The winless Dolphins haven’t scored many points over the past month and they’ll be challenged again today by an improving Jets defense. For the second consecutive season, the Green & White have looked like a new “D” after their bye.

In their two outings following this year's break, Bob Sutton’s unit has seen quite a change in its vitals. Yards per game are down from 380.3 to 303.5 and passing yards are down from 228.0 to 160.5. The Jets also have gotten off the field on third downs, yielding a 33.3 percent conversion rate as compared to 48.2 in the first nine games. They are also allowing a lesser percentage of touchdowns in the red zone.

“We just made things simpler and put ourselves in position to run the things that have been working for us,” said S Kerry Rhodes.

Defensively, the Jets' most dramatic post-bye upgrade has been the pass rush. After averaging one sack in each of their first nine games, the Green & White have racked up 10 in their past two contests. Even more impressive is the fact that the latest quarterback takedowns came against two of the NFL’s more mobile passers in the Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger (seven sacks) and the Cowboys’ Tony Romo (three).

Rookie QB John Beck will lead the Miami offense today at Dolphin Stadium. The BYU product, who has attempted just 45 passes and has been sacked four times, doesn’t have the look of a wide-eyed rookie.

“He is reading his first key, his second key, and he might even go to his third key, which is usually the checkdown,” said OLB David Bowens of the 26-year-old who completed a Mormon mission. “We’ve seen that out of him, and as the week goes on, we’ll figure out more what he wants to do. But so far it looks like he’s a real poised quarterback.”

The offensive statistic that pops off the screen when you look at the Dolphins is their 4.4 yards per carry.

“One thing that's been consistent is they've been very effective running the ball regardless of who the runner is,” said Jets head coach Eric Mangini.

But Mangini’s counterpart, Cam Cameron, has seen the production drop off recently.

“Our offensive line has grown and has done some good things. We’ve got to get back to the way we were playing earlier in the year,” said the Dolphins' rookie head coach. “The last four weeks have not been as productive as we’d like them to be."

In the teams’ first meeting at the Meadowlands, Ronnie Brown was spectacular in defeat. He rushed for 112 yards. But Brown went to the injured reserve list in October with a knee injury.

“You take a look at the runs [from the first game],” Bowens said. “No matter what back they have in the game, they are keying on running the ball and their offense is based on running the ball. The runs will be similar.”

Ricky Williams, who returned to action after serving an 18-month suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, was placed on IR Wednesday after sustaining a pectoral injury against the Steelers.

Jesse Chatman, who has amassed 409 yards on the ground and averages 4.3 yards a carry, has a sprained ankle and has been limited in practice. The Dolphins re-signed Samkon Gado to take Williams’ place on the roster. They also have Patrick Cobbs and rookie Lorenzo Booker.

“We’ve got some guys that we feel good about,” said Cameron of his RB stable.

Brown also terrorized the Jets in the passing game, with much of his damage coming on screen passes. He caught six balls for 99 yards, tying the since-departed Chris Chambers (traded to San Diego) for the team lead in receptions that day.

“They’re a good screen team and they’re a good running team. They are trying to get [Ted] Ginn the ball more and Marty Booker is also there and he is also a big part of the offense,” Bowens said. “Running the ball, they have the same concept, the same schemes, and they are particular against 3-4 teams versus 4-3 teams. They can do it all. It doesn’t matter who is in the game — their goal is to run the ball.”

The Jets learned a valuable lesson against the Dolphins. After Brown ripped off screen gains of 43 and 22 yards, the latter for a late touchdown, they have given up no receptions to an opposing back of longer than 12 yards.

“It brought it to our attention and we have made a conscious effort to not let it happen again,” Rhodes said. “We are definitely expecting them to do some more of that. They had success with it, so I’m sure they have new screens and they’ll probably have some of the old plays they used against us up for this game. We’ll be ready, though.”

Despite having the NFL’s 30th-ranked defense, the Jets are playing far above that level now. The Dolphins have scored just 27 points in their past four games, but the 6.8-point average is a little skewed because they were forced to make do in a London mess against the Giants and a Pittsburgh quagmire against the Steelers.

“I think they’re getting accustomed to the system they're in. Now that they have the young quarterback, they are trying to do some other things and get some quick balls out to Ted Ginn Jr.,” Rhodes said, referring to the 'Fins' rookie speedster. “He's making more plays and they are getting him more involved in the offense. They still have some weapons.”

While Cameron might open the game plan this week for Beck, the Jets know everything is predicated on the run.

“We’ve made some personnel adjustments and some scheme adjustments,” Bowens said. “I think we’ve come a long way and we just want to get better every week, especially against a team like Miami that can run the ball and creates big plays off the running game.”