The New York Jets hosted the Miami Dolphins tonight on Monday Night Football, playing for nothing other than their jobs, their market value and pleasing their fans by attempting to beat the hated Dolphins. It was quite a different scenario for Miami, who saw their playoff odds improve following the losses by the Steelers, the Ravens, and Chiefs on Sunday.
The Jets won the toss and opted to receive the kickoff and have the first shot on offense. The first drive by New York stalled after a couple of first downs forcing them to have to punt back to Miami, who couldn't do much with the ball. The Jets second turn on offense saw them drive the ball down the field using a combination of run plays and and short passes which the Dolphins were unable to stop. New York's head coach Rex Ryan on the other hand, kept Miami's defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle guessing, as he seemed to always be one step ahead of Coyle. Jets' running back Chris Johnson set up the play from Miami's 20 from where receiver Greg Salas ran a reverse in from for the score. The Jets, with 7:55 left in the 1st quarter, took the lead by 7.
The Jets struck again in the 2nd quarter with a Nick Folk field goal and that put them ahead by 10 while the Dolphins' offensive inability continued, failing to put a consistent drive together or put any points on the board until, with 4 seconds left in the first half, Caleb Sturgis kicked a field goal from the 30 yard line as the 1st half ended with the Jets in front of the Dolphins by a score of 10 to 3.
Miami took the 2nd half kick off and marched down the field, but again, were not able to score a touchdown and had to settle for another Sturgis field goal. The score was now 10–6 with the Jets still out in front of Miami. On their next possession, The Jets continued to pound Miami's defensive front with a relentless running game made up of sweeps, traps and reverses, mixed in with an occasional Geno Smith short pass which the Dolphins seemed unable to stop. The Jets again mounted another drive which ended with another field goal by Folk, as they expanded their lead to 13 to 6 with the game now well into the 3rd quarter. Miami's next possession came up empty again, but as the Jets went back on offense, Miami was ready on defense and seemed to have finally figured out the Jets' offense. It was New York now who had trouble moving the ball and would not score again in the game.
The Dolphins' special teams were able to get great field position for the offense, when last year's first round draft pick Dion Jordan blocked a Folk field goal attempt. Unfortunately for Miami, they failed to capitalize and had to punt the ball right back to New York, who now seemed to have run out of crafty run plays. Dolphins turned the heat up with defense aggressiveness and consistently now stacking their safeties to stuff the run and out man the Jets front with blitzing on their few pass plays.
The fourth quarter started with the Dolphins back on offense and driving down the field the same way the Jets had done before. New York however, was now unable to stop Miami's advance and Dolphins's running back Lamar Miller finally ran the ball in for the Miami's first TD of the game. The score was now tied. The Dolphins added a field goal later in the fourth which brought the game to its final score of 16 to 13. The Dolphins stay in playoff contention by becoming the 6th seed in the AFC with the Ravens going into Miami next Sunday while the Jets fall to 2 and 10 on the year.