Monday Morning Quarterback: Week 3 Jets vs. Dolphins

Sept 23, 2012; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan before a game against the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-US PRESSWIRE

It’s Monday Morning Quarterback time. The Jets won 23-20 in OT over the Dolphins, but that certainly doesn’t mean we have nothing to talk about, because we do, and then some.

The Jets won this game because the Dolphins had many chances to put the game away, and just didn’t. Two Dan Carpenter missed field goals, one of which would have ended the football game. Without Reggie Bush for the second half, the Dolphins offense looked lost. You can almost guarantee that if Bush had not gotten hurt, the Jets would have lost this football game.

The Jets couldn’t get anything going consistently, but made the plays they needed to make at the right time. That was the difference in this football game. When it was on the line, the Jets made plays, and the Dolphins didn’t. The Dolphins needed a field goal to win the game, they couldn’t make it. As bad a game as Mark Sanchez had statistically, he made the throw to Santonio Holmes for 38 yards to set up the game winning field goal. Nick Folk made the kick he had to make, Carpenter did, though Folk got a little bit of help from coach Philbin of the Dolphins.

Let’s get into the nitty gritty of this one.

Jeremy Kerley showed again yesterday that he is a playmaker, coming up big in the clutch for Mark Sanchez and the offense. His 66 yard catch and run from Mark Sanchez was the play that finally got some momentum going for this offense, because it wasn’t coming elsewhere.  His clutch TD reception gave the Jets the lead late in the fourth quarter, which the defense squandered.  We will talk about that later though.

Sept 23, 2012; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; New York Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes (10) reacts on the sideline in a game against the Miami Dolphins in the second half at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-US PRESSWIRE

The player of the day definitely was Santonio Holmes. He talked this week about lighting up the Miami secondary, and he finally put his play where his mouth is, and performed like a number one receiver. He put up 9 catches for 147 yards, marking his first 100 yard game since 2010. He was clutch as well. In overtime, his 38 yard reception set up the win for the Jets. Playmakers make plays when the game is on the line, and finally, Holmes showed himself as a guy that could do that.

Sept 23, 2012; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez (6) warms up before a game against the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Mayer-US PRESSWIRE

You have to give credit to Mark Sanchez for making big throws when the game was on the line, but overall he has to play much better. Don’t get me wrong, he made huge throws at the end of the game. The throws to Holmes, Kerley, and even the few to Cumberland were huge, and at just the right time. We don’t win the game without Mark making those throws. But overall, he did not show the accuracy we need. For the game, Mark was 21-45 for 306 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs. The early pick was not so much on Sanchez as it was on the receiver, Clyde Gates for running a poor route, allowing the defender to cut in front of him.

The second one, however, was terrible, and could have lost the game for them in the end. Thankfully it didn’t. This INT actually was at a huge part of the game. Early in the second half, the Jets were coming off the LaRon Landry pick 6 that tied up the football game. Almost immediately after that, the Jets had the ball again after the Darrelle Revis fumble recovery, setting them up at the Miami 26 yard line. If the Jets had scored a TD on that drive, they would have been up 17-10, and the momentum would have been strongly in their favor, and the Jets might have gone on to win this one going away. They get it to first and goal from the three, but instead of taking it in for the score, Mark throws a terrible pass on third and goal from the seven that is intercepted. Thankfully it did not, but this could have been the play that brought this game back around for the Dolphins. Luckily for the Jets, the Dolphins aren’t good enough to take that game over, otherwise we would be talking about a 1-2 Jets team heading to face the 49ers and Texans.

He again didn’t get a lot of help, as the receivers, other than Holmes, didn’t play really well. We already talked about the poor route run by Clyde Gates that caused an interception. Stephen Hill is showing how young and raw he is. He is dropping too many passes to be counted on as the number two wide receiver. The play in the back of the endzone has to be caught, Mark put it in the perfect spot. He has to get better at catching with his hands, like we have talked extensively about in previous weeks.

This running game is not getting it done, pure and simple. For those of you that are returning readers, you know the support that I have for Shonn Greene, a support that is stronger than most people have for him. However, it is getting harder and harder every time he runs. 19 carries for 40 yards is not going to get the job done. Maybe it is time to let Bilal Powell start. A lot of people were screaming for him yesterday, but let’s not get carried away. 10 carries for 45 yards is a good average, but let’s not make him Barry Sanders as of yet. But I am beginning to agree, that it may be a time for a change back there.

Sept 23, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; New York Jets offensive coordinator Tony Sparano reacts after defeating the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium. THe Jets won 23-20 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

OK, we need to talk about this thing the Jets are calling the Wildcat. So, where’s the big secret? What were they hiding for the entire preseason? I’m just wondering when it is going to come out, because it sure hasn’t as of yet. What has come out, is more of a trained Housecat, rather than a Wildcat. Clearly, the secret plan that the Jets have had, is that they have no plan for the use of Tim Tebow. This is not my usual theme of me not wanting him here, not at all. Now that he is here, I want to see some sort of plan. Other than the fake punt for a first down, the use of Tebow produced nothing positive, and that wasn’t because of him AT ALL. It was because the use of the Wildcat has become the most predictable thing ever. They have to have Tebow take a shot throwing the ball at some point, because if they don’t, there never will be a positive play, because everyone will know what is coming when they run it.

Now let’s talk about the vaunted defense.

Elite? Absolutely not. Elite at what? Yes, they make some big plays, turnovers, sacks…etc. But, the biggest break for the Jets defense in that game was Reggie Bush getting hurt, because they had no answers for him at all. They did not set the edge at all, like we talked about during the week. An elite defense does not allow a running back to run at 6 yards per carry, but that is exactly what Reggie Bush did against the Jets yesterday. 10 carries for 61 yards is unacceptable, and the Jets will never be an elite defense when runners go off on the Jets like that. Period.

September 16, 2012; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger (7) throws a pass against pressure from New York Jets defensive end Quinton Coples (98) during the third quarter at Heinz Field. The Pittsburgh Steelers won 27-10. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

And this whole “One Step Faster” mantra on defense, what happened to that? Didn’t we hear that the Jets were going to finally get to the quarterback with their front four? Well, not so much. Quinton Coples was invisible yesterday, and has been all season so far. He is not ready to be an elite football player. After a terrific preseason where he got after the quarterback left and right, he has been a non factor. What about Calvin Pace? Remember when he could get to the quarterback? That seems to be a thing of the past. Aaron Maybin doesn’t even have a tackle yet this season, much less a sack. Rex Ryan, Mike Pettine and company are going to have to go back finding creative ways to get to the quarterback, because these guys sure aren’t getting there on their own.

Finally, as you read this article this morning, say your prayers for the results of the MRI on Darrelle Revis. We all saw him go down yesterday as his foot planted in the Miami field. Non-contact injuries are tough to watch, and sometimes end up being worse than contact injuries. We can only hope that he has a bad sprain or something on the less serious side. Seeing him carted off, however, makes us all worry along the lines of a torn ACL, and that would be very bad. I am not ready to count on Kyle Wilson for the rest of the year.

A win is a win. Bill Parcells always says, “You are what your record says you are.” The Jets are 2-1, and 2-0 in the AFC East, you can’t take that away. But, with SF making its way to MetLife for Sunday afternoon, the Jets are going to have play much better than yesterday in order to have a chance.