Game in Review: Jets v. Dolphins

Jets- 31
Dolphins- 23

The Jets traveled into Miami on Sunday night and came out with a win against a good Dolphins team.  Going into the game I was expecting a low scoring battle between two pretty good defenses.  However, what we got was an offensive shootout with little defense on either side.  Mark Sanchez looked great for his second straight game and the Jets defense looked shaky in their first full game without star cornerback Darrelle Revis.  This was a key road win which puts the Jets on top of the division and gives them the leg up with wins over both division rivals.

Thumbs up:

• Mark Sanchez- Sanchez showed up to play for the second straight week and he has now gone three games without an interception.  Sanchez seems to be forming a pretty good connection with Dustin Keller and he connected with him for 98 yards in the first half alone.  Sanchez seems to be much cooler under pressure and has avoided big mistakes.

• LaDainian Tomlinson- Tomlinson continues to go out and look like the back that he was a few years ago.  He finished this game with 88 all purpose yards and a touchdown and showed some great burst getting around the edge on a few runs.  His enthusiasm is unmatched which is really incredible figuring how many years he has been in the league and the fact that he is already a hall of fame player.

• Brad Smith- Brad Smith was great on kick returns and continuously set the Jets up in great field position.  I have never been a huge Smith fan on kickoffs because he lacks the breakaway speed that sets apart good returners from great ones.  However, if he can continue setting the Jets up with good field position that breakaway speed becomes less important.

• Sione Pouha- Pouha seems to always make plays.  He is no Kris Jenkins but he has become an anchor in the middle of the defense and the Jets should feel comfortable with him for the rest of the season.

Thumbs Down:

• Kyle Wilson- I can't count how many times I yelled at the TV, "Turn around and find the ball," when it was throw in Wilson's direction.  He seemed so focused on watching his man at times that it made it easy for Dolphins receivers to make plays.  He needs to start turning to find the ball which will help him shut down opposing receivers and avoiding costly penalties.

• Shonn Greene- Greene has been very underwhelming this year after most people figured he would start and get the majority of the carries.  He has not run well so far and LT is clearly outplaying him.  Greene still delivers punishing hits but he doesn't seem to be showing the burst that he had in last year's playoffs.

• Penalties- I'm not sure who to put this one on specifically but this team will never win a Super Bowl with the amount of penalties that are being committed.  The Slauson holding call erased a Mark Sanchez TD run and there were plenty of other penalties which could have cost the Jets the game.  This has been a huge issue in the first few weeks and it's something that needs to be fixed.

Overview:

The Jets will look like a completely different team when they play the Dolphins next time.  They are the only team in the league which can boast that they have 3 potential pro bowl players returning in the next few weeks.  The infusion of Santonio Holmes, Calvin Pace, and Darrelle Revis into this lineup should make this team scary in a few weeks. If Sanchez keeps throwing the ball the way he is and LT continues to run with the passion, fire, and burst of a 25 year old we should be looking at good things in the near future.  We travel up to play the Bills next week in what should be a win.