Setting the Stage for the Dolphins-Jets Week 15 Matchup
The Miami Dolphins will look to extend their winning streak to six games when they return from their bye to face the New York Jets at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Here's all the pertinent info for this Week 15 Dolphins-Jets matchup:
MIAMI DOLPHINS (6-7) vs. NEW YORK JETS (3-10)
DATE: Sunday, Dec. 19
TIME: 1 p.m. ET
SITE: Hard Rock Stadium; Miami Gardens, Fla.
WEATHER FORECAST: The temperature between 1 and 4 p.m. ET in Miami Gardens will be between 79 and 80 degrees, according to AccuWeather.com, with intermittent clouds with a 46 percent chance of precipitation in the 1 and 3 p.m. hours and mostly cloudy with thunderstorms with a 54 percent chance of precipitation in the 2 p.m. hour. The wind is expected to be 8 mph with gusts up to 20 mph.
TV: CBS
Announcers: Greg Gumbel (play-by-play), Adam Archuleta (color analyst), A.J. Ross (sidelines)
STREAMING: fuboTV
SI Sportsbook betting line: Dolphins by 9.5 (over/under 41)
Dolphins — S Clayton Fejedelem (ankle), G/T Austin Jackson (illness) and TE Adam Shaheen (knee) are questionable.
Jets — T George Fant (knee) is doubtful; G Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (ankle), OL Dan Feeney (back) and DL Sheldon Rankins (knee) are questionable.
Regular season series history: The series is tied 55-55-1
Last five meetings:
Nov. 21, 2021 at New York; Dolphins 24, Jets 17
Nov. 29, 2020 at New York; Dolphins 20, Jets 3
Oct. 18, 2020 at Miami; Dolphins 24, Jets 0
Dec. 8, 2019 at New York; Jets 22, Dolphins 21
Nov. 3, 2019 at Miami; Dolphins 26, Jets 18
Dolphins' largest margin of victory: 43 (1975 at New York; Dolphins 43 Jets 0)
Jets' largest margin of victory: 27 (2004 at New York, Jets 41, Dolphins 14; 2007 at Miami, Jets 40, Dolphins 13)
Highest-scoring matchup: 96 points (1986 at New York; Jets 51, Dolphins 45, OT)
Lowest-scoring matchup: 16 points (2010 at New York; Dolphins 10, Jets 6)
Former Jets players with the Dolphins:
T Jesse Davis (in Jets training camp, 2016), DB coach Gerald Alexander (3 games as player in 2011)
Former Jets coaches with the Dolphins:
None
Former Dolphins players with the Jets:
DL Shaq Lawson
Former Dolphins coaches with the Jets:
Offensive line coach/run game coordinator John Benton, special teams coordinator Brant Boyer, senior defensive assistant/cornerbacks coach Tony Oden
Other connections
Dolphins rookie safety Jevon Holland played with Jets first-round pick Alijah Vera-Tucker at Bishop O'Dowd High School in Oakland, California. ... Vera-Tucker then played with Austin Jackson at the University of Southern California. ... Dolphins defensive tackle Raekwon Davis and Jets defensive tackle Quinnen Williams were teammates on the University of Alabama defensive line.
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The Jets maybe are on the right track with new head coach Robert Saleh and quarterback Zach Wilson, but they're going through some nasty growing pains right now. Although they do have nice wins against the Titans and Bengals, the Jets haven't been very competitive most of the season, as evidenced by their seven losses by 14 points or more. Wilson has shown flashes of the athletic ability that made him the second overall pick in the 2021 draft, but he's also been very erratic and that showed up again last week in a 30-9 loss against the New Orleans Saints when he threw four interceptions. The Jets haven't been very good defensively, either, though linemen Quinnen Williams and John Franklin-Myers (6 sacks each) form a good tandem up front.
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THE BIGGEST REASON THE DOLPHINS WILL WIN ...
This might be exactly what we said back in Week 11, but it still applies: The Dolphins will win this game because it's the Jets. During their five-game winning streak, the Dolphins have allowed more than 10 points once and that was to those same Jets back on Nov. 21. But the Jets had veteran Joe Flacco at quarterback that day and he was much better equipped to handle the onslaught of blitzing the Dolphins are sure to throw at Zach Wilson. And the fact that the Jets likely will be without starting left tackle George Fant isn't going to help Wilson. And the Jets defense isn't nearly good enough to shut down the Dolphins offense and win a low-scoring battle. After all, there's a reason Miami is favored by 9.5 points.
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THE BIGGEST REASON THE DOLPHINS WILL LOSE ...
The obvious answer here is looking at what the Jets did against Tennessee and Cincinnati, two quality teams with winning records. And, for those wondering, it indeed was Wilson at quarterback for those two games. So the Jets have shown the ability to pull off a big upset. Also, this being a division game, nothing should be taken for granted.
FINAL DOLPHINS-JETS PREDICTION
Not to brag or anything, but the projected final score for the Dolphins-Giants game the last time out was 20-9 for Miami, and it was a direct hit. The odds of being that lucky (I mean, astute) again are very slim, but let's give it a shot. As stated before, it's just impossible to envision the Jets having much success offensively the way the Dolphins defense is playing these days. So it's not going to take a lot of points realistically for Miami to win. The running back status was a bit cloudy as of early Saturday afternoon, but it shouldn't matter how it shakes out in the end. As for the likely absence of Jaylen Waddle, sure, that could affect Tua Tagovailoa, but it says here he's going to be able to spread the ball around to his other receivers, again complete a high percentage of his passes and again avoid the mistakes that could get in the way of the defense winning the game. Like the Giants game, this probably is going to be no work of art, but in the end the Dolphins will make it six in a row. Dolphins 23, Jets 6.
