South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
DOLPHINS GAMEDAY Teams headed in opposite directions
Here’s a look athowthe DolphinsandJetsmatchup in six key areas ahead of Sunday’s game:
When the Dolphins run
Second-year runningback Myles Gaskin (249yards rushing) scored his first touchdownof the season lastweek against the49ers. With theDolphins oddlymakingoffseason acquisition JordanHowardinactive, Miami found itself ready to score fromthe 1-yardline, whereHoward has scored three short touchdownsthis season. What did Miamido? They put twomore offensive linemen into the game, making seven total linemen available to block for Gaskin, whosimply ran upthe left side aftera collision at the goal line. TheDolphins still needmore fromtheir run game, which ranks 20th with 104.2yards pergame. They’ll face theJets rundefense, which is 22nd allowing 128.6yards pergameto opponents. Edge: Dolphins
When the Jets run
TheJets released Le’Veon Bell five games into the season aftera tumultuous time withAdamGase as his playcaller. While Bellmodestly ledNewYork with 789yards rushing last season, he did notdomuchin the two games he played this season. It’s also a reasonwhy 16-yearveteran Frank Gore, the formerUniversityofMiami standout and 2018 Dolphins rushing leader, leads theJets with204yards rushing through five games. Despite Gore’s contributions, theJets offense still has sputtered. AndaDolphins defense, thatmovedto 20th against the run, awaits. Edge: Dolphins
When the Dolphins pass
It isn’tTua time just yet. And that’sOK because Ryan Fitzpatrickmaybe playing someof the best football in his career — yes, at 37 years old and 16 years in the league. NoNFLquarterback has had a betteroverall gamethis season than Fitzpatrick did against the49ers. His99.1QBRis the best performanceamongall quarterbacks through fiveweeks this season, and hisWeek 3 gameinJacksonville (a97.2 QBRin Miami’s otherwin) was also a top-5 performance. Fitzpatrickand theDolphinsoffense rolled to43points in San Francisco, andwill look to keep the scoring going against theJets, whoare the second-worst teamin the NFLwith 161 points allowed. Edge: Dolphins
When the Jets pass
FormerSuperBowlMVPquarterback Joe Flaccowas able to lead a touchdown and field goal drive in his first start for theJets, completing 18-of-33passes for 195 yards and a touchdownwith no turnovers lastweekagainst the Arizona Cardinals. But hewas unable to help theJetsoffense keeppace withKylerMurray, and the samechallenge against Fitzpatrick’sDolphinsoffense awaits. Flaccowill start his second gamein place ofSamDarnold, whois recovering froma sprained throwing shoulder, and face theDolphins defense, which is 10th in scoring defense (22.6points allowedpergame) and 18th with 379.6yards allowedpergame. Edge: Dolphins
Special teams
Dolphins kickerJason Sanders is the reigningAFCspecial teamsplayerof the week afterfive field goals and fourPATs madeagainst the49ers lastweek. Sanders, whois second in theNFLwith 14 field goals made, andJets kickerSamFicken (9 of9) are two of four kickerswhohave yet to miss a field goal orPATthis season. Dolphins punterMatt Haack is ninth, averaging47.5yards perpunt, whileJets punter BrandenMannhas the second-most punts (25) through five games. Andboth teamsare near the bottomof the league in the return game, per analytic site footballoutsiders.com. Miami has the edge thanks toSanders and Haack. Edge: Dolphins
Intangibles
Dolphins coach Brian Flores andJets coachAdamGase are each 7-14through their first 21 games with theirnewteams, but both coaches, records and franchises certainlyhave adifferent feel tothemahead ofSunday’smatchup. Gase’sJets are 0-5, and his tenure with NewYork, which started after theDolphinspartedways with him to hire Flores, maybe coming to an end soon. TheDolphins are just 2-3 this season, but their performance against the49ersmayhave been the best performance of the Flores era outside of last season’sPatriots upset. Sunday’s gamecould give further indication of the different directions these franchises are trending toward. Edge: Dolphins
Prediction
Dolphins40, Jets 13