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Jets drop 2nd straight; Refs aren’t to blame this time

Jets drop 2nd straight; Refs aren't to blame this time
Jets drop 2nd straight; Refs aren't to blame this time

The New York Jets suffered another ugly loss on Sunday afternoon, this time to their division rivals, the Miami Dolphins, with a final score of 31-28. This time however, the refs weren’t to blame for a Jets loss.

It’s easy enough to mention that the Jets flat out lost this game. They played their best football for the majority of the first half before losing poise and collapsing late in the game, ultimately putting themselves in a deeper hole in the division standings.

Game Recap: New York Jets vs Miami Dolphins Week 7

The Jets offense came out of the gates rolling as they stormed down the field on their first drive of the game for a touchdown, the second week in a row in which they’ve accomplished such a feat. The defense took a bit to match the offense’s momentum as they allowed Jay Cutler to take the Dolphins down the field for a score on their opening drive as well.

But when the defense caught up, it looked as if the Jets were going to run away with the game and sweep the season series of the ‘fins. They were eventually able to get to Jay Cutler, and kept doing so before he was required to leave the game due to an injury from a monster Jordan Jenkins hit. On the day, the Jets racked up three sacks and 12 quarterback hits, looking as if they were taking Miami’s offense permanently out of the equation.

The Jets were then able to go up two scores late in the third after Josh McCown found Austin Seferian-Jenkins for a 10 yard score, his third touchdown in three games.

But heartbreak lurked.

Matt Moore, who had come in for the injured Jay Cutler, was able to deliver a set of scores to wideout Kenny Stills as the Jets defense continued to rack up penalties. They weren’t able to help their cause as the offense suddenly became stagnant, leaving the Dolphins with enough time to forge their comeback and eventually kick the game winning field goal.

So where did things go wrong?

The Dolphins were able to tilt momentum in their direction even after the fall of their starting quarterback, or at least they’d like to think. In reality, the Jets handed it right over to the Dolphins, and Miami was able to make the most of it.

The Jets collapsed simply because of inconsistency on both sides of the ball. That is what has killed them in most of their losses in 2017.

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They come out of the gates hot, and the defense tends to follow in those footsteps. Now, in each of the last two games, that has been the case. The Jets have been able to roll in consistent stride on both sides of the ball early in games, allowing them to grab a big lead (held a 14 point lead against both New England and Miami). But the second half has been quite a different story.

This is where the Jets have been slipping up, and it’s mostly due to penalties. The Jets continued their streak of error by racking up 12 total penalties on the day, including seven in the fourth quarter when they blew their lead.

Ultimately, the Jets set themselves up for defeat by continuing to play messy football, something that has haunted them all season long.

The Jets currently have the most penalty yards against them with 546 on the season. They also have the second most penalties in the league with 57 (NFL.com)

Penalties came on both sides of the ball for the Jets on Sunday, causing inconsistent momentum on both offense and defense. Once the Dolphins were able to grab hold of the Jets collar, they got Josh McCown to choke and cough up the ball, securing them with the W.

McCown continues to slip up for the Jets in late-game clutch situations as he now has seven interceptions, and has been unsuccessful so far in completing a game-winning drive in a Jets uniform.

– Kyle Hirshkind is the Managing Editor for cover32/Jets and covers the New York Jets. He is also a weekly contributor to cover32/Fantasy. Like and follow on


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