2009 Week 5 Jets At Miami
It was a long Monday night of football for the Jets defense, which gave up a season-high 413 yards, with 151 coming on the ground against the NFL's No. 1 rushing offense in the 31-27 loss to the Miami Dolphins.
"Give them credit. They outplayed us up front," said LB David Harris, who finished with seven tackles. "We didn't get off of blocks, we missed a lot of tackles, gave up too many big plays and they hurt us."
On the first drive of the game, the 'Fins rushed down the field on a 12-play, 80-yard drive that took 7:29 off of the clock and ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by RB Ronnie Brown. The Dolphins offense had five plays of 9 yards or longer on the drive, which included back-to-back snaps of the Wildcat — a throw by Brown to tight end Anthony Fasano for 21 yards and a run by Ricky Williams after taking the handoff from Brown for 18 yards.
The Dolphins continued to use the Wildcat with direct snaps to Brown and Williams. For the game they ran the Wildcat 16 times and gained 110 yards, an average of 6.9 yards per play.
"They don't have a quarterback back there so it's 11-on-11," said Bart Scott, who led the Jets with 10 total tackles. "But if they hand the ball off, you're asking one guy to make a tackle on the sweep because you have to honor the replay if he keeps it and runs it up the middle."
The D stepped up after a 59-yard reception by Williams to hold Miami to a 35-yard field goal after three red zone plays, giving the hosts a 10-7 lead. S Jim Leonhard came through with a big play on third-and-9 to tackle Brown behind the line.
The Jets defensive unit allowed 168 total yards, with 62 coming on the ground, in the first two quarters as the Green & White held onto a 13-10 lead.
But the Dolphins backs took advantage of their opportunities with missed tackles in the second half. The third and fourth quarters turned into a shootout with both teams' offenses moving the ball effectively.
"They got on the edge of our defense a lot and they made a lot of plays," said CB Darrelle Revis who again lined up in the secondary without CB's Lito Sheppard (quad) and Donald Strickland (ankle). "We just didn't execute and we didn't do well on third downs like we need to."
The Jets allowed nine of 14 third-down conversions in the game. Brown ran for 74 yards and two TDs and added three catches for 14 yards while Ricky Williams rushed for 68 on the ground and caught three passes for 70 yards.
Dolphins QB Chad Henne went 20-for-26 for 241 yards and two TDs, getting his second win in as many games as a starter. One big play happened with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter, a 53-yard bomb thrown perfectly over the shoulder of WR Ted Ginn past the trailing Revis.
"That was a good play for them. He executed it well," said Revis. "Henne put it up there. He had time to throw the ball and they made a great play."
The Dolphins owned the time of possession, 33:35 to 26:25, gaining 23 first downs to the Jets' 20. Despite getting LB Calvin Pace back for the first game this season, the Green & White were unable to get any sacks for the third time in the last four games.
"I think the offense did their job and then some," said Pace, recording five tackles in his return, one for a loss. "We just have to get off the field, we have to create turnovers, we have to stop the run and get off blocks and we didn't do any of that tonight."
Head coach Rex Ryan took the blame for the loss.
"Horrendous day for our defense," he said. "We're a hell of a team and I believe that and I think we have plenty of talent. We just have to play a hell of a lot better than we did today. That's my responsibility."
DT Kris Jenkins was almost at a loss of words when asked about the performance by SNY's Steve Overmyer.
"I think the preparation was great. We just laid an egg," said Kris Jenkins. "I think that was it. I can't even be myself right now. My feelings are hurt. It's definitely gut-check time and we got a dose of shut-up."
Despite the loss, Scott said the Jets will be ready at home for the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
"We just go back to work. This is not the end of the world," he said. "This was a disappointing performance but we still have an opportunity to control our own destiny."
