| Miami (3-4-0) « | 0 | 3 | 21 | 6 | 30 |
| NY Jets (4-4-0) | 0 | 3 | 16 | 6 | 25 |
As cliché as it may be the truth remains that a win is a win. At the end of the day the number one priority for every single team to ever don a jock strap is to be victorious when the final buzzer sounds. Who are we to question the methods to which you get that goal accomplished so long as that goal does indeed get accomplished? Win, period. Sunday, the (3-4) Miami Dolphins did just that fueled by two consecutive Ted Ginn kick returns for touchdowns with a Jason Taylor scooped up fumble for another score sandwiched between them in defeating the mouthy (4-4) New York Jets 30-25 to complete the season sweep and move to 3-0 in the AFC East with a trip to New England on tap to take on Tom Brady and the suddenly resurgent Patriots.
The Jets are obviously frustrated after feeling like they dominated the game only to lose for the second time to a Miami team that they for some strange reason feel like they should be better than. The truth is, they’re not. Just like we’re not better than New Orleans or Indianapolis despite the fact that we could have and should have won those games. The Dolphins are not better than the Saints and the Jets are not better than the Dolphins. I would expect nothing less from our arch nemesis than the sarcastic banter that spewed out of their locker room in the post game interviews. “When (the Dolphins) look at that tape, they know we should have won,” defensive end Shaun Ellis said. “Ted Ginn made two unbelievable plays. He single-handedly won the game.” Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan sarcastically said his defense made Miami quarterback Chad Henne look like Dan Marino after the Dolphins beat the Jets 31-27 three weeks ago,” while this time being less glib. “We totally outplayed them, but got beat,” Ryan said. “You have to give their kickoff guy credit.” Jets linebacker Bart Scott added this sarcastically comical rant, “The Dolphins have a great team. They have a tremendous offense and they showed it today. They are Super Bowl contenders and they will probably take it all the way.”
Fine. The Jets dominated, congratulations. We’ll take the win. Nobody felt sorry for Miami after letting the Colts, Chargers and Saints all off the week after “dominating” them for the majority of those contests and I certainly don’t feel sorry for the Jets. There is three phases to every football game with no one area being any more important than the other. All three phases, offense, defense and special teams, can win or lose football games for you and on Sunday the Jets fell asleep on special teams and Ted Ginn temporarily at least silenced his critics with two huge kick returns for touchdowns for 101 and 103 yards.
Don’t get me wrong, the Dolphins did not play very well offensively at all and not much better defensively for that matter and without Ginn’s heroics they likely would have lost. The Dolphins were outgained 378-104 in total offense. Chad Henne was only able to throw for 112 yards, Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams only rushed for 27 yards each including the Wildcat only gaining 18 yards on 5 carries and the Dolphins wide receivers continued to struggle and only caught 5 balls, 4 of which by Davone Bess for only 18 yards. Hardly staggering numbers, for a team that has put up 30-plus points for four consecutive games.
Jets rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez threw for 265 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Thomas Jones rushed for 102 yards and TE Dustin Keller, Braylon Edwards and Jerricho Cotchery each had 70 or more receiving yards and combined for 15 receptions 230 yards and 2 touchdowns. Once again proving that the Dolphins secondary has a long way to go before being considered one of the best in football. They did manage to hold the Jets when it counted most with the game on the line and preventing them from marching and scoring at will like so many teams before them have done to this defense.
The difference in the game was clearly Ted Ginn and his electrifying returns that totaled 299 yards on the day. I couldn’t be happier for Ginn who has been getting ripped by the media and fans and to some degree it has been warranted. I came out in an article a few weeks ago stating that he wasn’t even worthy of a roster spot and although it was said in haste, I really believed it. He had become a detriment to the team but without him Sunday, we would be sitting here at 2-5. On this day he was able to show that he is lethal on the football field with his blazing speed and he also showed an elusiveness that we haven’t seen much of before on his second touchdown return he was nearly tackled twice before making a couple nifty moves and hitting the sideline at full speed. Ginn was still non-existent at receiver, mostly because after being benched earlier in the week he didn’t get any opportunities, but still he has a long way to go but Sunday, if nothing else, he proved he can make big plays and be a game changer. Hopefully this will be the confidence boost he needs to excel at receiver also.
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