MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — What can Zach Wilson do for an encore?
The Jets quarterback played the best game of his NFL career last week, throwing for 301 yards and two touchdowns against the Texans.
The offense came to life behind Wilson, scoring 30 points in the second half.
At 5-8, they now travel to face the 9-4 Dolphins, hoping to replicate what they did last week.
“I think it shows us what we can do as an offense,” Wilson said. “Now that we set the bar there we got to be able to show we can do it again. I think that’s always the thing is, hey, you did it once, now you got to show us you can do it again.”
The Jets have a 0.4 percent chance of making the playoffs, according to ESPN, so that is not what these last four games are about.
Instead, the Jets need to show they have a competent NFL offense after weeks of looking allergic to the end zone.
One week’s results don’t usually translate into the next week in the NFL.
The Raiders just put up 63 points against the Chargers on Thursday after getting shut out by the Vikings four days earlier.
“You got to stay the course, and every game is independent,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “Last game, second half of last game for us was awesome. Got to put it to bed and got to go try to repeat it, but every game is independent of itself. Sometimes things snowball, wouldn’t wish what happened to the Chargers to my worst enemy. You just got to take it play by play and quarter by quarter and just try to execute the best you can.”
The Jets and the Dolphins met just three weeks ago on Black Friday, when the Dolphins won 34-13. Miami put up 395 total yards, with the Jets getting to see the speedy Miami offense up close.
“It’s like a mini track team out there,” Jets linebacker C.J. Mosley said. “You see it on film, you watch it on TV, but until you’re out there running around with them, you really don’t know how fast those guys are.”
The Dolphins could be without star receiver Tyreek Hill, who is questionable to play with an ankle injury. They are also banged up along the offensive line.
That will help the Jets defense, but all eyes in this one will be on the offense to see if it can repeat last week’s success.
Marquee matchup
Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel vs. Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich
These two coached together in 2015-16 with the Falcons and are good friends.
Now, they get to match wits again with two elite units.
The Dolphins are No. 1 in the NFL in total offense (423.6 yards per game), passing offense (279.2 ypg), and are No. 2 in rushing offense (144.5 ypg) and scoring offense (31.62 points per game).
The Jets are No. 5 in total defense (299.0 ypg), No. 2 against the pass (167.2 ypg) and No. 8 in scoring defense (19.8 ppg).
When the teams met three weeks ago, the Jets held the Dolphins down in the first half, but then things got away from them in the second half. Miami ended up with 167 rushing yards and 395 total yards in a 34-13 win.
Ulbrich described the chess match with McDaniel.
“It’s a tremendous challenge,” Ulbrich said. “There’s a lot of coaches out there who do a great job playing their system, whereas he goes to another place. … He really does an excellent job at figuring out your rules and then how can I attack those rules, how can I compromise your rules, how can I put your guys in conflict the entire game? So, it’s my job to try to eliminate those conflicts. It’s my job to try to figure out ways we can alleviate some of that stress he’s trying to put on our players, but it is a chess match for sure.”
Costello’s call
This should be a close game. The Dolphins offense will be slowed down with either no or limited Tyreek Hill against the Jets defense. I have my doubts that Zach Wilson and the offense can replicate last week’s success.
Dolphins 20, Jets 10
Four downs
A hill to come: The biggest X-factor in this game is whether the Dolphins will have star receiver Tyreek Hill, who injured his ankle in Monday’s loss to the Titans.
Hill did not practice all week and was listed as questionable.
Hill is in the running for league MVP with the numbers he is putting up. He leads the NFL with 1,542 receiving yards and 12 touchdown receptions. He has eight games this season with at least 100 receiving yards and a touchdown.
Hill has not missed a game since joining the Dolphins last year.
The Miami offense will be very different without him.
“It’s why he gets paid so much, right? He completely alters game plans when he’s on the field,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “He allows for so much, Mike McDaniel’s already a very creative offensive mind, and you give him a piece that’s unique to anyone in football and you just see the creativity go to a whole new level, because there’s things that they can only do because they have Tyreek.”
Hall Call: Jets running back Breece Hall had his biggest receiving game of the season last week, catching eight passes for 86 yards, and he had a few good runs on the way to 40 rushing yards.
But it still feels like we’re waiting for Hall to recapture the explosiveness in the run game we saw early in the season.
He has not rushed for 100 yards since Week 5 in Denver.
The Dolphins penned him up in their first meeting, holding Hall to 25 rushing yards.
The coaches say they just need more chances through converting third downs to get more plays and more chances for Hall to get rolling. Will it come this week?
Road weary: The Jets have not won in Miami since 2014 in Rex Ryan’s last game as head coach.
It’s been a minute. They have not won a road divisional game since beating the Bills in the 2019 season finale.
The road has not been kind to the Jets.
They are 2-3 on the road this season, with one of those “road” wins coming at MetLife Stadium against the Giants. They finish the season with three of their final four games on the road, starting Sunday.
Line it up: A key factor in this game could be how much success the Jets defensive line has against a banged up Dolphins offensive line.
The Jets have been putting pressure on quarterbacks all season. Bryce Huff (7 sacks), Jermaine Johnson (6.5), Quinton Jefferson (6) and Solomon Thomas (4) have all set career highs in sacks this season.
Miami lost center Connor Williams to a torn ACL in last week’s loss to the Titans. They signed Jonotthan Harrison to replace him.
Harrison has not played in a regular-season game since 2019 when he was with the Jets. The Dolphins are also without guard Robert Hunt, who has a hamstring injury.
Read more
