Its funny how one team can go 7-9 and finish in 3rd place in the AFC East and the other team can play in the AFC Championship game and the fans of the 7-9 team will all say their team is better.
You were better when you played us. But like junc said teams change throughout the course of the season and you played us in the first half.
You can not deny though that while you did overcome some challenges you had a lot handed to you. The Colts laid down in Week 16 and HANDED you that victory while Miami had to play a Colts team at full strength in Week 2. The Bengals, while player starters, really did not give you their best in Week 17. They had nothing to play for and basically spent the game just watching the clock waiting for the season to end.
If the Colts played their starters and the Bengals had something to play for, it is very possible the Jets finish the season also at 7-9. Just like if the Texans and Steelers didn't have anything to play for final two weeks, Miami could have been the team that went 9-7 and went to the playoffs.
The Jets did overcome a lot of injuries during the season, but don't act like the Dolphins didn't have any significant injuries either. Ferguson, Will Allen, Cobbs, Brown, Pennington just to name a few. Plus our starting center Grove missed a bunch of games.
It doesn't matter how Miami beat the Jets whether it was by 60 points or by 1 point, the fact is Miami beat the Jets. End of story. Who cares if the Dolphins had to score three non-offensive touchdowns to beat the Jets in the second game? They may have had to do that, but they DID IT. Defense and Special Teams are just as important as the offensive side of the ball. You don't get any less points by scoring a touchdown on defense or with special teams, it all counts the same.
Miami didn't capitalize on some things that the Jets seemed to this past season and Miami surely wasn't handed any games during the season like the Jets were. That is the difference between the two teams and the main reason why the Jets made the postseason and the Dolphins did not. The Jets played very well in the playoffs, and I can not take anything away from them there, they had great momentum and they carried it through the first two games. Of course once they faced a full strength Colts team, unlike what they faced Week 16, they got shredded. If Miami was able to beat the Texans and Steelers the final two weeks it is possible that momentum could have carried the Dolphins also. We will really never know though.
Head to head though, Miami is the better team. Take away all the games the Jets were handed and their overall records, and Miami fields the better team, no question about it. Again, doesn't matter that they scored three non-offensive touchdowns to win that game, the fact is they did. Winning three straight against the Jets is strong proof who the better team head to head really is.