Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Bobby Elder, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. Miami 10 at NY Jets 13 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Miami Dolphins: QB Ray Lucas' stats would indicate he played a fairly decent game. He did make a few good passes here and there but overall he was not very effective. He should have been intercepted on a number of occasions. Twice he hit Donnie Abraham in the hands only to have the Jets DB drop what would have been sure interceptions. On another pass, Abraham DID pick the pass off but Lucas was bailed out by a penalty away from the ball on New York. He was also nearly intercepted by Sam Cowart at the 5-yard line of a drive Miami needed to get points on. WR Chris Chambers is performing under expectations, but perhaps people set their expectations for him too high. After all, 4 of his 7 touchdown receptions last season came against the Colts defense. With that being said, Chambers is a huge talent with a flair for making the impossible catch. He made three separate incredible catches (one of which was a touchdown that was overturned because he lost possession as he hit the ground). Based on a per carry average, RB Ricky Williams has now had five consecutive poor games (New England-2.9, Buffalo-2.4, Denver-3.9, Green Bay-3.4, Jets-2.7). Williams doesn't appear to be running any differently than he did earlier in the season except for the fact that the competition is getting more difficult and Jay Fiedler is not there to take some pressure off. In addition, the Jets have been much better against the run since their bye week. That, coupled with most teams' decision to focus on stopping the Miami running game (since Fiedler has been out), is most likely the reason for Williams' recent struggles. New York Jets: The much-maligned Jets rush defense has actually been one of the better units in the NFL since their bye week. It was reported during the game that in the Jets first 5 games, they allowed an average of 191 rushing yards per game. In their last 3, they have allowed just 72 rushing yards per game. Tonight against Miami and Ricky Williams, they allowed just 69 rushing yards. In the past month, the Jets have allowed 56 yards to Michael Bennett, 25 to Jamel White, 60 to LaDainian Tomlinson, and 53 to Ricky Williams. Regardless of whether or not the Jets are able to get back into the playoffs, one thing they can take from this season is that they have found their franchise quarterback. Chad Pennington is very aware of his surroundings at all times and never appears to get rattled. Pennington did not complete 70% of his passes today---only 63%. RB Curtis Martin had a decent game because he scored a touchdown, otherwise his yardage totals were very ordinary. Martin also briefly left the game after re-injuring his bad ankle but he later returned. Interestingly, it was LaMont Jordan, not Martin, who carried the load for New York on what turned out to be the game-winning drive. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Miami Dolphins QB: Jay Fiedler needs to get back in uniform for Miami if they are going to remain atop the AFC East. Ricky Williams has almost no running room because defenses force Ray Lucas to beat them, and he cannot. Lucas is much better on play-action and throwing on the run but you can't just do that every play. He made some good throws, mostly to Chris Chambers. But most of the yardage Lucas accumulated was from Dolphins receivers running after the catch. In addition, Lucas should have been picked off on about 4 separate occasions. Did have a TD to Chambers overturned. RB: Ricky Williams is having a rough month. The Jets were the latest team to stifle the Dolphins RB. Williams totaled just 89 yards and most importantly, lost a costly fumble down at the goal line as Miami was attempting to tie the game. Williams wasn't the only Dolphins RB with a big fumble in the game. While the fumble was officially attributed to Ray Lucas, HB Robert Edwards was the culprit on a 3rd and 14 draw play in which the ball ended up on the turf. Edwards never came up to get the ball from Lucas and it lay on the field for several seconds. The Jets recovered, and on the next play Curtis Martin took the ball into the end zone for the Jets only touchdown of the game. WR: Chris Chambers did not have a great game from a numbers standpoint, but he made his mark on this game in other ways. For instance, he made an amazing grab in the back of the end zone for an apparent touchdown but it was challenged and determined that Chambers did not have possession upon hitting the ground. Chambers later had two great off-balance diving catches along the sidelines that drew a lot of praise from the broadcasters. Whether Cris Carter is able to return to this team or not, Chambers is clearly the best WR the team has. After the game, the Dolphins were not happy with the officiating. ``These refs just flat-out hooked them up,'' defensive end Jason Taylor said. ``We had to play a good Jets team and these guys, too. It was ridiculous. Stevie Wonder could see it was a catch.'' Cris Carter reportedly is suffering from a kidney abnormality and did not play in the game. It would have been his second game since coming out of retirement two weeks ago. James McKnight and Dedric Ward will play a slightly larger role in the offense with Gadsden out for the year and Carter sidelined as well. Still, the Dolphins #2 receiver hasn't been a marquee spot for fantasy points since the days of Mark Duper so you'd be better served to look elsewhere. TE: Randy McMichael, like all tight ends, will have quiet games every once in awhile (Tony Gonzalez had just 6 yards this afternoon). So, you don't get too worried that McMichael had just two catches for 18 yards. The important thing is that McMichael is getting the looks, and he was getting them tonight, with five passes thrown his way including once in the red zone. Dolphins Pass Defense: The Dolphins cornerbacks are among the best in the game. For what it's worth, ESPN's Joe Theisman said of CB Sam Madison, "Sam Madison plays the ball better than any corner in football". Tonight, however, the Jets speedy wide outs were able to make things happen time and time again. The duo of Laveranues Coles and Santana Moss were able to draw a few downfield penalties on Miami, which helped extend drives for New York. Up front, the Dolphins were able to get pressure on Pennington but he did a fantastic job of avoiding the oncoming rush to get the ball away. DL Jason Taylor is a very disruptive force. It took two and sometimes three blockers to slow him and in most situations, he wasn't really slowed all that much. Dolphins Rush Defense: Zach Thomas, like teammate Taylor, is among the best in the NFL at what he does. He is to the Dolphins defense what Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher are to the Ravens and Bears defenses. When the middle linebacker plays as well as Thomas does, the rest of the defense falls in line. Tonight, Thomas was all over the place with 7 solo tackles and assisting on another 5. You don't need me to tell you Zach Thomas is a tremendous football player, but when you watch him play you feel an obligation to mention him. Dolphins Special Teams: Olindo Mare hit a 28-yard field goal but was not afforded the opportunity to tie New York in the late stages of the game because Miami could not get close enough. Early in the fourth quarter with the game tied at 10, Dolphins head coach Dave Wannstedt elected to punt rather than attempt a 54-yard field goal. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** New York Jets QB: Herman Edwards kept it very conservative today with his young quarterback. Chad Pennington took a few shots downfield but was held back for the most part. On a number of third and long plays, the Jets opted for the safe route or even a running play. Pennington finally was able to air it out late in the fourth quarter and hooked up with Laveranues Coles on a 42-yard pass down the middle of the field. Pennington wasn't great numbers-wise, but a performance such as this one against a stout defense like Miami will further entrench Pennington as the Jets QB for not only this season, but for future seasons as well. RB: Curtis Martin is still a force to be reckoned with. The Dolphins have a terrific run defense, yet Martin was able to amass 74 tough yards on 18 carries and even added a touchdown. Martin did aggravate the ankle injury that has bothered him all season long, but he later returned to the game. One note of interest for Martin owners is that LaMont Jordan was in the game when New York drove for the game-winning field goal. It wasn't revealed whether this was a strategic move or if it was due to Martin's injury. LaMont Jordan did not have much of an impact on the game today. Last week with a big lead, Jordan got all of the late carries against San Diego and responded with huge numbers. This week the game was a close one and Jordan was not seen much until interestingly the Jets game-winning drive. If your league allows for a deep bench, Jordan is worth a pickup due to Martin's injury situation. This ankle is something that will clearly bother Martin for the remainder of the season. WR: Laveranues Coles has been one of the better receivers in the league since Chad Pennington took over the helm from Vinny Testaverde. Coles was having a fairly quiet game until Pennington found him deep for 42 yards. Coles has blazing speed and is finally learning how to use that to his advantage. He would have had a long touchdown after having beaten Patrick Surtain but Pennington under threw him. Wayne Chrebet had a very quiet game. He was basically a non-factor with just 2 receptions for 30 yards. Santana Moss caught 2 balls for 16 yards but also dropped what would have been a first down pass over the middle. The Jets took a shot deep with Moss only once, as compared to 4 deep balls for Laveranues Coles. With a deep threat already on the team in Coles, Moss's opportunities for long passes may be few and far between for now. TE: Anthony Becht caught one pass for 5 yards. He was not a factor in the game. Jets Pass Defense: Lucas threw for a decent number of yards but no one was able to get behind the corners and the Jets came up with the big stops when they needed to. On Miami's late drive to try and tie the game, CB Ray Mickens came up with a huge sack on Lucas to bring up a third and long situation. John Abraham added 2 sacks earlier, and the Jets also nearly picked off Lucas 4 times (though they ended up with none). Jets Rush Defense: For the fourth consecutive week, they did an outstanding job. Early in the season, Herman Edwards said the Jets defensive players were "not trusting their teammates to make plays". Now, rather than everyone over-pursuing, the Jets are playing as a unit and when the need arises, they swarm to the ball. Much like in 2001, the Jets rush defense is starting out slowly and getting much better as the season goes on. Last year, the Jets allowed 170 rushing yards per game over the first six weeks of the season and just 109 per game over the last ten games. This year, they allowed 191 rushing yards per game over the first five games of the season and just 71 per game over the past four. Jets Special Teams: Santana Moss finally failed to return a punt for a touchdown this week, though his presence was felt as Miami tried to avoid punting directly at him. He had a 2-yard punt return that was possibly the most impressive 2-yard gain on a return that I've seen. Combined with Chad Morton on kick return duties, the two form a dangerous duo in the Jets return game. K John Hall hit two field goals today, including the eventual game winning 27-yarder with 2:17 left to play in the game.