The Jets will travel south in Week 14 to visit the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday afternoon. To help preview the matchup, Travis Wingfield of MiamiDolphins.com and John Pullano of NYJets.com discussed the game.
The Dolphins have won 3 of their last 4 games. What has Miami done well as of late on defense that has helped them improve from 2-6 to 5-7?
TW: The marriage of rush and coverage has crystalized under first-year defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver. Assisting Weaver with the ability to get after quarterbacks with four rushers, blitzes and simulated pressures is the emergence of rookie outside linebacker Chop Robinson.
Robinson led the NFL in pass rush win rate consecutive weeks during Miami's back-to-back wins over the Patriots and the Raiders. Rather than hitting the rookie wall, he's been improving with more rush moves and a counter move to the initial set of opposing tackles.
The defense operates at its most efficient when the three starting cornerbacks are on the field, however. Kendall Fuller has been the perfect No. 2 alongside Jalen Ramsey and Kader Kohou's versatility allows those players to move all over the field. Fuller missed the last two games while recovering from a concussion and Kohou exited the Green Bay game with a back injury.
Six of the Jets nine losses have come by single-digit margins, how do they go about finishing a potentially close game against Miami?
JP: By limiting penalties. The Jets' defense played a strong game against the Seahawks in Week 13 allowing just 19 points and 259 total yards, Seattle's second-lowest yardage total this season. The game, however, came down to one drive. Trailing by 21-19 in the fourth quarter, Seattle drove the ball 71 yards in 9 plays and drained over 6 minutes off the clock. On the drive, the Jets gifted the Seahawks 45 yards on 4 penalties including 2 that resulted in first downs and another that turned a fourth-and-6 into a fourth-and-1. For the season, the Jets average the third most penalties per game (7.4) in the NFL. Six of the Jets' 9 losses this season have come by one score. If they could have limited the self-inflicted wounds, especially late, they should have be able to flip some of those one-score results in their favor.
On paper there's a lot of firepower on the Dolphins' offense, what has kept that unit from performing at a consistently high level?
TW: The health of the quarterback – that's the long and short of it. Tua Tagovailoa ranks top five in most major categories for the third straight year including expected points per play, win probability added, passer rating, touchdown percentage and completion percentage.
Since Tagovailoa's Week 8 return to the lineup, the Dolphins' offense ranks top five in points, drive success rate and points per drive. They've achieved this despite a lackluster running game, which answers the original question. Miami has struggled to run the ball since the loss of right tackle Austin Jackson, who sustained a knee injury on the final play of the Week 9 game against Buffalo.
The Jets began to work a few of their younger players in to the offense in Week 13. Which of those players could have the biggest impact vs. Miami in Week 14?
JP: I loved seeing rookie RB Isaiah Davis get an extended look on offense vs. Seattle last Sunday – 3 receptions for 28 yards and a touchdown. Jets rookie WR Malachi Corley got a similar look – 2 targets, 1 rush attempt – but didn't have the same production. On Corley's lone rush attempt, however, he picked up 8 yards and flashed the explosive run after the catch ability that made him a third-round pick last April. Corley came to the Jets with the reputation for gaining yards after a catch and the Dolphins have allowed the 13th-most yards after the catch this season and third fewest air yards per completion.
Which player or unit could you see being an X-factor?
TW: The Dolphins have generally had success running the football against the Jets ever since Mike McDaniel brought his crafty run-scheme from the 49ers. Miami averages 136 yards on the ground in the 4 games against the Jets since 2022.
The Jets' two highest rushing totals allowed this season came against teams that have similar run schemes to Miami in the Houston Texans (187) and the 49ers (180). If the Dolphins jump start the run game, their play action passing game becomes virtually unstoppable.
JP: I am going to go with another rookie, LT Olu Fashanu. After LT Tyron Smith was placed on injured reserve last week, Fashanu made his second straight start and allowed no pressures or sacks in 42 pass block snaps. Keeping QB Aaron Rodgers' blindside clean led to a strong performance from the signal caller, who turned 41 on Monday. On dropbacks where he wasn't pressured, Rodgers completed 65% of his passes for 2 touchdowns, as opposed to a 33% completion rate when pressured. The Dolphins rarely blitz (22.8% of dropbacks) and rarely get pressure (19.2% pressure rate). If the Jets O-line, with Fashanu, can keep Rodgers upright and get penetration on the left side in the run game, the Jets will be tough to stop.
