Everyone in the AFC East is 1-1 after two weeks, but the Jets have a great opportunity in front of them Sunday. If the Green & White can score a victory against the Dolphins, they would be 2-0 in the AFCE while all of their divisional rivals will have yet to taste a division victory. The Patriots don't play their first AFCE game until Week 4 in Buffalo and the Pats figure to have their hands full with the Ravens Sunday night in Baltimore.
We hand the pen off to David for our latest installment of "Fan Friday".
David
Haifa, Israel
This week's inner-division game at Miami takes on more meaning with the dud the Patriots laid in New England and the division lead up for grabs. The Jets get a quasi-comfortable opponent in Miami with which to bounce back to winning ways after a disappointing performance at Pittsburgh. Not to be taken lightly, the Dolphins have had the Jets' number in recent years, winning more times than losing, partly due to the coaching of now Jets OC Tony Sparano. Even though this is a rebuilding year for the Dolphins, Miami's shellacking of Oakland last week should serve as a warning note to the proud Jets D.
Jets D vs Miami O
The key for the Jets – setting the edge! Last week RB Reggie Bush gashed the Raiders with long runs. Bush will definitely put the defense's motto of "one step faster" to the test. If LB Bryan Thomas is out, LB Garrett McIntyre can't get caught up in traffic. He has to shed his blockers and set the edge to funnel the dangerous rushes of Bush back towards NT Sione Pouha and David LB Harris in the middle — the heart of the Jets run defense. Taking away Miami's running game will place more responsibility on rookie QB Ryan Tannehill to perform. Even if CB Darrelle Revis wasn't cleared to play this week, the Jets secondary should have enough to take away the non-threatening Miami receivers in the passing game. Furthermore, Miami LT Jake Long looked shaky vs. Oakland and could be a possible point of attack when rushing the QB.
Jets O vs Miami D
Keys for Jets on offense — attack the Dolphins weak secondary & keep QB Mark Sanchez upright. With RB Shonn Greene a little fuzzy, look for RB Bilal Powell and RB Joe McKnight to get more reps. Conversely don't look for them to get more production as the Miami run defense has been lights out in 2012. This is a game where the OL has to produce again to keep Sanchez clean, so he can pick apart the Dolphins secondary — like he did vs. Buffalo.
Maybe this isn't the week where we see the Tebow Wildcat package due to the Dolphins intimate knowledge of the Wildcat from Sparano's time there as head coach and the great run-stopping ability of the Dolphins' front seven, or is it? This might be the game where the vertical threat of QB Tebow's passing game from the Wildcat is unleashed.
The Jets should take care of business this week and beat an inferior team.
Final score prediction: Jets 24 – Dolphins 13
