Jets Country

Jets' Rush Defense Hits Rock Bottom Against Dolphins

Once again, the Jets were embarrassed on the ground. This time, it came against one of the worst rushing attacks in all of football.

Max Goodman

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Just when you thought the Jets' rush defense couldn't look any worse this season, New York plummeted to a new low on Sunday in Miami.

Over the first 13 games of the year, the Dolphins averaged just 79.2 rushing yards per game. Only the Houston Texans averaged fewer yards per game on the ground in 2021 (77.5).

Instead of using Miami's woeful ground game to turn their season around, however, New York's defense proceeded to allow 183 rushing yards in a 31-24 loss at Hard Rock Stadium.

That isn't just Miami's best game of the year when it comes to production from their running backs. Sunday's performance shattered Miami's season-high mark by 50 yards.

You can use a slew of words to describe that kind of meltdown. Some would call it embarrassing. Others that have followed the Jets all year would say it was typical or unsurprising. 

After the game, head coach Robert Saleh chose "disappointing."

"Credit to them first. They did run hard. But, it’s not good enough," Saleh told reporters. "We've got to do a better job from a schematic standpoint, got to do a better job tackling."

To make matter worse, Miami was dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak in their running back room leading up to kickoff. While Myles Gaskin and Salvon Ahmed were both activated from the Reserve/COVID-19 list, Ahmed didn't play on Sunday and Gaskin only had 10 carries. 

It was veteran running back Duke Johnson that ran rampant all over the Jets on Sunday, accumulating 107 rushing yards on 22 carries with two scores. 

Johnson might've only had 18 rushing yards on four carries this season prior to kickoff on Sunday, but the 28-year-old looked like a premier back against New York, making defenders miss, battling ahead for extra yards and breaking free for chunk gains.

Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa got in on the action as well. He may have thrown two interceptions in the contest, but he ran the ball seven times (for 19 yards). Nine of them came on this highlight-reel play.

It makes sense that Saleh's patience is wearing thin with his defense's ability to stop the run. The Jets have only held their opponent to less than 100 yards on the ground in two of their 14 games this year.

In these last three games alone, New York has given up 185 rushing yards to the Eagles, 203 to the Saints and now another 183 on Sunday. 

Frankly, for a defensive unit that was poised to excel up front this season—even with some injuries that have ended the seasons of some key contributors prematurely—those numbers are inexcusable. 

Linebacker C.J. Mosley agreed after the game.

"As the game continued, they started to move the ball and started to execute better than we did," he said. "At the end of the day, that's what it came down to. ... Right now, the run game is what's getting us. We just got to keep trying to figure it out. Just because it keeps happening doesn't mean we can't stop it and can't get better at it."

Next week, the Jets will face the Jacksonville Jaguars and their top rusher James Robinson, who ran for 75 yards with a touchdown on Sunday against Houston.

It might seem like a favorable matchup for New York, but don't let yourself set the wrong expectations. The Jets proved once again this week that any opponent is capable of treating them like a treadmill between the lines.

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Jets for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. He also covers the New York Yankees, publisher  of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Yankees site, Inside The Pinstripes. Before starting out with SI, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. While at school, Goodman gathered valuable experience as an anchor and reporter on NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. Goodman previously interned at MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman and connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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