EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. They talked big all week, making it well known just how much they wanted a little payback, some retribution for their Monday Night Meltdown three weeks ago.
This was the game the Jets had been waiting for, figuring it was their time to shine over their South Florida archrivals, the perfect opportunity to go into their bye week on an emotional high while sending the Dolphins' season into a possible tailspin.
Instead, the Jets were left pondering how they could inexcusably let another one get away, leaving them staring at a daunting road ahead if they are going to end their two-year playoff drought. Once again, they weren't able to back up their bravado, surrendering a pair of big, triple-digit-yard kickoff return touchdowns to Ted Ginn Jr. and watching their fourth-quarter comeback bid fall short in a numbing 30-25 loss at Giants Stadium yesterday.
"It hurts," cornerback Darrelle Revis said. "It's sad. We wanted to get back at these guys. It was a lot of trash talking during the pregame. It was a lot of things going on. I think overall, we hung in there and we almost still won. These last few weeks, we've been hanging in games that come down to the wire. And it's just the little key things that one play in a game, man. If you aren't in your position, you aren't in the right spot, something can happen. That's how good these guys are in the NFL."
Few teams in this league are good enough to win after yielding 21 points that aren't a result of the opposition's offense, and the Jets (4-4) are no different. They gave up touchdowns of 100 and 101 yards to Ginn on kickoff returns and also spotted the Dolphins seven more points when Shonn Greene fumbled in the third quarter and Jason Taylor took it 48 yards for a score.
Take away those gaffes and the Jets dominated Miami (3-4) on both sides of the ball, stockpiling 378 yards and limiting the Dolphins to 104. The Jets pressured quarterback Chad Henne, sacking him six times, and also bottled up the league's second-best rushing attack. The Dolphins mustered only 52 yards on the ground and the Jets declawed the Wildcat, holding them to 6 yards on seven plays from the tricky formation.
"Sometimes things just don't make sense," coach Rex Ryan said. "Statistically, this game is not going to look close. I truly feel that our football team is good enough to beat anybody in this league, but we also can lose to anybody in this league if we spot a team three touchdowns. It's a huge loss for us. Obviously, another loss to Miami. That's two for them that we've lost to them, so that's tough."
"We could talk junk right now, but I can't do that," Dolphins nose tackle and former Jet Jason Ferguson said. "You know what? I'm going to show character and I'm going to say, 'Hey, this is the NFL.' We had a chance to get them and we got them. I can't be like I want to be, 'Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah.' I'll save that for later."
Even after staring at a 24-13 deficit after Ginn's 101-yard kickoff return with 3:09 left in the third quarter, the Jets used a 19-yard touchdown pass from Mark Sanchez to Braylon Edwards and a 16-yard touchdown toss from Sanchez to Dustin Keller sandwiched around a 5-yard Henne touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to get back in it.
They drove to the Dolphins' 12 aided by Sanchez's 16-yard pass to Keller on fourth-and-10 from Miami's 28 but their last-ditch effort ended four plays later. Facing fourth-and-13 from Miami's 15 with 1:16 left, Sanchez scrambled, then backpedaled before firing a pass toward the back of the end zone. It sailed over both Jerricho Cotchery and Keller, sealing the Jets' fourth loss in five games and putting a dent in their playoff hopes.
"It definitely hurt because you don't ever want to lose division games," tackle Damien Woody said. "And the fact that we got swept by them, those types of scenarios can come back to bite you, especially in the season because you never know how it's going to pan out in tiebreaker situations. These type of scenarios end up panning out and usually not in your favor."
"There's still a lot left out there for us to get," Shaun Ellis said. "I've been here 10 years and nothing came easy for the Jets. Nothing. Everything we get, we've earned it. So it's just another one of those seasons where we've just got to grind out and make it happen for us. It's just one of those things."
(c) 2009, Newsday.
Visit Newsday online at http://www.newsday.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): jets
This was the game the Jets had been waiting for, figuring it was their time to shine over their South Florida archrivals, the perfect opportunity to go into their bye week on an emotional high while sending the Dolphins' season into a possible tailspin.
Instead, the Jets were left pondering how they could inexcusably let another one get away, leaving them staring at a daunting road ahead if they are going to end their two-year playoff drought. Once again, they weren't able to back up their bravado, surrendering a pair of big, triple-digit-yard kickoff return touchdowns to Ted Ginn Jr. and watching their fourth-quarter comeback bid fall short in a numbing 30-25 loss at Giants Stadium yesterday.
"It hurts," cornerback Darrelle Revis said. "It's sad. We wanted to get back at these guys. It was a lot of trash talking during the pregame. It was a lot of things going on. I think overall, we hung in there and we almost still won. These last few weeks, we've been hanging in games that come down to the wire. And it's just the little key things that one play in a game, man. If you aren't in your position, you aren't in the right spot, something can happen. That's how good these guys are in the NFL."
Few teams in this league are good enough to win after yielding 21 points that aren't a result of the opposition's offense, and the Jets (4-4) are no different. They gave up touchdowns of 100 and 101 yards to Ginn on kickoff returns and also spotted the Dolphins seven more points when Shonn Greene fumbled in the third quarter and Jason Taylor took it 48 yards for a score.
Take away those gaffes and the Jets dominated Miami (3-4) on both sides of the ball, stockpiling 378 yards and limiting the Dolphins to 104. The Jets pressured quarterback Chad Henne, sacking him six times, and also bottled up the league's second-best rushing attack. The Dolphins mustered only 52 yards on the ground and the Jets declawed the Wildcat, holding them to 6 yards on seven plays from the tricky formation.
"Sometimes things just don't make sense," coach Rex Ryan said. "Statistically, this game is not going to look close. I truly feel that our football team is good enough to beat anybody in this league, but we also can lose to anybody in this league if we spot a team three touchdowns. It's a huge loss for us. Obviously, another loss to Miami. That's two for them that we've lost to them, so that's tough."
"We could talk junk right now, but I can't do that," Dolphins nose tackle and former Jet Jason Ferguson said. "You know what? I'm going to show character and I'm going to say, 'Hey, this is the NFL.' We had a chance to get them and we got them. I can't be like I want to be, 'Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah.' I'll save that for later."
Even after staring at a 24-13 deficit after Ginn's 101-yard kickoff return with 3:09 left in the third quarter, the Jets used a 19-yard touchdown pass from Mark Sanchez to Braylon Edwards and a 16-yard touchdown toss from Sanchez to Dustin Keller sandwiched around a 5-yard Henne touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to get back in it.
They drove to the Dolphins' 12 aided by Sanchez's 16-yard pass to Keller on fourth-and-10 from Miami's 28 but their last-ditch effort ended four plays later. Facing fourth-and-13 from Miami's 15 with 1:16 left, Sanchez scrambled, then backpedaled before firing a pass toward the back of the end zone. It sailed over both Jerricho Cotchery and Keller, sealing the Jets' fourth loss in five games and putting a dent in their playoff hopes.
"It definitely hurt because you don't ever want to lose division games," tackle Damien Woody said. "And the fact that we got swept by them, those types of scenarios can come back to bite you, especially in the season because you never know how it's going to pan out in tiebreaker situations. These type of scenarios end up panning out and usually not in your favor."
"There's still a lot left out there for us to get," Shaun Ellis said. "I've been here 10 years and nothing came easy for the Jets. Nothing. Everything we get, we've earned it. So it's just another one of those seasons where we've just got to grind out and make it happen for us. It's just one of those things."
(c) 2009, Newsday.
Visit Newsday online at http://www.newsday.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): jets
