MIAMI -- The winner of the AFC East is probably going to be the team who can
survive in times when they have the least. These games are too physical,
exhaust too much emotion and test the resolve of a franchise.
|  | | Miami's Jay Fiedler left after the game's first play due to back spasms. |
That's where the Jets have the edge on the Dolphins. The Jets are
the better street fighters of the two. Punch them and they respond by
slamming a garbage can lid in an opponent's face. On Sunday at Pro Player
Stadium, the Jets lost their most valuable player, halfback Curtis Martin,
and wide receiver Laveranues Coles with injuries. The Dolphins lost their
offensive MVP, halfback Lamar Smith, and their quarterback Jay Fiedler.
Like a true street fighter, Jets coach Al Groh grabbed everything in
sight to whip the Dolphins 20-3. He grabbed 33-year-old halfback Bernie
Parmalee off the scrap heap to rush for 57 yards and two touchdowns. When he
needed a blocker, he threw linebacker Courtney Ledyard into the game to clear a path for
Parmalee's second touchdown. For goal-line receiving threats, Groh used his
tallest cornerback, Marcus Coleman.
"You've got to be prepared for everything when you play a team like
that," Dolphins linebacker Robert Jones said. "They are going to do
anything and everything to win. They don't use one formation. They don't
have just one thing they are going to do. They are going to line up in so
many formations and try to get you confused."
Expect the unexpected when you play the Jets. Deep down, that
must emotionally kill the Dolphins. Their defense plays a style that is the
envy of the league. Cornerbacks Sam Madison, Patrick Surtain and Terrance Shaw play bump-and-run, in-your-face, man-to-man defense. It's beautiful to watch. Let your best man beat their best man. Defensive linemen Trace
Armstrong, Jason Taylor, Tim Bowens, Daryl Gardener and others are among the
most talented in the game.
It must gall the Dolphins to see the Jets whip them six consecutive
times with playground passing formations. Groh, and Bill Parcells before him, would put running backs like Martin and Richie Anderson in receiver
positions and motion a tight end to confuse them.
Sad to say for Dolphins fans, in the critical moments of games, the
Jets' strategies work almost every time. Why? The design is for the Dolphins
to self-destruct. In the Miracle in the Meadowlands on Oct. 23, the Jets took
advantage of six defensive penalties to produce six of their 21 fourth-quarter first downs in erasing a 23-point deficit. The Jets
won in overtime 40-37.
On Sunday at Pro Player, they played off Dolphin mistakes all day. In the first quarter, the Jets were awarded first downs on three third-down passes in which defenders were flagged for penalties. Two were pass interferences. A third was a 15-yard roughing penalty when Robert Jones used
his face mask to face-butt receiver Wayne Chrebet for no logical reason.
"This officiating crew (headed by referee Ron Winter) is in the top
three for calling illegal use of the hands and interference," Coleman said. "That's what they are going to call, so you
have to prepare for it."
Responded Jones, "I think the refs play for the Jets. The Dolphins
never get any breaks."
The Dolphins' secondary plays such tight coverage their defense is
always going to be among the league leaders in penalties. There were 13
Dolphin penalties in the first Jets game compared to four for 30. The
Dolphins drew 11 flags for 99 yards on Sunday compared to New York's four for 29 yards.
"They got some calls early, and we got some guys kicked up early,
and they took advantage of that," Armstrong said. "Hopefully, we can play
them again."
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This was a hard-fought, tough, physical, grind-it-out-game that took on the personalties of the two head coaches. I thought our team did a great job of standing in there against a variety of circumstances and having a lot of confidence in them. ” |
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— Al Groh, Jets head coach |
Hopefully for the Dolphins, they won't. It was hard enough for them to recover from a blown 23-point lead in the Meadowlands last month. When the Dolphins play the Jets, they figure to lose on the scoreboard and
in stats like penalties and turnovers.
The Dolphins' downfall started early. On the first play of the game,
Jets defensive end Rick Lyle accidentally kicked Fiedler in the back of his
helmet after rookie Shaun Ellis pulled him down for a 1-yard sack. Fiedler
suffered what the team called a pinched nerve and what he called a burner.
"I couldn't come across my body with my arm when I'd try to
throw," Fielder said. "It caused spasms, and I couldn't follow through on
throws."
Backup quarterback Damon Huard probably could say the same thing, but
he was healthy. The Jets changed their scheme against Huard, dropped into
safer zone coverages and tempted Huard to see if he could win the game
without throwing the deep ball.
Huard tried to throw one deep, and safety Chris Hayes waited until
the ball came down to make his first career interception, the first of three
picks thrown by Huard. When Smith aggravated a hamstring injury and
was finished early in the second quarter, the Jets had to concentrate less
on the run and hope that Huard would be ineffective.
The strategy worked to perfection. Huard was 16-of-29 for 118
net yards, completing only five passes to wide
receivers. Four of 12 possessions ended in three-downs-and-punts. Three ended up
five plays or less and with interceptions.
"It seems like everytime we play them, it's a do-or-die game,"
safety Victor Green said. "I think we get pushed back against the wall and
we are forced to come out fighting, and that's the type of games we've been
having lately. They couldn't run the ball or throw the ball down the field.
All they could do was dump the ball to their backs."
And street fighters seem to do better in a war of attrition. Martin suffered a back injury on his first carry of the first half. He made
another attempt for six yards but left for the locker room to have X-rays. The
Dolphins frustrated Martin by not having an X-ray machine that worked, so he couldn't find out what was wrong with his back.
"The trainers couldn't take any chances with my back because they
didn't know, and I'm definitely disappointed about that," Martin said. "I
couldn't find out because you can't take any chances with that. It was a
matter of not knowing."
Parmalee turned a 6-3 game into a blowout by gaining 57 yards on 14
carries in the second half. The former Dolphin had only one carry for minus
one yard this season. He hadn't scored a touchdown since 1995. Between 1996
and 1998, he gained only 159 yards total.
His rushing wore down the Dolphins' defense. He scored on an 18-yard run with 6:52 left and on a 7-yarder with 3:12 left in the
fourth quarter to ice the game and keep the Jets' hopes of winning the AFC
East alive.
"This was a hard-fought, tough, physical, grind-it-out-game that
took on the personalties of the two head coaches," Groh said. "I thought
our team did a great job of standing in there against a variety of
circumstances and having a lot of confidence in them. As I said earlier in
the week, 'Rocks don't change.' "
Neither does anything else in this series. No matter what the
Dolphins do -- whether it's Fiedler, Huard or Dan Marino at quarterback -- the Jets have the Dolphins' number.
John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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ALSO SEE
Parmalee keeps Jets in running for East title
Parmalee haunts former team as Jets beat Dolphins
Fiedler injured on first play, leaves game with back spasms
VIDEO
  Vinny Testaverde and the Jets continue to play with heart. wav: 45 kRealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 A disappointed Dave Wannstedt tries to explain his team's lackluster effort. wav: 213 kRealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 Dave Wannstedt comments on the status of Jay Fiedler and Lamar Smith. wav: 214 kRealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 For Bernie Parmalee, Jets plus Dolphins equals good game. wav: 48 kRealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6 |
