Dolphins poised to top Jets again

When the Dolphins run

Undrafted rookie Patrick Laird, whose 4-yard touchdown run helped Miami win its third game of the season last week, is the Dolphins’ new starting running back. He’ll be backed up by another rookie, seventh-round pick Myles Gaskin, which together might not look bright for the Dolphins for the final stretch of the season. The Dolphins will likely continue using players such as Albert Wilson in the Wildcat formation to help the running game, but they could rely heavily on the passing game to fuel the offense. The Jets’ rushing defense ranks first in the NFL. Edge: Jets

When the Jets run

Le’Veon Bell was the marquee freeagent signing during the past offseason, but he and the Jets have yet to turn in a 100-yard rushing game this season. Bell has topped 70 yards rushing just once in the 13 games in which he has played (he had 66 against the Dolphins in Week 9). Miami’s rushing defense ranks second-to-last in the NFL overall, but Adam Gase’s play-calling has relied on Jets quarterback Sam Darnold throwing the football, thereby negating the run, which could help the Dolphins defense in its quest to win two in a row. Edge: Dolphins

When the Dolphins pass

Ryan Fitzpatrick had his best game of the season last week and will likely have to make more plays with his arm to fuel a Dolphins offense that’s without a steady rushing attack. Fitzpatrick threw for 365 yards with three touchdowns to spark Miami’s win over Philadelphia, and the Dolphins hope he can keep a hot hand against the Jets, who lost to Andy Dalton and the Bengals last week despite having the sixth-best defense in the NFL. If the Eagles game was an indication, the Dolphins could have some more wins up their sleeve, starting against the Jets on Sunday. Edge: Dolphins

When the Jets pass

Sam Darnold helped the Jets win three straight games by completing 65.1 % of his passes with seven touchdowns and one interception before last week’s disappointing loss to the Bengals. Darnold had his second-worst game of the season, throwing a season-high 48 passes and completing just 58.3% of them with no touchdowns or interceptions. Now he’ll look to rebound versus Miami while trying to get his first win in four attempts against the Dolphins, whose defense has risen to 22nd in the NFL against opposing passers. Edge: Dolphins

Special teams

The Dolphins special teams unit pulled off one of the best plays in the NFL this season with their “Mountaineer Shot” trick play that saw punter Matt Haack throw a touchdown pass to kicker Jason Sanders. Whether its trick plays, fake field goals, fake punts or onside kicks, the Dolphins have taken an aggressive approach trying to catch teams off guard and capitalize on momentum-swinging plays. They might not work all the time, but opposing teams now have more to game-plan for when facing the Dolphins. That’s an edge in itself. Edge: Dolphins

Intangibles

The Dolphins rebounded last week from a two-game skid to win their third game. They have now won three of their past five, a stretch that began against the Jets in Week 9. And the Jets look just as dysfunctional as the last time both teams met, even though they had a recent three-game winning streak. The edge here will go to coaching, where Brian Flores, who helped the Dolphins overcome a 0-7 start to the season to now sit at 3-9, goes against Adam Gase, whose Jets are 4-8 but have lost twice to teams that had been winless prior to that. Edge: Dolphins

PREDICTION: Dolphins 23, Jets 20

MICHAEL LAUGHLIN/SUN SENTINEL Ryan Fitzpatrick is coming off his best performance of the season, a threetouchdown game in which he threw for 365 yards and was intercepted once. Plenty of his success can be credited to the numerous 50-50 balls he threw up high, giving DeVante Parker and Mike Gesicki an opportunity to make a play. The Dolphins need to lean on that approach against a Jets defense that is allowing opposing quarterbacks to cumulatively produce a 91.0 passer rating. The Jets will likely be without dynamic safety Jamal Adams. The Dolphins must apply pressure and vary up their looks to ensure Jets quarterback Sam Darnold is “seeing ghosts” again. Getting Darnold to commit turnovers is the key to beating the Jets, who have a 2-4 record in games where the former USC standout throws at least one interception. The Dolphins defense hasn’t had much success forcing turnovers, but the exotic package that features all the defensive linemen, linebackers and safeties crowded up at the line of scrimmage in standup positions could force Darnold to misfire or make predetermined reads. Jets coach Adam Gase gives instructions to his quarterback, Sam Darnold, during their game against the Dolphins on Nov. 3.

Adam Gase’s history shows the pass-happy coach is allergic to running the football, and that explains part of the reason Le’Veon Bell is having his worst season in the NFL, averaging just 3.2 yards per carry on 189 attempts. All the injuries the Jets have had to overcome on the offensive line haven’t helped, but as long as Bell doesn’t start to exploit one-on-one matchups with Miami’s linebackers he shouldn’t be a problem Sunday.

Expecting the Dolphins to produce 100 rushing yards in a game is unrealistic. Miami has only passed that threshold once this season, during its first loss to the Bills, a game where the Dolphins gained 109 rushing yards. The Dolphins are averaging a league-low 62.8 rushing yards per game and flirting with becoming the worst rushing team in the modern history of the NFL. But perhaps unproven rookies Patrick Laird and Myles Gaskin can jump-start the rushing attack.

That starts with left tackle Julien Davenport, who has allowed more pressures than anyone else on the team since replacing J’Marcus Webb three games ago.