LONDON — The Jets made headlines by bringing their own toilet paper to England this week. Now, they’re hoping to wipe the field with the Dolphins.
The Jets will play one of the strangest games in their history on Sunday, playing across the Atlantic at Wembley Stadium in a game that will start at 9:30 a.m. New York time.
For the past week, the Jets have heard from sleep specialists and trainers about how to help their bodies adjust to changing five time zones. Now, it’s all about football.
“It’s been good for the guys, you know, to come to another country and play,” coach Todd Bowles said. “It’ll be real good for them from a fanfare standpoint and a media standpoint. Hopefully, while they take it all in they can focus on the game.”
That is the key question: How much will the site of the game and everything that comes with it be a distraction for the 2-1 Jets? This is their first AFC East game of the season, and they are looking to rebound from their first loss of the year, last week to the Eagles.
“It’s huge because it’s our first division game and we’re coming off of a loss right now,” rookie defensive lineman Leonard Williams said. “We’ve got to bounce back. I feel like we have a lot of great leaders on our team and a lot of great vets. They’ve been telling everybody that just believe in our team. We’re great this year and just bounce back.”
The Dolphins come to this game on shaky ground. At 1-2, there already is talk coach Joe Philbin could be fired if they lose this game. The Bills embarrassed them last week with quarterback Ryan Tannehill throwing three interceptions.
Still, the Jets defenders say they see improvement.
“I see Tannehill’s grown a little bit. When I say a little bit, I mean he’s taking steps,” linebacker Calvin Pace said. “They’ve got some different pieces, but it’s still the same philosophy. They’re moving fast. It’s kind of similar to what we faced last week. The good thing about it is we’re familiar with them. We obviously play them two times a year, so it will be like it always is, man, coming down to the wire. It will be an interesting game.”
Marquee matchup
Jets RG Brian Winters vs. Dolphins DT Ndamukong Suh
Jets coach Todd Bowles joked this week that Winters better eat his Wheaties for this matchup. Suh is one of the most dominant defensive players in football, the reason he got a six-year, $114 million deal in free agency from Miami. Winters is making his first career start at right guard with usual starter Willie Colon sidelined with a knee injury. That is what you call a mismatch.
Now, Winters has made 18 starts at left guard, but the 2013 third-round pick was not good enough to keep the new Jets regime from going out and signing a replacement this year in the offseason. The Jets know the Dolphins are going to target Winters, but they think he’s up to the challenge.
“Obviously, you’re going to look at, like any team would, a new guy coming in,” said center Nick Mangold. “But we have a lot of confidence in Brian and the way he plays. Filling in last week, I thought he did a good job coming off the bench. Now getting a week of prep, he should be ready to go for us.”
4 Downs
Plug the holes
The Jets uncharacteristically were run on last week. The Eagles ran for 123 yards on the Jets, a shocking number for a defense that rarely has given up that many yards in recent years. They know they are going to have to clean that up going forward, starting with the Dolphins on Sunday.
“We need to stay in our gaps, No. 1,” coach Todd Bowles said. “We need to stay in our gaps and play off of each other, rather than play individual football.”
The Jets players said they just have to do a better job with their technique to clean up the problem. The Dolphins have not exactly been running through teams. They are 27th in the league, averaging 72.7 yards per game on the ground. Lamar Miller leads the team with 105 yards rushing. They have yet to score a rushing touchdown.
Searching for sacks
The Dolphins have a fierce defensive line on paper with Ndamukong Suh, Cameron Wake and Olivier Vernon, but so far that group has zero sacks. Miami has one sack as a team and it came from rookie Jordan Phillips.
“I think it’s a little misleading,” Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said of the stat total. “Even historically if you look at the guys they have up front and the way they’ve performed, they create some matchup problems for you. I’m not sitting here looking at that saying boy, I’m going to have all day to sit back there and throw. They’ve got a lot of talented guys up front that can rush the passer.”
Philbin’s last stand?
The reports out of Miami have not been good for coach Joe Philbin this week. There are reports of a team in turmoil with players questioning the play-calling on both sides of the ball, and this could be it for Philbin if the Dolphins lose. Miami has a bye week after this game, a good time for executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum, a former Jets GM, to make a change if he wants to.
Philbin’s teams always seem to come up small against the Jets in big spots. The past two seasons the Dolphins lost the final game of the year to the Jets when they were playing for a playoff spot and the Jets were playing for pride. It would be fitting if the Jets were the ones that finally got him fired.
The return of Ivory
The Jets offense was a bit stagnant against the Eagles, but a big reason why may have been the absence of running back Chris Ivory, who missed the game with a quad injury. He is expected back Sunday and could provide the jolt the offense needs.
“He’s probably heavier than the other two backs [Bilal Powell and Zac Stacy,” Bowles said. “He runs a little more violently, but the other two runners are just as good, just a mental thing. We just got to open holes for him and run. When he’s healthy he gives us a spark hopefully. We just got to open holes regardless of who is back there.”
Wide receiver Eric Decker also missed last week’s game with a knee injury. He is a game-time decision Sunday.
Costello’s call
The Dolphins are a mess. The Jets should handle them easily. It’s tough to figure out how playing in London will affect this game, but I think the Jets are simply the better team. The defense dominates and scores at least one touchdown.
Jets 20, Dolphins 0