MexDolfan
Seasoned Veteran
On Defense:
Secondary:
Each teams have great talent on defense but NY Jets are better forcing turnovers. Miami Dolphins are suffering with such situation and I assume it's going to upgrade int stats this season, but Green Gang has a big edge here.
Linebackers:
When Miami cut Crowder, Dolphins lost some Defense IQ but won on potential with AJ Edds, Marvin Mitchell and Kevin Burnett. If Mike Nolan can get the best of these guys there's a little advantage at ILB compared to Jets. At OLB it's pretty close but again, Dolphins have great talent and could be considered a step forward here. The greatest weakness of the Dolphins since Sparano arrived was covering man to man big TEs. This year such situation might change.
D-line:
Both fronts look strong and hard for any run-offense, but the main factor is depth. Miami has a great defensive line that could survive some injuries during the season. I can't say for sure the same on Jets.
On Offense:
Running backs:
With no more Ronnie & Ricky on backfield, Miami lose a lot of running power. The addition of Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas change the style of running attack, but as Bush is too raw and Thomas is too young, none of them have the strength to drill on solid defenses at red zone. Jets are solid on their running corpses, have a big lead over Dolphins on RB.
Wide receivers:
Both teams have big name receivers, Brandon Marshall is the biggest star of Miami's roster while Plaxico Burress & Santonio Holmes lead NY. Mental issues concern on Marshall, while coming from jail Burress won't be full recovered, but that could be more than enough for Sanchez. Dolphins own a great repertory of receivers with Davone Bess, Brain Hartline & speeder Clyde Gates. There's no obvious lead so I declare a tie on receivers.
Tight ends:
Antony Fasano doesn't bring what Dustin Keller represents for Jets. No question, advantage Jets.
O-line:
Big part of the payroll of both teams is invested on big protectors of the passer. But Miami have struggled adjusting and making severe experiments. Jets have a solid unit so they have a lead here.
Quarterback:
Individually it's fair to say that Chad Henne has the arm to throw longer passes but Mark Sanchez has matured better. The key factor is trust.
Rex Ryan have trusted on Sanchez since day one and have pushed the kid to lead his team no matter what, including 4th quarter returns, playoff, MNF, etc.
Tony Sparano was an unexperienced Head Coach and never gave such confidence to young passer Henne, always asking him to focus on avoiding ints. This has impacted wrong on Chad who under a new offensive coordinator and with a bigger leadership role, looks as a revamped version of himself on his contract year.
My two cents go for Henne.
Special teams
This is the hardest part to predict of any pre-season squad, but both teams look promising here with a tie in both units.
OVERALL
Both teams have ferocious 4-3 defenses, young QB out of competition, great receivers and a run-first approach of offense. So the biggest difference is red zone efficiency.
Secondary:
Each teams have great talent on defense but NY Jets are better forcing turnovers. Miami Dolphins are suffering with such situation and I assume it's going to upgrade int stats this season, but Green Gang has a big edge here.
Linebackers:
When Miami cut Crowder, Dolphins lost some Defense IQ but won on potential with AJ Edds, Marvin Mitchell and Kevin Burnett. If Mike Nolan can get the best of these guys there's a little advantage at ILB compared to Jets. At OLB it's pretty close but again, Dolphins have great talent and could be considered a step forward here. The greatest weakness of the Dolphins since Sparano arrived was covering man to man big TEs. This year such situation might change.
D-line:
Both fronts look strong and hard for any run-offense, but the main factor is depth. Miami has a great defensive line that could survive some injuries during the season. I can't say for sure the same on Jets.
On Offense:
Running backs:
With no more Ronnie & Ricky on backfield, Miami lose a lot of running power. The addition of Reggie Bush and Daniel Thomas change the style of running attack, but as Bush is too raw and Thomas is too young, none of them have the strength to drill on solid defenses at red zone. Jets are solid on their running corpses, have a big lead over Dolphins on RB.
Wide receivers:
Both teams have big name receivers, Brandon Marshall is the biggest star of Miami's roster while Plaxico Burress & Santonio Holmes lead NY. Mental issues concern on Marshall, while coming from jail Burress won't be full recovered, but that could be more than enough for Sanchez. Dolphins own a great repertory of receivers with Davone Bess, Brain Hartline & speeder Clyde Gates. There's no obvious lead so I declare a tie on receivers.
Tight ends:
Antony Fasano doesn't bring what Dustin Keller represents for Jets. No question, advantage Jets.
O-line:
Big part of the payroll of both teams is invested on big protectors of the passer. But Miami have struggled adjusting and making severe experiments. Jets have a solid unit so they have a lead here.
Quarterback:
Individually it's fair to say that Chad Henne has the arm to throw longer passes but Mark Sanchez has matured better. The key factor is trust.
Rex Ryan have trusted on Sanchez since day one and have pushed the kid to lead his team no matter what, including 4th quarter returns, playoff, MNF, etc.
Tony Sparano was an unexperienced Head Coach and never gave such confidence to young passer Henne, always asking him to focus on avoiding ints. This has impacted wrong on Chad who under a new offensive coordinator and with a bigger leadership role, looks as a revamped version of himself on his contract year.
My two cents go for Henne.
Special teams
This is the hardest part to predict of any pre-season squad, but both teams look promising here with a tie in both units.
OVERALL
Both teams have ferocious 4-3 defenses, young QB out of competition, great receivers and a run-first approach of offense. So the biggest difference is red zone efficiency.
