Miami Dolphins Week 18 Opponent Breakdown: New York Jets
The Miami Dolphins will look to end their regular season in style and keep alive their playoff hopes when they face the New York Jets at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday.
The Dolphins will look to even the season series and finish 3-3 in division games after splitting their series with the Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots.
The Jets will go into the game with a 7-9 record and on a five-game losing streak, the last a 23-6 decision against the Seattle Seahawks last Sunday that ended their playoff hopes.
To get some answers on five major questions related to the Jets, we turned to Publisher Max Goodman of SI Fan Nation sister site Jets Country.
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1. While Dolphins fans are going crazy here over the team’s five-game slide, the Jets also have lost five in a row after being 7-4 and very much in the playoff picture. What’s the biggest reason for the slide?
MG: Everything has unraveled for the Jets over these last few months. The elite defense that carried this team early on has regressed, the run game has vanished on offense and New York’s situation at quarterback has worsened. Flashes with this team’s young core are there every week, which is promising for next year and beyond, but this squad hasn’t been playing complementary football down the stretch.
2. Is it possible that veteran Joe Flacco all along was the best QB on the roster and the Jets badly messed up by not using him instead of Mike White once they decided to bench Zach Wilson?
MG: I’d say the Mike White that we saw against the Bears and Vikings is the best quarterback on this roster. If that QB didn’t get hurt the following week against Buffalo, who knows, maybe New York is still in the playoff race. The bigger question here is did the Jets mess up with how they handled Wilson’s introduction to the NFL over these last two years (and if they should be preparing to move on to a different veteran quarterback this offseason) ….
3. How would you assess the job that Robert Saleh has done as head coach?
MG: There have been a few questionable decisions from Saleh lately, but you can tell that he has made a huge impact on this organization’s culture since taking over, pointing this team in the right direction. Frustration from the fan base is warranted as well, though. This team was 7-4 not too long ago. As much as this process takes time with a young roster, the optics of this late-season skid to extend this 12-year postseason drought aren’t great.
4. How did the secondary match up with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in the first meeting, and what would you expect them to do this time around?
MG: New York’s secondary has been a bright spot all year long. Sauce Gardner is special and D.J. Reed has been playing at a Pro Bowl level as well. Hill and Waddle had a total of 70 receiving yards last time these clubs faced off in Week 5. I expect the Jets to finish strong, but they’ve also been susceptible to explosive plays of late. A big day from New York’s defensive line up front would help.
5. What would be the biggest reason to think the Jets can end their slide and complete the season sweep against the Dolphins?
MG: A win over the Dolphins won’t erase this disappointing performance to end the season, but it softens the blow just a bit. Based on what Saleh and some players have been saying this week, it certainly seems like New York is hungry to fight for a win on Sunday. They want to put one more productive performance on film and recapture some momentum heading into what could be an eventful offseason.
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