Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, 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. New York Jets 3 at Miami Dolphins 30 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW New York Jets: The Jets offense is in complete disarray. Outside of Wayne Chrebet, no one seemed able to do much of anything today against Miami. Testaverde is dealing with constant pressure, and the running game was again a non-factor and didn't alleviate any pressure for the passing game. The Jets made an effort to get the ball to Curtis Martin, who showed no effect of the ankle sprain. Still, the holes were few and far between and Martin was again pretty much a non-factor with just 43 yards on 16 carries. Wayne Chrebet appeared to be the #1 receiver for today at least. He caught 5 passes and was targeted on over 10 for the game. Meanwhile, Laveranues Coles and Santana Moss combined for just 14 yards on 2 receptions. Coles also dropped 2 passes, one of which would have given New York a first down. Miami Dolphins: Though he has done it against less-than-impressive run defenses, Ricky Williams appears well on his way towards that huge breakout season we've all been expecting from him. Williams ripped the Jets for 151 yards, including a career long 53 yard touchdown run late in the 4th quarter. Williams consistently wore down the Jets and even at 20 pounds lighter than last year, still delivers bruising hits to defenders in his way. Rookie TE Randy McMichael looks like the real deal. Not only did he make a number of big plays (5 receptions, 79 yards, 1 TD), but he was looked to in the key spots. Twice Fiedler looked his way on third down and McMichael was the recipient of the first pass attempt by Fiedler when they got in the red zone. Robert Edwards came in for Williams on every third down situation. Though Edwards did not have a huge impact, it is worth noting this�just in case Williams owners were expecting another 60 catch season out of him. The Dolphins defense was tremendous, forcing 4 Jets turnovers (though one was a garbage time INT against Pennington that was just heaved downfield). Zach Thomas did not have many tackles, but he demonstrated his uncanny ability to cover the field east to west and always find the ball carrier. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW New York Jets QB: Vinny Testaverde had a poor game. Under intense pressure all game, he threw two interceptions just beyond the line of scrimmage on passes that never should have been thrown where they were. He also fumbled a ball directly into the hands of Jason Taylor late in the game at a crucial moment. He threw another interception at the goal line that was waved off due to a penalty prior to the snap. RB: Curtis Martin had his opportunities to run. But against a tough run defense like Miami, it wasn't a very productive day for him. Herman Edwards had hinted earlier in the week that the Jets were going to go to Martin more than in the previous 2 weeks, but the pace and score of the game dictated that Martin would only finish with 43 yards. WR: Wayne Chrebet got the most looks, had the most receptions, was the first target in the red zone, and was constantly looked to on third down all day. Testaverde appeared to lock onto him several times because he was the only receiver able to get open. Laveranues Coles was targeted half as much as Chrebet. This may have had a lot to do with Sam Madison's coverage and Coles' balky knee (he had missed practice time last week with a sore knee). Still, he had 2 drops on very catchable balls and had another go off his fingertips. Was able to draw a pass interference penalty the one time Testaverde looked to him deep. Santana Moss was never really a factor. Testaverde looked deep to him once and it resulted in a holding penalty on Miami, but Moss was not thrown to again. TE: Anthony Becht was very quiet, and did not have a reception until the game was already decided. He did make a nice catch and run on the play, but the Dolphins were playing a very soft coverage, being that they were up by 27 points. Jets Pass Defense: The Jets did a fine job of getting to Jay Fiedler, as he was under heavy pressure at times. They did not actually record a sack though, so apparently Fiedler had just enough time to throw all game. Jets DBs did a good job on Chris Chambers and Oronde Gadsden, limiting them to just 5 receptions between them. But they had a difficult time with TE Randy McMichael, and again had trouble tackling people on first contact. Jets Rush Defense: Not much went right for New York in the game. Ricky Williams had a decent first half, but really turned it on in the second half. The Jets front 7 seemed worn down from constantly hitting and being hit by Williams. Statistically, the Jets rush defense had its third consecutive horrible game, a trend that has to be worrisome for owners of the Jets defense. Jets Special Teams: Santana Moss had a very nice punt return negated by a holding penalty on Jerald Sowell. Chad Morton had a good kickoff return negated by a holding penalty also, though it was not revealed who it was on. John Hall put each of his kickoffs into the end zone for touchbacks. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** Miami Dolphins QB: Jay Fiedler did a fine job of managing the offense. He wasn't put into a situation where he had to "make plays". The running game took a lot of the early pressure off, as the Jets tried to key on stopping Ricky Williams. This is exactly the role that Miami wants Fiedler to play. RB: Ricky Williams obviously had a big day. He is noticeably quicker and faster as a result of losing weight. He's showing a big play capability that we haven't seen from him yet in the NFL. Phil Simms commented on the attitude surrounding Miami due to the presence of Ricky Williams. Simms said, "You can just see the excitement with the players, having a guy in here like this". On his 53 yard touchdown run, Williams quickly burst to the outside and then as defenders closed in on him, he turned it up to another gear to scamper away from everyone for the score. Robert Edwards came into the game for every third down situation. This seems to be more a product of Edwards' ability and doesn't mean they are down on Ricky Williams' receiving skills. Travis Minor came in and scored a TD in garbage time. He is clearly behind Robert Edwards on the depth chart because Minor did not even get into the game until it was already well in hand. WR: Pretty quiet game from Chris Chambers. He managed only 33 yards on 4 receptions, though he did have a pass go off his fingertips in the end zone. It wasn't a drop, there was heavy coverage and he had to extend just to get his hands on the ball. It won't show up as anything more than a 23 yard reception, but Oronde Gadsden made an AMAZING catch in the third quarter. Gadsden reached out and made an incredible one-handed snag of an errant Jay Fiedler pass. It not only resulted in a first down, but if he hadn't been able to get to it, the ball would have been picked off by a waiting Jets defender. Gadsden made another circus catch earlier but fell out of bounds. Dedric Ward made 2 late receptions, but the Dolphins did not throw the ball enough for backup WRs to make much of an impact. TE: Randy McMichael is giving Jeremy Shockey a run for his money as the best rookie TE in the league. He had an awesome game, leading Miami with 5 receptions for 79 yards. It wasn't just the numbers though, it was the WAY he got them. He turned a 20 yard pass down the seam into a 36 yard highlight with 2 great moves followed by dragging 3 defenders a few extra yards. Late in the game, he turned an 8 yard pass into a first down on third and long. This enabled the drive to continue, with the end result being Ricky Williams long touchdown run. Dolphins Pass Defense: Despite not having CB Patrick Surtain (he was replaced in the starting lineup with Jamar Fletcher), the Dolphins did an outstanding job of containing the Jets passing game. The front got great pressure on Vinny Testaverde, leading to 4 turnovers and 2 sacks. Dolphins Rush Defense: This was a total team effort, as no one registered more than 6 tackles. We are accustomed to seeing Zach Thomas record 10, 12, 15 sacks with regularity. But today the Dolphins front four did not even allow the Jets running backs to get to Thomas, as Martin and Jordan were completely bottled up all day. David Bowens was on the ground for about a minute with an apparent injury, but he jogged off the field and was fine. Dolphins Special Teams: Miami used an interesting strategy to combat Chad Morton. They stacked one side of the kickoff unit to confuse the Jets return unit. In addition, Olindo Mare put a number of balls into the end zone for touchbacks, which helped take Morton's big play ability away. Mare missed an easy 31 yard field goal. But he had earlier crushed a 53 yard field goal that split the uprights and had distance to spare.