Ginn strikes back, leads Fins over Jets

Dolphins wide receiver Ted Ginn responded to his benching with a historic performance, tying an NFL record with two kickoff returns for touchdowns in a single quarter to lead Miami to a 30-25 win over the rival New York Jets.

Ginn said all the right things after his history-equaling performance, stressing that he "just wanted to make plays" for a team that has had few big ones this season.

Against the Jets, with the momentum seemingly on New York's side after a pair of scoring drives engineered by Mark Sanchez, Ginn made a spectacular rebuttal.

The first TD return was vintage Ginn, as he veered to the sideline and outran every Jet with a chance to bring him down.

But it was the second return that was special, as Ginn made two quick cuts in the hole when it seemed like he was in danger, found the outside again and was off to the races.

Two returns for a total of 201 yards, and those runbacks, coupled with Jason Taylor's 48-yard fumble return for a TD, helped the Dolphins stave of Sanchez and a furious Jets rally.

Miami won despite being outgained 378 yards to 104, their fewest yards ever in a win.

The Dolphins won despite Chad Henne completing 12-of-21 yards for a piddling 112 yards and one TD. The Wildcat was also held in check by the Jets, as the running game was held to a season-low 51 yards.

Henne was even sacked six times, as New York blitzes came at him from seemingly every angle.

But the young quarterback showed his cool, leading his team on the game-clinching TD march after a Sanchez 19-yard scoring toss to Braylon Edwards had cut the lead to 24-19.

Henne connected with tight end Joey Haynos on a key third-down conversion for 15 yards, then hit Haynos with the winning TD pass a few plays later.

It's the second time in three weeks the Dolphins have beaten the Jets, who have lost four of their last five after a 3-0 start.

Miami is now 3-4, with all three wins coming in the AFC East, which bodes well for the next game against the New England Patriots.

The victory overshadowed the continuing defensive breakdowns for the Dolphins, who again weren't able to consistenly pressure the passer in the second half.

Sanchez also riddled the suspect pass defense for 265 yards and two TDs, and Thomas Jones gained 102 yards on the ground.

Ginn was the story, but don't forget, he didn't make a single catch Sunday, as none of the Dolphins wide receivers were particularly effective.

Only two wideouts caught a pass from Henne, with Davone Bess leading the team with four catches -- for a paltry 18 yards.

The Dolphins know they were lucky to get out of the Meadowlands with a win, and there is still a lot to work on as Tom Brady & company loom.

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Dolphins-Jets: The sequel

In a strange scheduling quirk, the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets face off for the second time in three weeks, this time in the Meadowlands. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.

The last time the two teams played, of course, was on Monday night. And in one of the best games in the rivalry in recent years, Ronnie Brown's 2-yard TD run with six seconds left lifted Miami to a 31-27 win.

The next week, the Jets continued their skid with a 16-13 overitme loss at home to Buffalo, their third loss in a row. Quarterback Mark Sanchez single-handedly lost the game with his worst day as a pro, tossing five interceptions.

But last week, New York got back in the win column with a 38-0 demolishing of the hapless Raiders in Oakland.

The Dolphins, meanwhile, had unbeaten New Orleans on the ropes until a 22-point fourth quarter led to an improbable Saints 46-34 come-from-behind victory.

That loss dropped Miami to 2-4 and 2 1/2 games behind the Jets in the AFC East.

The Dolphins defense had no answer for New Orleans, as Drew Brees led the Saints to 43 points over the last two quarters.

Brees riddled the Dolphins secondary for 298 yards and one TD, and Miami also lost veteran cornerback Will Allen for the season with a torn ACL.

That elevates rookie Vontae Davis to the starting lineup, where he will play opposite another rookie, Sean Smith.

Jets receiver Braylon Edwards feasted on the Fins in the first meeting, catching five passes for 64 yards and a TD, but he has not been productive in the last two games.

Also, Jerricho Cotchery should return after missing the first meeting with a pulled hamstring, giving the Jets another receiving threat.

The Dolphins pass rush struggled against New York on that Monday night, tallying just one sack.

The defense started like a house of fire againast New Orleans, sacking Brees five times and intercepting him three times -- but all the damage was done in the first half.

Miami must get pressure on Sanchez to give the two young corners help, and the running game will be a priority for both teams.

The Jets ran the ball effectively against the Dolphins in the first meeting, tallying 138 yards.

New York lost a key player for the season last week as well, when do-everything running back Leon Washington broke his leg.

But the Jets found another option to team with Thomas Jones in rookie Shonn Greene, who lit up the Raiders for 144 yards and two rushing TDs.

Greene and Jones will look to pound it inside, while the Dolphins Wildcat offense will try to continue its dominance.

Miami ran for 151 yards against Rex Ryan's defense in the last meeting, which Ryan later lamented as an embarrassing effort.

Since then, the Jets have sunk to 22nd in the league against the run, and they lost a key run-stuffer in tackle Kris Jenkins, who also is out for the season.

Somehow, I get the feeling Ryan will have his defense better prepared this week than he did Monday night. The Jets have the home crowd on their side, and the revenge factor.

Plus, I don't think Chad Henne will have the same kind of day he had three weeks ago, when he riddled the Jets for 20-of-26 passing for 241 yards.

Ryan took the last Dolphins game personally, and I think he'll unleash the hounds on a team that might still be suffering a hangover from last week's meltdown.

Jets 27, Dolphins 24.

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Dolphins climb back into AFC East race

The Jets-Dolphins rivalry is back, and the nation got a chance to see two up-and-coming football teams play a classic game Monday night.

Ronnie Brown and the Wildcat got the better of the Jets, with Brown scoring a 2-yard touchdown run with six seconds left to give the Fins a 31-27 win that puts them back in the AFC East race.

There were several positives in the performance, and many of them were on offense.

We learned that the Wildcat is not just a "fad," as Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan called it prior to the start of the season.

In recent weeks, the Dolphins have run the Wildcat more and more often, culminating Monday night with 16 snaps out of the formation.

Miami gianed 110 yards in the Wildcat, the most since they unveiled the formation last season at New England, and they averaged 6.9 yards per play.

On the last madcap drive, in which Miami went 70 yards in 13 plays and ate up four minutes and 59 seconds of clock, the Wildcat accounted for 25 yards on four plays.

It has become apparent that the Dolphins, who ran for 158 yards and are the top-rushing team in the NFL, can run on any defense.

Brown gained 74 yards on 21 carries and scored twice, and Ricky Williams added 68 yards on 11 carries.

However, the team suffered a big loss when it was announced that backup running back Patrick Cobbs will miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL.

Cobbs is a key contributor to the Wildcat, though he doesn't often run the ball.

His biggest asset is as a blocker. If you watched the highlights, there was Cobbs, clearing space downfield for Williams on a big first down run out of the Wildcat in the first quarter.

He also added a big-play element to the formation. Remember Cobbs' 80-yard TD catch out of the formation last year against the Houston Texans?

Now, preseason star Lex Hilliard be called on to replace Cobbs as the third running back. Ted Ginn will again handle the kickoff return duties, a job Cobbs had taken over this season.

The other revelation was the Dolphins' passing game, which was finally able to stretch the field and make the big plays that had largely been missing this season.

Chad Henne had his best game as a pro, completing 20-of-26 passes for 262 yards and two TDs.

He looked poised in the pocket, and he was accurate and showcased a strong arm.

Henne's most impressive throw was a 53-yard rainbow to Ginn for a TD that gave the Dolphins a 24-20 lead.

Ginn beat triple coverage on that play, and maybe now he will be more of an offensive factor since it's clear Henne has the arm to get him the ball.

But Henne's most important throws came on the game-winning drive.

On 3rd-and-5 from the New York 30-yardline, Henne slid to his left to avoid a seven-man blitz, and delivered a perfect pass to Greg Camarillo for 14 yards and a crucial first down.

Two plays later, facing 3rd-and-10 from the 16, Henne showed good mobility, rolling right and drilling another accurate throw to Camarillo on a comeback route for 12 yards and another first down.

Two not-so-routine passes, both well-executed, and both for big plays that kept the winning drive alive.

The flip side of the offensive fireworks was another poor performance by the defense.

For the first time this season, a team was able to consitently run the ball against Miami, as the Jets pounded the Fins for a season-high 138 yards, averaging 4.8 yards per carry.

Thomas Jones scored two TDs, one on a 7-yard run where New York's offensive line completely blew out the Dolphins front.

The pass defense was a little better, holding Mark Sanchez to 12-of-24 passing for 172 yards, but whenever he seemed to need a big play, Sanchez got it.

The Dolphins had practically no pass rush, allowing Sanchez to step up in the pocket for big plays like a 34-yard pass to Braylon Edwards.

Cornerback Will Allen had one of his worst days as a Dolphin, allowing the newly acquired Edwards to pick up 64 yards on five catches and score a TD.

Allen also drew a phantom pass interference call on another play when Edwards had clearly beaten him, but he dropped the potential TD pass.

David Clowney even found a way to get behind the Dolphins defense, as he beat Vontae Davis and Yeremiah Bell for a 53-yard reception that led to Edwards' big catch a few plays later.

The offense is still a work in progress, but the Dolphins have to feel good about it heading into the bye week. The pass defense however, has only slightly improved, ranking 19th in the league.

The Dolphins had just one sack Monday night, and no turnovers forced.

As a team, Miami has only three interceptions, and though the Dolphins rank 10th in the NFL with 12 sacks, half of that total came against woeful Buffalo last week. Miami has only forced six turnovers in five games this season.

That's not enough, and if they can't force offenses into more mistakes, there will be many more high-scoring games like Monday night's affair.

But at 2-3, the Dolphins are alive in the AFC East. And after the bye, they go right back into the fire at home against New Orleans, on the road against these same Jets, then host division-leading New England.

After that stretch, we'll know much more about this team.

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Mirror images collide Monday night

After losing some steam in recent years, the Miami Dolphins-New York Jets rivalry has returned to prominence over the past two seasons.

Monday night, the two teams meet before a national audience, in a game that will be televised by ESPN.

The Jets will no doubt be playing the revenge card in this one.

It was Miami that ended their dreams of a playoff berth in 2008, and ended the Brett Favre Era in one fell swoop in a 24-17 win at the Meadowlands.

Much has changed in that time.

Favre, of course, is in Minnesota. Coach Eric Mangini was fired, and hired by the Cleveland Browns.

The man who replaced Mangini is his polar opposite.

There is no doubt that Rex Ryan is Buddy Ryan's son. He has the same qualities: He's abrasive, arrogant, and he has the most important thing in common with Dad, he's a great defensive football coach.

Ryan has wasted no time in molding the Jets in his image, and they enter Land Shark Stadium 3-1 and as the de facto leaders in the AFC East.

The Dolphins have gotten off to a much slower start, falling to 0-3 and losing starting quarterback Chad Pennington for the season before rebounding for a 38-10 win over Buffalo last week.

Against the Bills, the Dolphins executed what must have been Tony Sparano's and Bill Parcells' dream game plan: They controlled the ball for more than 37 minutes, ran for 250 yards and forced six sacks and three interceptions.

It was an all-around brilliant performance, one in which first-time starter Chad Henne didn't have to do much (14-of-22, 115 yards, 1 TD).

That will likely change Monday night.

The Jets enter with the fourth-ranked defense in the NFL, though last week, they gave up a season-high 153 yards rushing in their first loss of the season to New Orleans.

But with a rookie quarterback under center, you'd better believe Ryan will stack the box in an effort to stop the run and force the ball into Henne's hands.

The last few weeks, the Wildcat offense has been operating at optimum efficiency. Miami leads the NFL in rushing at 183.5 yards per game, and since being held to 96 yards opening week by Atlanta, that number has risen to 212.7 yards per game.

Ronnie Brown has been the master of the Wildcat, ranking fifth in the league in rushing with 369 yards and four TDs.

But, if you remember last year, the only team that consistently stopped the Wildcat was the Baltimore Ravens, with Ryan as defensive coordinator.

In those two games, Brown had 27 and 19 yards rushing, and as a team the Dolphins gained just 153 yards total on the ground.

Ryan likes to blitz with different personnel, and he'll do it from any side of the field.

Also, with Bart Scott, Terrell Suggs and Ray Lewis, he had the personnel to stop the Wildcat.

Scott is now a Jet, and he has teammates like David Harris and Brian Thomas who can fly to the football and help stop the run.

Even more remarkable is the fact the Jets are sixth against the pass, despite having the fewest sacks in the league with four.

That's testament to Darrelle Revis, one of the top corners in the game, as well as safeties Jim Leonhard and Kerry Rhodes.

Scheme is what makes the Jets' D so effective, as the sum is truly greater than the individual parts.

Henne will have to take his deep shots when he gets a chance, but Ted Ginn may not have many opportunities with Revis on him.

The flip side of this battle is, the Jets are almost a mirror image of what the Dolphins try to do offensively.

New York ranks eighth in the league in rushing at over 130 yards per game, partly because they have a good trio of running backs in Thomas Jones, Leon Washington and Shonn Greene.

But the Jets also run out of necessity, as quarterback Mark Sanchez is only a rookie and not yet ready to assume the full burden offensively.

The Saints proved that last week, when they bottled up the New York ground attack, and forced Sanchez into 27 pass attempts and three crucial interceptions.

I don't see the Jets being able to run the ball on Miami, since the Dolphins have the No. 1 rushing defense in the league.

Washington will be a handful in the backfield and catching passes, as will tight end Dustin Keller, who will try to exploit what has been a soft spot in the Dolphins defense all year.

Joey Porter returns to help the pass rush, and Cameron Wake should see more playing time after his three-sack effort last week.

New Jets receiver Braylon Edwards gives "The Sanchise" the deep element the offense has been missing.

And that may be what this game comes down to: Which team can make plays in the passing game?

This should be a defensive struggle, but the Dolphins troubles against the pass -- and the unknown quantity in Henne -- tip the scales slightly in New York's favor.

Jets 17, Dolphins 13.