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Jets 40 Dolphins 13: Salt in Miami's Wounds Is Sweet Like Sugar
Monday, December 3, 2007
6:41:00 PM EST
The Jets humiliated the Dolphins at Dolphins Stadium by a 40-13 score to improve to 3-9. Miami is now 0-12. So much for the winless Fishies being favored in this bitter rivalry game. The Jets might be bad, but they showed the NFL that Miami is on a different level of stink. It is one thing to be terrible. It is another to lose to a 2-9 team by 27 points on one's home field.
Kellen Clemens played a very efficient game. It was not the breakthrough performance that proves he will be a franchise quarterback. There were still some very good signs. After a rough game last week in Dallas, Clemens came right out and let the Jets down the field for a touchdown on the game's first drive. He converted a trio of third and longs on the series. He led the Jets to covert 10 of their 18 third downs in this game. When Miami scored off his fumble in the second to take the lead, he calmly led another touchdown drive to give New York the lead for good. He finished the game 15 of 24 for 236 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception that was his receiver's fault. He led the Jets productively on a day when Thomas Jones was struggling to find running room. He was not rattled by shaky pass protection, which surrendered six sacks. Kellen protected the football and did what he had to in order to register a win. This was a nice outing.
Brian Schottenheimer called his best game of the season. He finally utilized Clemens' big arm by opening things up a bit. Clemens completed a 32 yard pass to Laveranues Coles and a 52 yarder to Justin McCareins. Prior to this game, the offense looked similar to what it was under Chad Pennington, almost exclusively short timing routes. Kellen does not have Chad's pinpoint accuracy. He is better at getting it down the field, which will open up the short passing game as defenders will be unable to jump short routes for fear of being burned long on a pump fake. It is good to see Brian finally adapting to his new quarterback's strengths.
Schottenheimer also got Leon Washington involved, which paid major dividends. Lining up Washington at quarterback allowed an 18 yard touchdown scamper. An 18 yard shovel pass to Leon extended a drive on third and long. Washington is not a typical runner at this point in his career. He is not terribly effective at taking a handoff behind a fullback. He is very explosive in the open field so it behooves Schottenheimer to create ways to get him the ball with space in front of him. Washington finished with 68 rushing yards and 35 receiving yards in his most productive offensive game of the year.
Laveranues Coles showed why this team is lucky to have him. Playing limited snaps because of a gimpy ankle, he still led the team with 5 receptions and 69 yards. He left everything he had on the field in a meaningless game between a pair of lousy teams despite playing through pain. His injury did not limit his effectiveness at all on the field. This is the kind of player for whom the Jets are looking. This team might be bad, but the future is bright as this regime is committed to finding similar character guys and has leaders like Coles to hold everybody accountable.
The defense dominated this game. It forced 5 turnovers from John Beck and only surrendered 6 points, none after halftime. Miami tried to scale back its playbook, calling a bunch of screens and short, safe routes for the rookie. The Dolphins looked afraid to take the training wheels off Beck. This was probably because seemingly any time they took a shot down field, Beck would throw an interception or get stripped on a sack. Darrelle Revis, Kerry Rhodes, and Drew Coleman all picked passes off. David Harris, C.J. Mosley, and Bryan Thomas (in a rare appearance) all forced a fumble. Jesse Chatman only ran for 26 yards on 11 carries.
Mosley and Coleman should see more time on the field from here on out. C.J. has become a force as his playing time has increased within the past few weeks. He is proving to be good depth. At worst, this team has a situational pass rusher on its hands as well as a quality backup. The team might as well see if he can be more. Perhaps he has enough to serve as an internal solution to solidify either a spot at tackle or end. Coleman showed signs of promise last season but has played sparingly in 2007. Given the struggles of David Barrett and the uneven play of Hank Poteat and Andre Dyson opposite Darrelle Revis, a young guy with upside like Coleman should get a shot. In any event, this unit is coming on strong to finish the season just as it did last season. The Dolphins are a pretty inept offensive unit, but the Jets would have given up more than 6 against them earlier this year. (I know that they did play Miami, but the Fishies had many different key players in the lineup then).
Something is wrong with Ben Graham. The Aussie averaged only 30.2 yards on 2 punts with a long of 35. He has had a number of shanks this year. This is not the same punter from 2005 and 2006. Perhaps he is hurt. Either way, his kicking needs to improve by the end of the year. If he has lost it, this team might have to make a change over the offseason. The Jets cannot keep losing field position because of lousy punts.
To give the devil his due, Jay-Jay Taylor played a good game, registering 2 sacks. After D'Brickashaw Ferguson manhandled Jay-Jay in the Meadowlands earlier this season, Taylor had his way with the left tackle. Jay-Jay's role of inspirational leader is also worth noting. After the Dolphins returned a fumble for a touchdown to take a 13-10 lead, Taylor got into the faces of numerous teammates to try and fire them up. His motivational skills clearly worked as the Jets outscored Miami 30-0 after that point.
This might be a miserable season, but Jets fans can take solace in one thing. Miami is having an even worse time. Gang Green swept the season series once again from the Dolphins. Adding to the pain of a rival in what could be the worst season in NFL history is really enjoyable.
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6:41:00 PM EST
Jets 40 Dolphins 13: Salt in Miami's Wounds Is Sweet Like Sugar
Kellen Clemens played a very efficient game. It was not the breakthrough performance that proves he will be a franchise quarterback. There were still some very good signs. After a rough game last week in Dallas, Clemens came right out and let the Jets down the field for a touchdown on the game's first drive. He converted a trio of third and longs on the series. He led the Jets to covert 10 of their 18 third downs in this game. When Miami scored off his fumble in the second to take the lead, he calmly led another touchdown drive to give New York the lead for good. He finished the game 15 of 24 for 236 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception that was his receiver's fault. He led the Jets productively on a day when Thomas Jones was struggling to find running room. He was not rattled by shaky pass protection, which surrendered six sacks. Kellen protected the football and did what he had to in order to register a win. This was a nice outing.
Brian Schottenheimer called his best game of the season. He finally utilized Clemens' big arm by opening things up a bit. Clemens completed a 32 yard pass to Laveranues Coles and a 52 yarder to Justin McCareins. Prior to this game, the offense looked similar to what it was under Chad Pennington, almost exclusively short timing routes. Kellen does not have Chad's pinpoint accuracy. He is better at getting it down the field, which will open up the short passing game as defenders will be unable to jump short routes for fear of being burned long on a pump fake. It is good to see Brian finally adapting to his new quarterback's strengths.
Schottenheimer also got Leon Washington involved, which paid major dividends. Lining up Washington at quarterback allowed an 18 yard touchdown scamper. An 18 yard shovel pass to Leon extended a drive on third and long. Washington is not a typical runner at this point in his career. He is not terribly effective at taking a handoff behind a fullback. He is very explosive in the open field so it behooves Schottenheimer to create ways to get him the ball with space in front of him. Washington finished with 68 rushing yards and 35 receiving yards in his most productive offensive game of the year.
Laveranues Coles showed why this team is lucky to have him. Playing limited snaps because of a gimpy ankle, he still led the team with 5 receptions and 69 yards. He left everything he had on the field in a meaningless game between a pair of lousy teams despite playing through pain. His injury did not limit his effectiveness at all on the field. This is the kind of player for whom the Jets are looking. This team might be bad, but the future is bright as this regime is committed to finding similar character guys and has leaders like Coles to hold everybody accountable.
The defense dominated this game. It forced 5 turnovers from John Beck and only surrendered 6 points, none after halftime. Miami tried to scale back its playbook, calling a bunch of screens and short, safe routes for the rookie. The Dolphins looked afraid to take the training wheels off Beck. This was probably because seemingly any time they took a shot down field, Beck would throw an interception or get stripped on a sack. Darrelle Revis, Kerry Rhodes, and Drew Coleman all picked passes off. David Harris, C.J. Mosley, and Bryan Thomas (in a rare appearance) all forced a fumble. Jesse Chatman only ran for 26 yards on 11 carries.
Mosley and Coleman should see more time on the field from here on out. C.J. has become a force as his playing time has increased within the past few weeks. He is proving to be good depth. At worst, this team has a situational pass rusher on its hands as well as a quality backup. The team might as well see if he can be more. Perhaps he has enough to serve as an internal solution to solidify either a spot at tackle or end. Coleman showed signs of promise last season but has played sparingly in 2007. Given the struggles of David Barrett and the uneven play of Hank Poteat and Andre Dyson opposite Darrelle Revis, a young guy with upside like Coleman should get a shot. In any event, this unit is coming on strong to finish the season just as it did last season. The Dolphins are a pretty inept offensive unit, but the Jets would have given up more than 6 against them earlier this year. (I know that they did play Miami, but the Fishies had many different key players in the lineup then).
Something is wrong with Ben Graham. The Aussie averaged only 30.2 yards on 2 punts with a long of 35. He has had a number of shanks this year. This is not the same punter from 2005 and 2006. Perhaps he is hurt. Either way, his kicking needs to improve by the end of the year. If he has lost it, this team might have to make a change over the offseason. The Jets cannot keep losing field position because of lousy punts.
To give the devil his due, Jay-Jay Taylor played a good game, registering 2 sacks. After D'Brickashaw Ferguson manhandled Jay-Jay in the Meadowlands earlier this season, Taylor had his way with the left tackle. Jay-Jay's role of inspirational leader is also worth noting. After the Dolphins returned a fumble for a touchdown to take a 13-10 lead, Taylor got into the faces of numerous teammates to try and fire them up. His motivational skills clearly worked as the Jets outscored Miami 30-0 after that point.
This might be a miserable season, but Jets fans can take solace in one thing. Miami is having an even worse time. Gang Green swept the season series once again from the Dolphins. Adding to the pain of a rival in what could be the worst season in NFL history is really enjoyable.
Written by georgecoztanza Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | digg this
