The Miami Dolphins visit the New York Jets on Sunday, Oct. 25, in Week 7. Kickoff is noon Central (1 p.m. ET) at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on CBS, with Spero Dedes and Adam Archuleta calling it. The forecast is sunny with a high near 65.
It is Miami's first AFC East game of the season and the Jets' first division game at home. Both teams need it. The Dolphins are 0-5 coming off their bye and are trying to avoid the fifth 0-6 start in franchise history, and the first since 2019. The Jets are 2-4, third in the division, and are 0-7 against AFC East opponents under second-year coach Aaron Glenn.
How Miami got to 0-5
Jeff Hafley is in his first season as Miami's head coach. The Dolphins hired him in January from Green Bay, where he was the defensive coordinator, after firing Mike McDaniel. Hafley's roster is the youngest in the NFL, with an average age of 25.5 and 14 rookies.
The losses: 27-13 at Las Vegas, 35-13 at San Francisco, 24-10 to Kansas City, 15-10 at Minnesota and 31-24 to Cincinnati on Oct. 11. Three came against teams that were unbeaten at the time. In the Cincinnati game Miami cut an 18-point fourth-quarter deficit to seven, but missed an extra point with 48 seconds left and could not recover the onside kick.
Miami has scored 14 points a game, 31st in the league, and lost running back De'Von Achane for the season to a torn ACL. It has still run for at least 100 yards in four straight games. This week it cut kicker Riley Patterson and brought back Zane Gonzalez.
Hafley sounded glad to be done with the week off. "It was fun to get back at it," he said. "I mean, I missed it."
The Jets need a division win
The Jets opened with a 23-10 win at Tennessee, then lost 20-17 to Green Bay, 31-24 at Detroit and 23-12 at Chicago. They beat Cleveland 17-12 and lost 26-19 at New England last Sunday, after trailing 17-3 at halftime and failing on two fourth downs in the third quarter.
The Jets went 3-14 in Glenn's first season, and before this one Bleacher Report ranked him second among NFL coaches on the hot seat. Glenn kept it simple this week: "Division opponent coming to our house, and we're looking forward to playing them." Receiver Garrett Wilson was more direct: "These are the type of games you've got to have."
The quarterbacks
Both starters are new to their teams, though one is not new to the Jets. Geno Smith, 35, came back in a March trade with the Raiders, 13 years after the Jets drafted him. He has thrown for 1,336 yards with seven touchdowns and one interception, and his five touchdown passes of 20 yards or more are tied for the league lead.
Miami signed Malik Willis in March to a three-year, $67.5 million deal and released Tua Tagovailoa. Willis has thrown for 849 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions, and has not passed for more than 220 yards in a game. His legs have been the bigger weapon: 186 rushing yards and two touchdowns, including 74 yards against Cincinnati, a team record for a quarterback. He was listed with a thumb injury this week but practiced fully and has no game designation.
Who else to watch
Wilson leads the AFC with 35 catches, for 418 yards and three touchdowns. Braelon Allen leads the Jets with 314 rushing yards, rookie edge rusher David Bailey has five sacks, and the pass defense ranks fourth in the league. The Jets have not allowed points on an opponent's opening drive in five straight games. The trouble has been the ends of halves: under Glenn they have been outscored 119-49 in the final minutes of the second and fourth quarters.
For Miami, rookie linebacker Jacob Rodriguez leads the NFL with 57 tackles, and Ollie Gordon II has 236 rushing yards and three touchdowns. The pass rush is the weak spot: four sacks all season, with opponents completing 76.6 percent of their passes.
There are familiar faces on the Jets' side. Safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and kicker Jason Sanders both played for Miami, and Sanders is third on the Dolphins' all-time scoring list. Hafley and Glenn coached together on Cleveland's defensive staff in 2014 and 2015.
Injuries
The Jets ruled out linebacker Kiko Mauigoa, offensive lineman Max Mitchell and edge rusher Joseph Ossai. Running back Breece Hall (quad) is questionable after limited practices Thursday and Friday, as are running back Kene Nwangwu and left guard Dylan Parham. Miami ruled out cornerback Reese Taylor, listed edge rusher Rob Beal Jr. as doubtful and linebacker Willie Gay Jr. as questionable.
Sixty years of it
The rivalry dates to 1966, Miami's first season, when both teams played in the AFL. The Dolphins lead the series 63-57-1, according to the Associated Press.
It has produced some of the strangest games in either team's history. The only playoff meeting was the Mud Bowl, the AFC Championship Game after the 1982 season, played in the mud at the Orange Bowl; Miami won 14-0. In 1986 the Jets won 51-45 in overtime, still the highest-scoring game in the series. In 1994 Dan Marino faked a spike to stop the clock and threw the winning touchdown pass to Mark Ingram instead, a 28-24 Miami win. And on Oct. 23, 2000, the Jets trailed 30-7 in the fourth quarter on a Monday night and won 40-37 in overtime, the game known as the Monday Night Miracle.
Lately it has been all Miami: two straight wins and 10 of the last 12, including four of the last six at MetLife. Last season the Dolphins won 27-21 in Week 4, when the Jets committed 13 penalties and lost three fumbles, then won 34-10 at MetLife on Dec. 7 behind 239 rushing yards and six sacks. That loss eliminated the Jets from playoff contention. The teams meet again Nov. 29 in Miami.
The line
The Jets are 4.5-point favorites at DraftKings and FanDuel, with a total of 39.5 points.
Game day at MetLife
Parking lots open five hours before kickoff, at 8 a.m. ET, and parking must be bought in advance; there are no hangtags this season. Tailgating is allowed only in your own vehicle's space, a rule the stadium calls "one car, one spot," and large groups are pointed to the paved islands between lots. Grills stay in your space, hot coals go in the orange bins, and open fires are not allowed.
The team's Tailgate Zone outside the Verizon and MetLife gates opens at 10 a.m., with $5 Miller Lite for fans 21 and over. MetLife is cashless and follows the NFL's clear-bag rule. For the Jets' side of the lots, see our MetLife Lot J tailgate page.