N.Y., Miami both looking to rebound Jets vs. Dolphins

Teams have lost past two headed into their matchup

When the New York Jets run the ball Sunday, it will be a test of their blocking against the Miami Dolphins’ tackling to see who’s worse.

Both have been bad lately.

Miami (4-4) has given up 600 yards rushing in the past three games. A defensive decline, not an injury to quarterback Ryan Tannehill, is the biggest reason the Dolphins have lost four of their past five games.

“We’ve got to be better,” safety Reshad Jones said. “But there’s no time to hit the panic button right now. We’ve got a lot of football left.”

The Jets (3-5) have averaged 2.8 yards per carry in the past three games while totaling 235 yards. After running back Bilal Powell suffered a season-ending neck injury in Week 7, the ground game generated just 57 yards in last week’s loss at the Chicago Bears.

“I didn’t think it was good at all,” coach Todd ■ When: 1 p.m. Sunday

■ Where: Miami Gardens, Fla. ■ Tv/radio: CBS-6, WTMM

104.5 FM

Bowles said. “They beat us up front, and they beat us to the punch.”

So it looks like an even matchup: the resistible force against the moveable object.

The Dolphins are tied for29thinthenflinrun defense. In the past three weeks, they’ve allowed 164, 248 and 188 yards on the ground, with big plays the biggest problem.

The Jets’ recent rushing woes come after they gashed Denver in Week 5 for 323 yards, second-most in franchise history. Isaiah Crowell had a team-record 219 in that game, but in the past three weeks he has totaled just 94 yards on 37 carries.

The sputtering ground attack only increases the burden on rookie quarterback Sam Darnold.

“We can’t be up and down,” Bowles said. “We’ve got to be consistent at it. If we want to throw the ball consistently, we’ve got to be able to run it consistently.”