Miami Dolphins to face an improved Jets team in New York Sunday
By George Keim
The Miami Dolphins hit the road in week 2 heading to MetLife Stadium in the Big Apple to take on the rival New York Jets.
To many people’s surprise the Miami Dolphins and Jets come into this game in a three-way tie for first place in the AFC East after winning their week one games. This only adds to the rivalry as each team will look to stay undefeated in an effort to keep pace and dethrone the perennial AFC east champs, the New England Patriots. The Dolphins are coming off a 27-20 win in a game that lasted over 7 hours due to weather delays. The Jets are coming off a 48-17 drubbing of the Detroit Lions in Detroit on Monday night.
The Jets enter the game with a rookie quarterback at the helm. The Jets drafted Sam Darnold with the 3rd overall pick in last April’s draft. The former University of Southern California quarterback is coming off a very good debut game. Darnold was solid in the Monday night contest against the Lions. The rookie completed 76% of his passes for 198 yds with 2 touchdowns and 1 interception resulting in a 116.8 quarterback rating. via ESPN.com
He showed a tremendous amount of poise as his first ever NFL pass attempt was intercepted and returned for a touchdown. The Jets offense isn’t dynamic by any means. Their top receiving threat comes in the form of Robby Anderson. Anderson has speed and can take the top off a defense. However, no receiver managed more than 63 yds in the Jets 48-17 win over the Lions.
The Jets will look to run the ball to help take pressure off Darnold. The Jets gashed the Lions for 169 yards on the ground Monday night. New Jet and former Cleveland Brown Isaiah Crowell led the rushing attack with 102 yds and 2 touchdowns, with Bilal Powell chipping in 60 yds. via ESPN.com
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The New York Jets defense was the big story this past Monday night. The Jets picked off Detroit quarterbacks five times (Stafford 4, Cassel 1) via ESPN.com Detroit could only manage 39 yds on the ground averaging a paltry 2.6 yds per carry. Detroit did have some success throwing the ball against the Jets’ defense passing for 300 yds, although the Lions were forced to pass for much of the second half as the Jets exploded for 31 points in the third quarter to put the game away. It’s unclear at this point if the Jets defense is that good or was Detroit that bad.
Detroit attempted 52 passes on Monday night and despite all of these attempts, the Jets did not record a quarterback sack. The Jets also got points from their Special Teams. Andre Roberts returned a punt 78 yards for a touchdown. via ESPN
It’ll be interesting to see as this game plays out, are the Jets and Sam Darnold for real?