Week One Recap: Jets vs Dolphins

I'm not very good at writing game recaps because I could literally talk for hours about any single game but instead I have to pare it down into a short piece of writing. There is lots to say about this first game of the year so I'll just get straight to the rambling.

Man was that tough. No matter what happens in a game, if you are just one touchdown away from winning, with time running down and the ball nearing the goal line, only to come up one play short, it is very frustrating and depressing. We saw similar situations last season an this just seems like the next in line of "how many different ways can you lose a close game?" I try to convince myself that at the end of the day, this seasons win-loss record is not as significant as the overall team play and improvement.

When you think about it, for the Dolphins to make as many mistakes as they did, and struggle (on offense especially) for three-plus quarters, and still be one play away from victory is encouraging. Just off the top of my head here is a list of mistakes.

• 9 yard punt: Pathetic, I could have come in and at least kicked it 10 yards
• Kickoff out of bounds: Unacceptable
• Penalties that negated first downs: There were at least two
• Timeouts needed in 3rd quarter: We could have used them on our final drive
• Defense on Favre's 22-yard hail mary: Ridiculous, I don't care if he was open, the ball was in the air long enough for a spectator to come down from the upper deck and call a fair catch.

On a broader scale here are my areas of concern

• Run defense: It wasn't as bad as last year, and as the game went on they got better, but at times the Jets ran the ball with ease.
• Running game: Weren't we supposed to be the grind it out tough team? Ronnie and Ricky combined for only 16 carries. They struggled but both of those guys usually get better as the game goes along. We need more commitment to the ground game
• Offensive execution: Everything just looked a half a second behind. Maybe the speed of the game jump from preseason to regular season was a difficult one, or maybe it was the high temperatures and humidity. Whatever it was, it needs to be adjusted to. Phil Simms said it best, when we were on offense it looked like a lot of work to move the ball. Nothing came easy.

Here are some positives

• Front seven: For once we saw a Miami defense that got better as the game went along. In the 4th quarter when Miami needed the ball back to have a chance, the defense did it's job. The Jets went three and out on it's final three possessions (minus the final kneel down). When you look at it, the secondary is more to blame for the scoring allowed. The front seven did look new and improved.
• Tight ends: Anthony Fasano looked every bit of Jason Whitten-lite. He had eight catches and a TD and just looked like the safety valve for Pennington and the offense. A tight end can be a quarterback's best friend and he sure was on this day. I also have to give credit to David Martin, who I'm usually critical of. He didn't have any drops and made a few big catches, including the difficult touchdown in the 4th quarter.
• Overall they just looked more like a capable professional football team than they did at the end of last year. Yes there is still a talent differential, yes they are still a year away, but this team has tough players that are capable of playing well and winning.
  

The true test of this new regime and coaching staff is what happens next week. I was going to write a post before the game about how important game one is. The last two years we lost in week one in games that we could have, and maybe should have won. This year has started in similar fashion. The key is to make the adjustments and move on. In 2006 and 2007, we had a hangover effect and we fell the next week. We must move on and fight another battle. Arizona plays well at home and it will be a tough challenge to go and beat them at their place. More on this game throughout the week.