all like to see from him.

Charles Jordan caught 1 pass for 22 yards and fumbled at the end of the play. Fortunately for him, OJ was there to pick up the ball. Jordan also returned 2 of 3 punts - one for 22 yards.

Zach Thomas had 11 total tackles on Sunday, including some nice stops on Adrian Murrell.

Derrick Rodgers had 8 total tackles with 2 sacks and forced the fumble that wound up giving the Dolphins good enough field position for a clinching score. For his efforts, the NFL named Derrick Rodgers as the AFC player of the week this week.

Jason Taylor had 6 tackles, a sack and a pass defensed when he jumped and knocked down a Neil O'Donnell pass.

Darryl Gardener had 4 tackles and some nice stops of his own. He received a game ball from JJ for his efforts.

Corey Harris had 4 tackles, but was the man mainly in coverage of Wayne Chrebet when Chrebet caught his 70 yard pass. Harris was replaced by George Teague in the 2nd half at the starting free safety spot.

Teague also had 4 total tackles and when he was playing, there were no more 70 yard completions. He played well enough to be promoted to starting free safety over Corey Harris.

Calvin Jackson and Terrell Buckley had 3 tackles apiece, but no picks or passes defensed.

Tim Bowens only had 1 tackle, but it was a sack for a 3 yard loss and he was effective in clogging the middle to allow the linebackers to take down Murrell.

Barron Tanner had 3 solo tackles and played well in the middle of the defensive line.

Shane Burton had his best game of the year, getting 2 tackles and a sack on a play that had him beating the Jets' interior linemen up the middle.

Dwight Hollier only had 1 tackle, but it was a crucial stop for a big loss deep in Dolphins' territory.

Trace Armstrong also had just 1 tackle, but did recover the Neil O'Donnell fumble in the 4th quarter.

Sam Madison got a bit of playing time, as he was asked to cover Keyshawn Johnson in several situations. Johnson beat him several times.

INJURIES:

There were no major injuries of concern to the Dolphins.

My Comments:

As I said above, this game was a breakout game for the Dolphins' offense. But it was also a watershed game for the defense, especially with them holding Murrell to 29 yards rushing.

It was a good game too watch, because the Dolphins played hard the whole game and they finally looked like a football team that had gotten all of it's act together.

If the team continues to improve little by little, then they should be in the playoffs this year.

Related Info:

• NFL.COM: GameBook
• Dolphins Endzone: JJ's Day After Press Conference
• Dolphins Endzone: Post Game Wrap Up
• Sun-Sentinel: Q&A; With JJ