It’s been a nightmare start for the Jets and Dolphins, each of whom is winless heading into Monday night’s AFC East clash. However, the Dolphins played the Bills tough last Thursday and the Jets may have gained some confidence from their spirited comeback against the Bucs last Sunday.
Here are some of the biggest stories to watch as the Jets look to win a road game against the Dolphins for the first time since 2014…
Can either team force a turnover?
In addition to being winless, neither of these teams has forced a turnover in their first three games.
With both teams also having turned the ball over at least once in each game, this suggests the first team that can force one on Sunday will gain a huge advantage.
The Jets have arguably been the more unlucky of the two teams not to have forced one — four different Jets players have forced a fumble but all four were recovered by the opposing team.
Miami, on the other hand, hasn’t forced any fumbles this season.
Will New York take advantage of another injury-plagued offensive line?
The Jets had a major advantage in the trenches against the Bucs, as Tampa Bay had three starters missing and one player making his first NFL start. This led to the Bucs getting called for seven holding penalties, though the Jets' defensive-front perhaps didn’t make as many impact plays as they would have hoped.
Miami is in a similar situation, with seven offensive linemen currently on injured reserve.
Center Aaron Brewer has been a full-time starter for the past three seasons, but the other four starters lack experience. They have a rookie, two players who entered the season with three career starts between them and veteran Larry Borom, who has never started more than nine games in a season.
It must be frustrating for Jermaine Johnson, who would love an opportunity to face a decimated group like this, but he missed the Bucs game already and looks to be a doubt for Monday night, as Aaron Glenn has described him as “week-to-week”.
What will be the Jets' plan at linebacker?
The Jets placed Quincy Williams and Marcelino McCrary-Ball on injured reserve earlier this week, leaving them extremely thin at the linebacker position.
Rookie Kiko Mauigoa has had some playing time this year but mostly in run-stopping situations, so it might be a step too far to expect him to play an every-down role. Recent additions Cam Jones, Mark Robinson, Mykal Walker and Ben Niemann will all be in consideration, but none of them were with the Jets during the preseason.
The Giants are dealing with a similar issue, and their approach was to operate with a lot of personnel packages that had only one linebacker on the field. If the Jets use a similar approach, the pressure will be on last year’s MVP Jamien Sherwood to have a big game.
Can the Jets get Breece Hall and the running game going?
After a 100-yard game in the opener, Breece Hall has just 50 yards on 19 carries the past two weeks.
He hasn’t done much in the passing game either, with just 40 yards on six catches over those two games. A big part of this was that the Jets were trailing most of the time in those games, and therefore had to essentially abandon the run.
Facing the Dolphins could be a chance to get back on track. They’ve given up over 120 rushing yards in all three games so far and currently have the fifth-worst run defense in the NFL.
Will New York’s tackling be more reliable than last week?
Glenn was adamant that the Jets needed to improve their tackling after the Bucs game, as he noted that they had 19 missed tackles. According to analysis site Pro Football Focus, Harrison Phillips and Brandon Stephens were the only two defensive starters who didn’t miss at least one, so it was a unit-wide problem.
After the Bills game, Glenn was also concerned about the team over-pursuing, so these are both areas where the Jets need to tighten up their consistency.
It becomes especially important when facing playmakers like Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle and De’Von Achane, all of whom could turn a modest gain into a huge play if they break tackles in space.
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