The Jets and the Dolphins, an AFC East rivalry that dates to their days in the American Football League, have engaged in several epic battles in a series that has spanned 119 games. In 1986, QBs Ken O'Brien (4) and Dan Marino combined to throw 10 TD passes in the Jets' 51-45 OT win. Or the "Monday Night Miracle" in 2000 when Vinny Testaverde led the Green & White back with a 23-point fourth quarter en route to a 40-37 OT win.
With both teams entering this Monday's game at Hard Rock Stadium aching for their first win of the season, Jets DT Quinnen Williams isn't looking for anything epic when a plain-old victory will do just fine.
"They want to win just like we want to win," Williams said. "They're 0-3, and they got a good program, a great program, and we're 0-3, and we've got a great program and a great head coach. And they're going to come out and fight to get a first win just like we'll come out and fight to get our first win."
Last week at Tampa Bay, Williams was in the forefront of the Jets' defensive effort in the fourth quarter when they held the Buccaneers to 6 points while the Jets engineered a furious rally, scoring 21 points. But as Williams said, the defense failed to get a stop at the end, which cost them the game.
"I think in the beginning of the game, we kind of let the small things slip and let the different things slip between the cracks," said Williams, who registered a team-high 4 QB pressures against Baker Mayfield. "We cleaned up in the fourth quarter. We got to start fast, we got to basically get those small things deleted out of our DNA, they're and not our standard."
The Jets head back to Florida for the second straight week and will try to end a nine-game losing streak at Miami against a Dolphins team that has also struggled on defense early this season. Through three games, the Dolphins (97) have allowed the most points in the league with the Jets (93) not far behind. The Jets will be trying to avoid their first 0-4 start since 2020, while with a loss Miami would equal its first 0-4 start since going 0-7 to begin the 2019 season.
"It comes down to stopping the run, I think we definitely did that well last week," Williams said after the Bucs were limited to 3.6 yards per carry on 34 attempts. "When it comes down to the small things like making the tackles, over-pursuing on the screens and different things like that, that's the kind of thing that we want to clean up."
Williams, who in three games this season has 12 tackles, 1 sack, 4 TFL and 1 forced fumble, added: "It's a lot of stuff we can do better. There's a lot of stuff we did well. We just got to find out how to end games and win football games."
The speedy Miami offense is always "a unique challenge" in the words of DC Steve Wilks, regardless of the team's record. Its ground game has been paced by De'Von Achane (30 carries, 147 yards), but it's the aerial attack that drives Miami's attack. QB Tua Tagovailoa has hit on 69.7% of his passes (62-of-89) with 5 TDs throwing to weapons like Tyreek Hill (15 catches for 198 yards, 1 TD) and Jaylen Waddle (14-137-2), plus Achane and Malik Washington catching balls out of the backfield.
They will face a Jets defense that will be without edge Jermaine Johnson (ankle), plus LBs Quincy Williams (shoulder) and Marcelino McCrary-Ball (hamstring), who are both on injured reserve.
"Everybody just wants to get a win," Williams said. "Everybody wants to get a win and do the things not only for ourselves, but our fans also. I think our fans have been with us this whole year, this whole season, so they deserve a win, just like the coaching staff deserves a win, just like the players deserve a win. But we got to go out there and do what we got to do on the field and hopefully that starts on Monday."
