New York Jets vs Miami Dolhpins week 1

The first game of the New York Jets’ regular season resulted in a 20-14 victory over the rival Miami Dolphins.

The Jets scored first on a 56-yard touchdown pass from Brett Favre to Jerricho Cotchery on a play action fake. Kicker Mike Nugent missed a 32 yard field goal wide right. Nugent later left the game temporarily with a thigh injury.

In the second quarter, former Jet Chad Pennington led the Dolphins to a 78 yard drive, tying the game with a touchdown pass to tight end Anthony Fasano. The Jets responded with a long drive, but on a 4th and 13 from the Dolphin 22, the Jets did not go with the field goal unit and decided to go for it. Favre broke out of a few tackles and than lobbed the ball to Chansi Stuckey for a sensational 22 yard touchdown. With Nugent hurt, the Jets decided to go for the 2-point conversion. The Jets did not convert and the score was 13-7 going into the half.

In the 3rd quarter, a Brett Favre fumble was a miscue that could have resulted in points for the Jets. The Dolphins failed to capitalize on the blunder and punted it away. On the ensuing drive, the Jets scored a touchdown on a 6-yard run by Thomas Jones. Compared to last season, Jones’ first touchdown came 12 weeks earlier as last season his only rushing touchdown came in week 13, against the Miami Dolphins.

In the 4th quarter, Chad Pennington led the Dolphins to another touchdown drive on an 11 yard pass from Pennington to David Martin. The Jets were close to sealing the game but a penalty on Damien Woody forced the Jets to punt the ball away with 1:56 left. Chad Pennington was 5/7 with 48 yards on the final drive, but a 3rd and 10 from the Jet 18 was intercepted on a breathtaking play by Darrelle Revis as he was held on the play. The Jets downed it to finally wrap up the game.

Brett Favre’s Jet debut was successful with a victory. He went 15/22 with 194 yards passing and 2 touchdowns. Former Jet QB Chad Pennington outmatched Favre as he was 26/43 with 251 passing yards and 2 touchdowns, but the 1 interception. The Jets’ run defense was solid, holding Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown to 47 yards. There were 2 big plays by Miami that would have led to more yards rushing, but they were both called back on tripping and holding penalties. Chansi Stuckey missed his rookie season in 2007 with a foot injury, but his NFL debut resulted with 2 big receptions including a touchdown. Newly acquired linebacker Calvin Pace had 5 tackles and a sack. Teammate Bryan Thomas had 2 sacks and Shaun Ellis also had a sack. Rookie cornerback Dwight Lowery from San Jose State University was superb. He had 3 tackles and also deflected 3 passes, all of which had a great importance.

One thing to worry about for the Jets is the health of kicker Mike Nugent. If his injury is severe than punter Ben Graham would have to be the kicker as well as the punter. Nugent has not been great as his field goal percentage last season was 80.6%, which ranked 22nd in the entire NFL last season.

Laveranues Coles only had 1 catch of 5 yards, and that was the first play from scrimmage for the Jets in the 1st quarter. Tight ends Chris Baker and Bubba Franks combined for 4 receptions for 53 yards. Rookie tight end Dustin Keller from Purdue had a few receptions but were all called back due to penalties.

The Jets will face the 1-0 New England Patriots next week at the Meadowlands. The Patriots won 17-10 against the Chiefs despite losing Tom Brady in the 1st quarter. The Pats held off a late comeback drive by the Chiefs. The Patriots were 2-0 against the Jets last season, winning by scores of 38-14 in week 1 and 20-10 in week 15.