If you listen to talk radio in New York City, you’d think Peyton Manning was already on his way to Gang Green.

He’s not, but that doesn’t keep fans dissatisfied with Mark Sanchez from pleading their case.

A healthy Manning is better than Sanchez, no question. But if you go with Manning, you can’t fit both quarterbacks under the salary cap. You are giving up on Sanchez after three seasons for what could be Brett Favre redux.

The Jets have a bunch more pressing needs — a right tackle, a safety, a pass rusher and more.
And does Manning really want to compete for headlines with his brother? It seems unlikely.

Odds (out-of-10): 5

Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals play in a weak division, indoors and with few media intrusions.

Former teammate Marshall Faulk has already chimed in, saying Manning won’t want to play in the NFC, to keep the Manning vs. Manning Super Bowl a possibility. Considering how reluctant the family has been to embrace this previously, we don’t know where that’s coming from.

It’s going to be hard to turn down throwing the ball to Larry Fitzgerald. Manning has never had such a big red zone target to throw to before.

They also have a 1,000-yard rusher and a developing defense, as they were seventh in the NFL?in sacks last year.

Odds (out-of-10): 8

Miami Dolphins

All the stars in basketball and baseball are already taking their talents to South Beach. Why not Manning, too?

The Dolphins give Manning a chance to stay in the AFC, which he’s familiar with, and play in a warm weather city. It also recalls warm feelings of his only Super Bowl victory.

He would have Brandon Marshall as a target and Reggie Bush showed impressive ability down the stretch last season.

One negative is that he’ll have to go against Bill Belichick and Rex Ryan twice a year.

Odds (out-of-10): 7

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The Jets, a team coming off consecutive AFC Championship Games, were certainly prone to extreme highs and lows. Sunday’s 19-17 loss at the Dolphins to close out a disappointing 8-8 season certainly underscored the tale of two teams.

Needing a win to keep their slim playoff hopes alive, head coach Rex Ryan’s team played flat. It was bad enough that the Jets looked disinterested and disjointed, but what made matters worse was that they went down bickering and fighting.

It got so bad that in the fourth quarter wide receiver Santonio Holmes reportedly picked two fights in the offensive huddle and was benched. The Jets’ $45 million man was ranting, raving and pushing on the field, exhibiting the same signs of immaturity and selfishness that made him expendable in Pittsburgh.

A game breaker who during happier moments last year was nicknamed “Tone Time” for his penchant for late-game, clutch performances, Holmes has been a disappointment since being re-signed in August. He celebrated his long-term contract that day by downing a bottle of Cristal shirtless and posting the photo on Twitter.

Just a handful of days later, he was named a team captain by Ryan.

From this season, it is clear that Holmes isn’t the marquee performer the Jets envisioned when they handed him oodles of money and a five-year deal. Not only did he have the lowest number of receiving yards for his career, Holmes mentally checked out of games where he wasn’t getting fed the ball enough. Coming into Sunday’s game, just 18 of his 51 catches came in the second half.

And the temper tantrums, including reportedly going above offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer’s head in mid-October to demand more of the ball, doesn’t exactly exhibit the signs of leadership one would expect to see from a captain. He threw his quarterback under the bus on more than one occasion and pouted his way through the season. Oh captain, my captain.

Veteran running back LaDainian Tomlinson said that his teammates in the huddle felt Holmes had quit on them by the fourth quarter.

“Well, I’ll tell you what. It’s tough for guys to follow a captain that kind of behaves in that manner. You a captain, guys looking at you. You got to lead by example,” Tomlinson said. “You got to play your tail off until the last play. And when that doesn’t happen, you will have guys look at you in the way that captains shouldn’t be looked at. You should always put yourself out there as a leader.”

It is bad enough that a player who is fifth highest on the team’s salary cap isn’t helping win games, but now he’s contributing to their losses as well. The Jets took a gamble on Holmes, knowing he was a huge liability. They rode with him through a four-game suspension to start last season with the hopes that he would emerge a more mature, balanced player. That he would grow into a man. His bloated contract was proof-positive of their faith that he had turned a corner.

Instead, he turned his back on them.

He showed on Sunday he is still every bit the child who burned bridges in Pittsburgh. The clock has struck midnight on the future of “Tone Time” with the Jets.

Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.

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The Jets lost to the Dolphins, 19-17, to extinguish any hope of them making the playoffs for a third-straight year.

“Eight and eight [record] is not where we were trying to get to,” head coach Rex Ryan said. “We don’t want to be average. We know what we’re chasing. We have to come up with answers.”

As it turned out, a win wouldn’t have mattered. The Titans defeated the Texans thanks to a failed two-point conversion, using Jake Delhomme at quarterback and resting starting back Arian Foster, which would have eliminated New York regardless.

The Dolphins opened the scoring with a 44-yard field goal by Dan Carpenter with 9:31 left in the first quarter. But the Jets came back with a quick eight-play, 88-yard drive that ended with a one-yard touchdown pass to Dustin Keller.

After that, their offense stalled until it was almost too late.

The Jets trailed 16-10 thanks to a Charles Clay touchdown reception at the start of the fourth quarter and two more Carpenter field goals, both at least 40 yards.

Mark Sanchez had a chance to give the Jets a lead, trailing 16-10, but instead was picked off by linebacker Marvin Mitchell in the red zone. It was his third interception of the game and set up a field goal to give Miami a 19-10 lead. It was Carpenter’s fourth of the game (44, 58, 40,44).

With 2:21 left, Sanchez drove the Jets for 80 yards and a Patrick Turner touchdown catch. The following onside kick was a dud, however, bouncing straight into the hands of Brandon Marshall to effectively end the game. And the Jets season.

Jets notes

» Santonio Holmes had zero catches on the afternoon and spent the final drive of the game on the bench. He unbuckled his pads and didn’t even stand on the sidelines to watch. The Jets did not mention any injury during the game to Holmes.

Reportedly the receiver and team captain got into an argument in the huddle over something he said and was benched.

The decision was apparently made by offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, whose own job is in question. Ryan said after the game he had no idea why Holmes was replaced by Turner.

“I looked out there and wondered why he wasn’t out there myself,” Ryan said. “I didn’t bench Santonio. You’ll have to ask him.”

Holmes only said it was the coaches’ decision. But teammate LaDainian Tomlinson, who might’ve played his last game, was very candid about the situation.

“There were guys in the huddle not happy with Santonio’s demeanor throughout the game and in the two minute drill,” Tomlinson said. “And they said something to him about it.

“I’ll tell you what, it’s tough for guys to follow a captain that kind of behaves in that manner.”

ESPN reported that tackle Wayne Hunter took offense to something Holmes said and they got into a shouting match.

In the post-game press conference Holmes refused to answer whether he wanted to be with the Jets next season, walking away from the podium saying only “Thank you guys.”

» The Jets out-gained Miami 374 yards to 210 yards. The difference turned out to be on third down, though. The Dolphins were 8-of-15 on third-down conversions while the Jets were 4-of-11.

» Sanchez threw a late interception in the first half that appeared fairly unimportant with nine seconds left. Instead, the Dolphins lined up a 58-yard field goal and banged in through the uprights with plenty of room to spare as the clock expired. It was the second longest field goal ever converted against the Jets (59 yards — P. Stoyanovich, 1989; M. Prater, 2010).

» Ryan again reiterated after the game that he plans to win the Super Bowl next season: “I will always chase the Super Bowl. I believe we’ll win the Super Bowl.”

Follow Metro New York sports editor Mark Osborne on Twitter @MetroNYSports.

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Judging by their tight 20-17 win, it appeared the Giants (5-2) were almost bored in facing a Dolphins (0-7) team starving for its first win. It wasn’t until the 5:58 mark of the fourth quarter that the Giants took their first lead of the game when Eli Manning found Victor Cruz for a 25-yard touchdown reception on 3rd-and-13. The young wideout broke a tackle and raced to the end zone, capping a six-play, 53-yard drive with his patented end zone salsa dance.   

But up until that point, it was the Dolphins who were dancing around Big Blue. They sucked the life out of both the Giants and the home crowd with multiple methodical drives. Miami struck first when little-used running back Steve Slaton scampered in from the one-yard line for the quick 7-0 lead on the Dolphins’ second possession. Miami then set another watershed mark in their miserable season by scoring touchdowns on consecutive drives for the first time all season to take a shocking 14-3 lead midway through the second quarter. That score culminated a 12-play, 90-yard drive that gave the Giants’ faithful that all-too-familiar feeling of their team playing down to the competition.     

New York snapped out of its funk by immediately responding on their ensuing drive when Manning hit Manningham on a seven-yard fade with eight seconds remaining in the first half to cut the deficit to 14-10. They showed their resiliency by marching 84 yards on 13 plays to close out the half.   

Manning was near-flawless for the second-straight week as he went 31-of-45 for 349 yards and two touchdowns in rallying the Giants from an 11-point first-half deficit. It was the second game in a row in which the hot-and-cold Manning didn’t commit a turnover.   

He said the key to his performance was to treat the Dolphins’ defense with the same amount of respect as an elite team.      

“When we prepare I don’t look at the opposing team’s record. I look at their scheme, what they do and what other teams have done against them,” Manning offered, adding he doesn’t mind when the gameplan falls on his shoulders. “[The Dolphins] did a lot of good things defensively that gave us some problems. We didn’t run the ball real well and had to throw it a little bit more than we wanted to but we’re capable of doing that.”   

Head coach Tom Coughlin said he’d rather have offensive balance, but will take the win. He added he’ll look at the game as glass half-filled because a win is a win in this parity-driven league.    

“I’m happy for the win. Our objective was to come out of here 5-2 and we are,” Coughlin said, noting the play of Manning as the catalyst. “Eli made some big plays, obviously, as we threw the ball a lot today. He gave us big plays when we had to have them and we had no turnovers for the second consecutive game.”    

The Giants allowed the Dolphins to stay around longer than they were supposed to, as they fizzled multiple times inside the red zone. Instead of punching it into the end zone, New York had to rely upon a steady diet of Lawrence Tynes field goals to keep themselves within striking distance.     

The running game disappointed again, as neither Ahmad Bradshaw nor Brandon Jacobs could get it going. Bradshaw finished with 50 yards on 13 carries, while Jacobs looked every bit as rusty as a guy who hadn’t carried the football since Week 4. Jacobs, who has been nursing a bum knee, tallied only 10 yards on four carries and fumbled once although he quickly recovered it.     

Coughlin said everyone is to blame for the lousy rushing attack, but added they won’t quit calling running plays.    

“We didn’t rush the ball well and it’s not one guy’s fault,” Coughlin said. “If you get a rhythm going, a lot of good things happen and we didn’t have a lot of rhythm with it today. [But] we are going to need it.”   

Tynes and punter Steve Weatherford were often the Giants’ best offensive weapons. Weatherford had four punts that averaged 46.8 yards, including a long of 55 yards. It was his final punt that pinned the Dolphins inside their 15 for their final drive — an ill-fated journey that ended with a Corey Webster interception of Moore to seal the win. It was Webster’s third pick in his last two games.     

Despite the half-hearted defensive showing for most of the game, the Giants finally turned up the pressure on the final two Dolphins drives to show their superiority.   

Coughlin said while the defense didn’t set the world on fire, he was pleased they stepped up when they did. He added that the final two defensive series is what the defense needs to look more like going forward.   

“We cranked it up because we had to at that time of the game. We needed to be put in position to put some heat on the quarterback at the end and we finally did that,” said Coughlin. “You play long enough and you start to figure out the guy in front of you. We created some very long yardage situations that way.”     

New York finished with five sacks, including the first career sack from second-year defensive tackle Linval Joseph. Mathias Kiwanuka, who has rotated between starting strongside linebacker and situational pass-rushing defensive end, had 1.5 sacks to lead the way. As a unit, five different Giants defenders bagged Moore.   

What went right …

1. Cruzin’ to victory

Eli Manning found Cruz for a 25-yard touchdown reception on 3rd-and-13, with 5:58 remaining, to give the Giants their first lead. Manning found Cruz on a slant as the young wideout broke a tackle and raced to the end zone, capping a six-play, 53-yard drive, and avoiding the embarrassment of becoming the Dolphins’ first victim of the season.

2. Still the Mann

Manning continued his efficient play as he went 31-of-45 for 349 yards and two touchdowns, while surpassing the 300-yard plateau for the third time in his last four games. The sometimes inconsistent Manning also didn’t commit a turnover for the second-straight game.  

3. Marshall, Marshall, Marshall

The Dolphins came into the game winless, but they didn’t lack offensive weapons, including wideout Brandon Marshall. But it was the maligned Giants secondary that held its own in corralling the Pro Bowler. Marshall was held to four catches and 55 yards, while the remaining Dolphin receivers were also held in check, totaling 83 yards on just nine catches.     

What went wrong …
 
1. Same old story

Despite having what many note as the best front four in the league, Big Blue had its troubles stopping the run. Dolphins quarterback Matt Moore came into the game with 25 career rushing yards, yet had 31 in this game alone, including a rushing touchdown. Bush, a former first-round pick, also showed his wares by rushing for a game-high 103 yards. It was just the second time that Bush surpassed the 100-yard mark in his six-year career. Add in the fact that Big Blue allowed little-used Steve Slaton to reach the end zone and it showed why the Giants weren’t their usual menacing self against the run.   

2. Maybe he should’ve stayed out

The Giants not only had trouble stopping the run, but they also couldn’t generate a running game either. Neither Ahmad Bradshaw nor Brandon Jacobs, who was reinserted into the lineup after missing time with a bum knee, could muster anything on the ground. Bradshaw finished with 50 yards on 13 carries, but 18 of those came on one run, while Jacobs was even more anemic with four carries for 10 yards.       

3. Less is Moore

Moore was once again a thorn in the side of the Giants’ defense for most of the game. He went 13-of-22 for 138 yards and a late pick, to go along with his 31 rushing yards. As a member of the Panthers in 2009, Moore was the main catalyst in closing out the Giants’ season at the old Giants Stadium with a stellar performance. He wasn’t that spectacular on Sunday, but he was extremely effective. Moore was slippery against the pass rush, escaping sure Giants sacks at least three times, and led multiple long drives, including a 90-yarder in the second quarter.

Follow Giants beat writer Tony Williams on Twitter @TBone8.

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Should Matt Moore (ribs) get the start at quarterback, Giants fans should still have harsh memories of the young signal caller closing out the old Giants Stadium in 2009 with a virtuoso performance. Moore, then on Carolina, diced the secondary the entire afternoon, as he completed 15-of-20 passes for 171 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in a 41-9 win – the worst home loss since 1998. Moore had a career-high 139.8 rating, as the performance essentially eliminated the Giants from the playoffs. Many of the Giants defenders from that day are still on the roster, so they’re very much aware of what Moore can do.

2. Bush Breakout

Dolphins running back Reggie Bush has been a colossal failure of a free agent signing, but Giants head coach Tom Coughlin feels that this may be his breakout game. When asked about the versatile Bush, Coughlin said he’s worried about matchups with Bush against his linebackers in open space.

“They like taking Bush and flanking him out and doing all of those kinds of things in space … they’ve done that before and I’m sure that’s what they had in mind when they brought him there.”

Coughlin noted how aggressive the Miami passing game has been – particularly with Bush in the slot – since Moore was inserted.    

3. Doubting Thomas

The Giants have the deepest defensive front four in the league, but have been ravaged by injuries. Although they’re finally getting guys back healthy the Giants have been gashed by opposing running backs. They get a break with Dolphins running back Daniel Thomas out, but the newly-healthy line has to step up.

The Giants are allowing 127.7 rushing yards per game and 4.5 per carry.  

Follow Giants beat writer Tony Williams on Twitter @TBone8.

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Coughlin said the Dolphins (0-6) aren’t that far away from actually sporting a winning record.   
 
“In my opinion, they have been in every game,” Coughlin said before rattling off all the close loses Miami has suffered, including a Monday Night game against the Patriots. “They’ve been in it during the fourth quarter of nearly every game. When you look at their team, they have a veteran defensive football team. They have lost their [starting] quarterback [Chad Henne], so now it is Matt Moore. He has had a couple games under his belt … ‘Respect all and fear none’ is the approach we take.”    

The Giants (4-2) are in the position to capitalize on their current streak, winning four of their last five, before the schedule takes a brutal turn for the worse. Following Sunday’s tilt, Big Blue will play nine teams with serious playoff aspirations, so it’s imperative to jump on the Dolphins early and not let a bad team hang around.   

It’s also important to not look ahead and think of Miami as a necessary nuisance on the schedule, according to quarterback Eli Manning.    

“They have talent and they do good things and a lot of teams have had trouble with them,” said Manning, also calling the Dolphins dangerous. “Teams aren’t going in there and scoring a whole lot of points against them. You have to be sound. You can’t give them easy plays and you can’t give them turnovers or good field position … we have to take care of our business on all three phases of the game and make sure we’re doing good things.”    

To a man, the Giants recognize that Miami can be pesky if they’re allowed to stick around, particularly quarterback Matt Moore, whom cornerback Corey Webster deemed “a gamer.” It was Moore who once torched the Giants’ secondary as a member of the Panthers in the final game at the old Giants Stadium in 2009. Moore completed 15-of-20 for 171 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions and a 139.8 rating in a 41-9 win — their worst home loss since 1998. The performance essentially eliminated the Giants from the playoffs.   

Many of the Giants defenders from that day are still on the roster, so they’re very much aware of what Moore can do. Webster said he won’t be taking Moore lightly again.  

“We played against him when he was with Carolina and we know that he is going to get the ball to the playmakers and let them make plays with their run-after-catch abilities,” Webster said. “They have a good core group of athletic guys that can break a play at any time so we have to be disciplined and stay close in our coverage. We have to be very disciplined in our assignments and stay close when we are down the field.”   

Moore is battling bruised ribs, but should still start. If not, and the Dolphins start their third-string quarterback, Webster said that still won’t be a time to exhale. He added Coughlin made sure to drill that message home every day.    

“It doesn’t matter who the quarterback is, we have to go out there and impose our will on them,” Webster said. “Our job as a defense is to stop them on offense. We are going to do what we were taught to do and trained to do, which is pressure the quarterback, get hits on him, try to get some sacks and turn over the ball. That is all we can control.”    

What Big Blue can certainly control is their own mindset. Webster assured that the Giants won’t be looking ahead to next week’s opponent, at New England.    

“It doesn’t matter who we are playing or what their record is, our next best challenge is the next team on your schedule, no matter what their record is,” Webster said. “Anything can happen. Everybody is professional, everybody is good and anybody can win. They haven’t put it together yet, but that doesn’t say that they are not going to be prepared and come out here and work hard to put their best foot forward. We have to do exactly the same and match their intensity and even be greater at that. We will get the ‘W’ if we do those things and take care of our business.”  

Big Blue notes

» Running back Brandon Jacobs is back in the fold, but following a “Men’s Fitness” online magazine interview that ran Thursday, this might be one of the last few times Jacobs gets to don the blue. When asked about his future in New York and whether he sees himself with the Giants beyond his contract, Jacobs said “No, I don’t.” Jacobs may prove prophetic because he restructured his contract this past summer so the Giants could re-sign good friend Ahmad Bradshaw, taking a base-salary pay cut in 2011. His new backloaded contract stipulates he’s due a $500,000 roster bonus in March 2012, at which point the Giants will certainly waive him before ponying up the cash.   

» Dolphins linebacker Cameron Wake has been a focal point of the Giants’ offensive line preparation this week. Wake, a Pro Bowler last season after tallying 14 sacks, is as good a pass rusher there is. He already has five this season. Wake has publicly downplayed this game, but rest assured he remembers being cut by the Giants in 2005 as an undrafted rookie free agent, which facilitated his long journey back to the NFL in 2009 following a stint in the Canadian Football League.   

Wake won’t be the only Dolphin pass rusher who will try to jam up the Giants’ passing game, as the Dolphins have been an aggressive unit all season. They have 14 sacks as a defense, with six coming last week. Miami has been known to not only send linebackers but defensive backs as well. 10 Dolphins have at least one sack. Coughlin said he’s most worried about guys like “[Linebacker Jason] Taylor, who historically has been physical. [Linebacker Karlos] Dansby is physical at the mike backer [middle linebacker]. And their safety [Yeremiah] Bell coming out of the secondary, he is a very physical player … you know they’re coming. That’s just the nature of the game.”  

» Webster said he has his own worries when the Dolphins have the ball: “I just know that we want to be close to the playmakers that they have — the Reggie Bushes and Brandon Marshalls of the world. We want to be close to all of their playmakers so that hopefully they don’t get big plays down the field. We need to eliminate those to help us get the W on Sunday.”  

» The Giants once again had near-full participation from its entire 53-man roster, Thursday.  

Follow Giants beat writer Tony Williams on Twitter @TBone8.

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Things were looking good for the Jets to start the season. A comeback victory in Week 1 over the Cowboys was followed by a dominating win against Jacksonville. But just as Jets fans began to believe that this could be the year to end four-plus decades of misery, the slide began. Three straight losses on the road all of a sudden turned promise into a season on the brink. The ledge was suddenly filled with Jets fans ready to jump.

But against a team they had to beat, the Jets stepped up and got the win.

“We needed a win in the worst way,” head coach Rex Ryan said. “Just happy we found a way to get one.”

The Jets answered the bell in sending the Dolphins to a 0-5 mark, amidst all the talk about their stale offense and fans disgust at offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.

It wasn’t a perfect performance. The offense started slowly – failing to get a first down until well into the second quarter. There was also a bad special teams play by Garrett McIntyre in the first quarter. He unwittingly made contact with the ball on a kickoff, a gaffe that led to a turnover. And the defense gave up 215 yards of total offense in the first half to backup quarterback Matt Moore. But the Jets turned jeers to cheers with a win on Monday night.

Quarterback Mark Sanchez said it was “crazy” to think that this locker room was splintering with all the losing. Instead, he said the team “was hungry for a win.”

“I think we realized what we’re capable of. We did it through practice; we had a great week of practice,” running back Shonn Greene said. “When stuff like that happens, it’s great to see.”

It could have been easy for the Jets to let their losing skid get the best of them. Earlier this week, they traded disgruntled wide receiver Derrick Mason in a move that management and Ryan said was based on the player’s on-field performance and not his recent outburst about the offense’s poor performance. Two days later, Santonio Holmes called out the offensive line for poor play. Guard Brandon Moore fired back at Holmes in the media.

It looked like the Jets were unraveling.

There was drama, finger pointing and enough ill will to qualify the entire Jets locker room for Congress. But somehow, they overcame all that for an emphatic win. Right tackle Wayne Hunter told Metro that the message from Ryan all week was one of unity.

“Morale was down after the three game losing streak. Us getting us a win, this picks us back up,” Hunter said. “Just pick it up, that was the message, just pick it up; pick each other up. Trust – that was from Rex, trust in each other and trust in yourselves.”

As Holmes and Moore walked side-by-side to take the coin toss – a vintage move by Ryan – there was a quiet sense of confidence about this team. Even after the Jets went down early to the Dolphins, and the boos began to rain down after their first four possessions resulted in three-and-outs, the Jets didn’t waver. There was no temper tantrum, no hissy fits and no name calling.

Instead, they answered with plays. First with a Darrelle Revis first quarter interception and a 100-yard touchdown return to atone for McIntyre’s special teams blunder. Then, it was Sanchez systematically marching the team down the field 81 yards in 11 plays for a second quarter touchdown drive.

There is a certain strain of character that pops through these Jets, even though it seems like the locker room is ready to fracture at any moment. A despondent group of Jets last Sunday in Foxboro, Mass. gave way to giddiness on the sidelines Monday night, with Holmes kidding around with his teammates and shout-outs replacing players being called out. A win can change a lot of things for any team, and it might be just what the Jets need to finally begin reaching their potential.

Critics inside and outside the team may have grabbed the headlines for the past week, but the Jets weren’t too worried about all of that. They worried about themselves.

“I think we answered our own, doing it for ourselves. We’re not too worried about what the critics had to say,” Greene said. “We know what we’re capable of.”

Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.

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1. Revis Island

The Dolphins were ready to score, but on third and long, quarterback Matt Moore locked in on Brandon Marshall as the wide receiver was tussling with Darrelle Revis in the end zone. The Jets cornerback read the play perfectly, making a break on the pass for his second interception of the season. He cut back across the grain for a 100-yard touchdown return. It was a game-changing moment for the Jets after a first quarter where they managed just 10 yards of total offense. It turns out that the best offense, is a great defense. Revis had another interception in the fourth quarter to ice the game.

2. Running Like a Maniac

On the drive after Revis’s touchdown return, Moore caught Antonio Cromartie with his leverage going the wrong way and hit Marshall near the sideline. With nowhere to go but the end zone, and with Cromartie well behind, Marshall inexplicably stumbled out of bounds mid-stride. The Jets held the Dolphins to a field goal on the drive, minimizing the damage of what could have been a sure-fire seven points for the visitors.

3. Sanchez Grounds & Pounds

It was the only piece of good news from the Jets offense in the opening 30 minutes, but on their final drive of the first half, quarterback Mark Sanchez marched the Jets 81 yards on 11 plays. The final play was a five-yard touchdown run by Sanchez on a designed quarterback keeper. Sanchez is now tied for the team lead with running back Shonn Greene with two rushing touchdowns, but Sanchez has just three red-zone carries this year. Greene has four times as many. The success on that drive helped key the offense to a much more productive second half.
 
What went wrong …

1. For Starters

Like they did last week, and the week before that, the Jets’ opening drive was a three-and-out. A poorly-timed pass play to running back Shonn Greene, who has just 28 receptions in his three year career, was followed with a short gain by Greene. On third and long, Sanchez stayed on his first read, underthrowing Santonio Holmes deep down field. It was not the strong start the Jets needed to establish the game’s momentum. Instead, they needed the defense to turn the tide in their direction.

2. Third Down Struggles

After emphasizing all week that they needed to improve on third downs, they were shockingly poor to start the game. The Jets started 0-for-4 on third downs and it wasn’t until their fifth possession that the Jets got a fresh set of downs. All told, the Jets were 6-for-15 on third down — an improvement, but nowhere near where they should be. The inability of the Jets to sustain drives was a key reason why Miami had 18:16 minutes time of possession in the first half.

3. The Running Game

In part, the Jets’ ground woes had everything to do with Miami stacking the box and forcing the passing game to beat them. But by anyone’s standards, Monday night was rough. In the first half, the Jets had just 28 yards rushing with Greene managing just 14 yards on seven carries. Things improved after halftime, but the Jets still finished with just 104 rushing yards and Greene led all rushers with 74 yards. If they are going to have success against teams with a winning record, the Jets are going to need to get the ground game going. They haven’t had a 100-yard rusher so far this season.

Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.

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Under criticism all year, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer must be faulted for the inability of the team to establish the run and effectively move the ball down the field.

The offense is middling and boasts just a 33 percent success rate on third down — ninth worst in the league. Schottenheimer can’t be faulted for what happened last game, however, when the Jets had several bad drops that could have extended drives.

The inability of the Jets to sustain drives and convert third downs is a big reason why they’re No. 26 in time of possession.

2. Discord in the wide receiver ranks

The trade that sent veteran wide receiver Derrick Mason to Houston last week is an interesting move, perhaps designed to shake things up in the locker room.

Mason complained about the offense two weeks ago and had failed to be the impact player the Jets had hoped for when he signed a free agent deal in August.

How will the Jets respond if they go down early or if there is a setback in the game? Will they splinter or find their backbone?

3. Brandon Marshall a marked man

Dolphins Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Marshall pulled no punches this week, saying he was going to play like “a maniac” on Monday night.

Marshall went so far as to say he was going to get thrown out by the second quarter and might punch Jets players Antonio Cromartie or Bart Scott.

The Jets could send Marshall a message with aggressive play to bait him into a dumb move. Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano said Marshall was trying to rally his team. 

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It can all benefit the Jets tonight in their divisional matchup at MetLife Stadium against the Dolphins by taking their mind off their losing streak.

It has been a crazy two weeks for the Jets, who are faced with the tall task of not only righting their 2-3 ship after a loss to archrival New England, while dealing with a locker room ready to splinter.

“Well, it’s funny, because [we’ve] been criticized two years in a row; we have gone to the AFC Championship Game. I understand we have not won it, but there are a lot of teams that will sign up for that,” head coach Rex Ryan said. “So we must be doing something right.”

The attention now turns to Miami, a 0-4 team that Ryan called a “caged animal,” because their talented personnel does not match up to their winless record.

Yet the Jets have to do more than overcome Miami on Monday night, they need to get past themselves. As if it wasn’t bad enough last week, on Wednesday, wide receiver Santonio Holmes piled it on when he called out the offensive line for what he saw as poor play. Holmes had been vocal about the play of quarterback Mark Sanchez in the past, but he’s now cutting his way through the rest of the team.

“Santonio is a very competitive player. He’s a great guy, a good teammate and a lot of times that competitiveness, that drive to do well and do great — it happens,” Mangold said. “It’s just one of those things [where] you move on and don’t worry about it too much.”

But if the Jets are trying to move on, the fans and the media are doing their part to hold them back.

An “Occupy Florham Park” movement was spawned on the internet earlier this month in response to the anemic offense and a play on the “Occupy Wall Street” protests currently bogging down the Financial District. As if the team’s fan base turning on them wasn’t bad enough, the New York Daily News ran on its back cover a picture of Ryan and general manager Mike Tannenbaum, entitled “Dumb & Dumber.” All this after the Jets made consecutive AFC Championship Game appearances for the first time in franchise history last year.

“Well, hey, not everything’s going to be perfect or the way you want it or something like that. But you know, dumb, maybe. But ‘Dumb and Dumber?’ Because that way you can make it either Tannenbaum or myself depending on who you ask. But man, they took a shot at both of us,” Ryan said. “But, hey, you can write or print or do whatever you want. I wish it was ‘Smart and Smarter.’ That would have been a nicer one. But hey, I’ve been here for three years now, I know how it goes.”

But as over the top as the reactions inside and outside the locker room might be, the Jets still face a must-win on Monday night. A loss would drop them to not only 2-4 on the season, but 0-2 in the division. Ryan asked the team to lay the foundation of hard work during practice leading up to Monday night. It might just be that all the distractions are the key to helping the Jets escape the slide they’re currently in.

“It’s been a good week, we put our heads down and went to work. I think one thing we all understand is when you’re in this business, anything can happen — trades, injuries,” running back LaDainian Tomlinson said. “That’s just what we have to do. So we put our heads down this week, and we’re trying to get one win.”

Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.

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Taylor was signed by the Jets last spring, a hired gun who was supposed to be bring a pass rush and some veteran leadership. Instead, Taylor posted the second-lowest tackle and sack total of his career while winning few friends. Most troubling for the Jets, the former “Dancing with the Stars” contestant played softer than a ballerina. Taylor returned to Miami this August, where he spent 13 of his previous 15 years.

“A real professional about the way he went about his business, about the way he interacted with other players on the team. He was respectful with the trainers and equipment staff. He was the ultimate pro. We loved having him, and it’s going to be fun to face him,” quarterback Mark Sanchez said. “We’ll be excited to see him before the game and then during the game we have to get after him, we have to block him. Then after the game just say, ‘Good luck and stay healthy,’ but hopefully we win this one.”

The reality of the situation was that Taylor was a bit of a loner who never seemed invested in the team and backed up his detached demeanor with subpar play on the field – play that that was demeaning considering his base salary of $1.75 million last year. Always known as a bit of a “Jets killer,” Taylor infamously was carried over to the sidelines of an open practice at MetLife Stadium last summer by nose tackle Kris Jenkins to force him to interact with the fans.

Now, after the second year of his contract was not picked up by the Jets, Taylor makes his first return trip to New York. Once again, he’s in that Dolphins jersey Jets fans hate so much.

“I’m sure I’ll be booed. I’m sure I’ll be booed. I was booed for a lot of years in that stadium or in that town,” Taylor said. “I tried to do my best to make them cheer last year but being back on the other side of the coin now I’m sure I’ll get my fair share of boos which is to be expected. They’re Jet fans and they should be and they’re very passionate about their team and that’s the way, the way it’s supposed to be.”

The Jets didn’t want him back after posting 36 tackles and five sacks last year. It was in part due to his less than stellar play, but also due to his standoffish attitude with his teammates. Clearly, Taylor was a hired gun who, despite his negatives, the Jets insist they would have welcomed back to the team.

“I’ll say this. We would’ve loved to have had Jason back,” head coach Rex Ryan said.

Maybe it’s a good thing that Taylor isn’t back in New York and rather glissaded his way to Miami. The linebacker has just three tackles and one sack through four games. At this rate, it would be a career low in tackles for the future Hall of Famer.

Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.

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