As the Jets (3-9) embark on December football with a Sunday home date against the Dolphins (5-7), they have payback on their minds.
"Looking forward to getting to work this week," HC Aaron Glenn said. "We have a good quality opponent who I think is playing fairly well right now. Listen, we owe those guys. We lost one down there with those guys, so looking forward to those guys coming to our place and getting a chance to play them."
A Good Feeling to Have
The Jets and the Dolphins clashed in primetime in South Florida on Monday night Sept. In a game the Jets were chasing from the outset, they never grabbed a lead and dropped a 27-21 decision in a battle of 0-3 teams. Much has changed since but both the Jets, who have gone 3-2 in their last five games, and the ' 'Fins, who have rolled off three consecutive wins and four of five overall, have enjoyed recent success.
Last Sunday, the Jets scored 10 points in the final two minutes of a game for the only third time in franchise history to secure a gritty 27-24 victory, over the Atlanta Falcons when Nick Folk nailed a 56-yard FG as time expired. It was old hat for the Folk Hero — the veteran placekicker has 6 walkoff FGs, but these Jets had to learn to crawl before they walked and now, they are beginning to develop a winning stride.
"Obviously with a younger team, it takes those experiences to be able to have the resiliency that we've had lately," said QB Tyrod Taylor. "You obviously want to be on the winning side of those one score games, but there's a lot of lessons to be learned and I think that this team has learned from the past and each week creates its own challenge. But this is a team that doesn't waver, it doesn't blink, and we look forward to those moments because we know that we've been there before and this isn't foreign territory for us."
Division Games Mean More
In the Jets' first meeting with the Dolphins, they couldn't overcome a minus-3 turnover differential and 101 yards of marked off penalty yardage. But they've grown exponentially the past 10 weeks and they'll be looking to secure their first three-game winning streak at home in the same season since 2019.
"I feel like we are playing better together as a team," said LG John Simpson "I feel like it's all coming together now. It took some time, and a little longer than we all probably wanted it to, but I think we're all gelling now, and we are playing together better collectively. Obviously, there's still things that we need to work on and get better at, but I feel like we're gelling now. We understand each other and we're kind of getting better in that aspect of the game."
Over their final five games, the Jets will face divisional opponents three times. They went winless the first time through against their AFC East rivals, but they have a chance to flip the script Sunday against Miami, at home against the red-hot Patriots on Dec. 28 and then they'll wrap up their season in Western New York vs. the Bills in Week 18.
"I'm a firm believer, you win at home and you win in the division" said DT Harrison Phillips. "And if you do those things, you are normally feeling pretty good at the end of this season. You're probably going to get into the dance. Division games do mean more."
This Team Has Learned From the Past
While DT Harrison Phillips has been a centerpiece in the middle of the defense throughout the season, Tyrod Taylor, 36, is set to make his third consecutive start at QB. Taylor, who has a 5-4 career mark as a starter vs. the Dolphins with 10 TDs and 3 INTs, totaled 216 yards and had a pass TD and rush TD in the victory over the Falcons. He targeted Adonai Mitchell 12 times and Mitchell, acquired from the Colts prior to the trade deadline, set career highs with 8 receptions, 102 yards and had his first receiving TD.
"The only thing that matters to me is winning," Taylor said. "I know the work that we put in week in and week out, and when you take the field with the guys to battle, the only thing that matters is winning and I'm happy for the locker room and I'm looking forward to creating more moments like this."
Taylor and the offense will be challenged by a ' 'Fins unit that has played significantly better defensive football of late, holding teams to 14.3 pts/g and amassing 7 takeaways during their win streak. And after tussling with Bijan Robinson last week, the Jets' defense will have to contend with De'Von Achane, who is No. 6 in the NFL with 1,404 scrimmage yards and has amassed 120-plus rush yards in three straight games.
"I think that's the reason why they've been surging as a team, is he's getting his hands on the ball quite a bit as a runner and making those plays," HC Aaron Glenn said. "Because once he gets on the perimeter, man, he can circle the defense. You saw that last week, he's making a ton of plays, so we've got to make sure that we don't allow him to circle the defense."
