The Miami Dolphins now at 7-3 come into the unfriendly confines of Met Life Stadium in New Jersey, on the very first NFL game to be played on Black Friday, otherwise known as the day after Thanksgiving Day. Defensively, the Dolphins are about the healthiest they have been all season, especially with the triumphant return of CB Jalen Ramsey who missed the first 9 games. The defense is intact, but unfortunately that is not the case on offense. The unit that carried the team for most of the season, the high flying 33 + points per game unit is suddenly awash with injuries. RG Robert Hunt who hadn’t missed a game since he was drafted in 2020 missed the last 2 games against the Chiefs and Raiders and will most likely miss this contest against the Jets. Rookie sensation RB De’Von Achane returned last week only to get hit on the same troubled knee and he is QUESTIONABLE to play as well. RB Raheem Mostert will play, but he is banged up with ankle and knee issues, although that shouldn’t derail him from getting the majority of the touches on Friday.

RG Robert Hunt hadn’t missed a game in his career until the overseas game in Germany against the Chiefs. He missed last week’s game against the Raiders after our BYE week and it appears as if he will be sitting this Friday’s game out as well. WE have struggled this season against strong defenses and the Jets have one of the better units in the NFL, especially the D-line. We’ll be sending out LT Terron Armstead, LG Liam Eichenberg, C Connor Williams, RG Lester Cotton and RT Austin Jackson. They will be facing a talented group led by DT Quinnen Williams. In addition, the Jets have Quinton Jefferson, John Franklin-Myers, Bryce Huff and Solomon Thomas, who in total have 17 sacks. They also have a solid LB crew led by former Ravens LB C.J. Mosley. Mosley leads the Jets in tackles with 101 (55 solo). In the secondary, the Jets feature one of the best young DB’s in the game, CB Sauce Gardner. If we’re going to score points on the Jets, we’re going to have to earn them.

The Jets defense is allowing 20.4 points per game to opposing offenses, good for #11 in the NFL. The Dolphins defense is more liberal allowing points, although with Ramsey back in the fold, and a healthy Jaelan Phillips, and I’d be foolish not to mention the resurgence of LB Bradley Chubb as well, the defense has been more stingy as of late. The last 3 games we’ve allowed only 17 points per game, but I think we’re trending to do even better. The Jets offense has been scoring an even 15 points per game. The Jets have scrapped the Zach Wilson offense and have handed the keys to journeyman QB Tim Boyle, Aaron Rodgers understudy in Green Bay. He’s also played for the Chicago Bears, and the Detroit Lions as he made his way through the NFC North. In all, Boyle has completed 60.8% of his passes for 607 yards, 3 TD’s and 9 INT’s. Not a sparkling resume by any means.

What the Jets offense does bring to the table that can give the Dolphins trouble are 2 young stars, WR Garrett Wilson, and more so RB Breece Hall. Both early draft picks in 2022, The Jets definitely hit on 2 stars with Wilson (RD1 pick #10) and Breece Hall (RD2 pick #36). Breece Hall however, is the one that concerns me more than Wilson in this matchup. I feel like with a healthy Xavien Howard, a healthy Jalen Ramsey, and Kader Kohou or Nik Needham in the slot, along with safeties DeShon Elliott and Jevon Holland, we can contain Wilson. RB Breece Hall started out last season on fire before getting injured in game #7. He is no doubt fully recovered and right back to being a punishing, shifty, elusive back. Hall has 544 yards rushing for a nice 4.6 yards per carry. Consider the fact he’s doing this with no complementary passing game and it’s more impressive. Dalvin Cook who the Jets traded for early on never really became a part of the offense. RB Israel Abanikanda who a lot of you guys liked around has been all but forgotten so far.

What it really comes down to, as always is what version of each team shows up. The Jets have had some excellent efforts this season, upsetting the Buffalo Bills 22-16 in the season opener, and then taking down the then undefeated Philadelphia Eagles 20-14. In both cases, it the defense that made it happen, and I feel like that’s the way they will need to win at Met Life tomorrow. Which Dolphins offense shows up tomorrow, the offense in the first 6 games that scored an unbelievable 37 points per game, or the offense that has scored a very humble 20.5 points per game over the last 4 games? That’s quite a disparity and a huge concern. We have struggled against strong defensive teams and the Jets are exactly that. Mike McDaniel is going to have to come up with a way to get more players involved and more importantly, successful against the Jets. Sauce Gardner will probably be on Tyreek Hill as much as possible, so Jaylen Waddle, Cedrick Wilson Jr., River Cracraft and if possible, even Braxton Berrios need to step up and make plays. RB Jeff Wilson Jr., who was a healthy scratch last week will be active tomorrow and be 2nd string to Raheem Mostert as De’Von Achane will probably rest after being injured Sunday and not play in the short week. Unfortunately, RB Salvon Ahmed was lost for the rest of the season with a foot injury.

Division games are always difficult, and the Jets will be fired up playing at home on the first Black Friday NFL game. The Jets window to remain in contention could close with a loss to put them at 4-7 on the season. On the other hand, a big division win against the first place Dolphins could energize the team and the fanbase. A Jets win would have every team in the division at 2-2 and bring them one game closer, especially considering how the Buffalo Bills are struggling. My first thought is that will be a very low scoring game, I’ll be pretty surprised if both teams combined score 30 points. I feel like the Jets are going to throw everything they can at us, including fakes, on side kicks, trick plays etc. This is damn near a must win for the Jets. If we want to be close to a top seed in our conference, it’s a must win for us to keep up with the Ravens who at 8-3 are the #1 seed, then the Chiefs and Jaguars. I took a look at the injury report, EVERY Dolphins player injured logged in a LIMITED practice with the exception of WR Braxton Berrios. Some are precautionary and conservative due to the short week like Raheem Mostert, Alec Ingold, Tyreek Hill, Terron Armstead, Austin Jackson, and Lester Cotton. TE Durham Smythe will surely be QUESTIONABLE, and one of the less likely QUESTIONABLE players to play. We could certainly use his blocking, but TE’s Julian Hill and Tyler Kroft got the job done last week. Let’s all hope our offense returns to early season form and the defense continues it’s trend of being stingy to opposing offenses scoring.

GO DOLPHINS!!!