Gang Green stifles Dolphins to get in win column
EAST RUTHERFORD » With the way the Jets opened their season with two straight abysmal losses on the road, that MetLife Stadium would see yet another awful performance wasn’t particularly shocking.
That it was turned in by the Miami Dolphins was.
Gang Green dominated the ’Fins in their home opener, with only a Jay Cutler touchdown pass to DeVante Parker as the final whistle sounded keeping them from a shutout in an impressive 20-6 win against their AFC East rival on an unseasonably warm Sunday afternoon.
The defense held Cutler and company to just 225 total net yards and forced two turnovers; both interceptions by safety Terrence Brooks, who was acquired in a pre-season trade with the Eagles that sent Dexter McDougle to Philly.
That move bolstered a starting 11 that looked as good as it has all season, and was highlighted by a stellar showing from firstround pick Jamal Adams, who recorded his first career NFL sack in the win.
“It’s a huge step for the team,” he said. “We came out hitting on all cylinders, and we had the best practice week as a whole, and it showed on the field… we always had confidence, we just needed to put the right pieces together, and it’s finally starting to mold. We’re not where we want to be, but this is the start of it. This is a win, and we’ll take it.”
The last time the Jets hosted Miami in the home opener was 2005 — granted that was at Giants Stadium — and they earned a similar result; Chad Pennington threw two touchdown passes in a 17-7 victory. This time around, it was Josh McCown who shined, with the veteran completing 17 of his 22 passes for 249 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.
Kicker Chandler Catanzaro’s 40-yard field goal with 7:17 left in the second quarter after an earlier miss — he said after the game he slipped while planting and hit the ball off his ankle — gave the Jets their first lead of the season, but it was McCown’s 69-yard touchdown strike to Robby Anderson two possessions later that seemed to blow the game open.
McCown floated a perfectly thrown ball down the right side to Anderson, who had Dolphins backup corner Alterraun Verner in single coverage, and he did the rest, seemingly recapturing their chemistry early this preseason.
“I had one-on-one coverage, and with my speed, a lot of guys are scared,” Anderson said. “Josh made a hell of a throw.”
Bilal Powell’s third quarter one-yard touchdown run pushed the lead to 170, and Catanzaro was true for the second time on the day from 22 yards out to make it 20-0.
However, perhaps the most intriguing part of the day came just before kickoff, when several Dolphins players — notably Kenny Stills and Julius Thomas — chose to kneel for the national anthem, while all Jets players stood with arms locked.
The word in the locker room after the game was that team chairman and CEO Christopher Johnson approached each player individually to discuss what they wanted to do in light of President Donald Trump’s recent controversial comments, and the Jets issued the following brief statement during the game.
“It was an honor and a privilege to stand arm-inarm unified with our players during today’s National Anthem,” Johnson said. “We are very proud of our players and their strong commitment to work in our community to make a positive, constructive, and unifying impact.”