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A trip to South Florida in December sounds like a nice trip for anyone … except the Jets.
Gang Green travel to Hard Rock Stadium this week to face a red-hot Dolphins team. The Jets have not defeated the Dolphins in Florida since 2014 — Rex Ryan’s final game as head coach. It was so long ago that the stadium had a different name. Since then, it has been one horrible loss in South Florida after another. The Jets technically beat Miami on the road in 2015, but that game was at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Now, the 3-10 Jets return to Hard Rock as a dead team walking to face a 6-7 Dolphins team that has won five games in a row to reignite its playoff hopes.
For the Jets, though, these trips to Florida do not elicit visions of palm trees, South Beach or sunny days. It brings back memories of bad penalties, terrible interceptions and brutal losses. As the Jets try to snap their South Florida skid, here is a look back at the past five games the Jets have played in Miami Gardens:
Nov. 6, 2016: Dolphins 27, Jets 23
The Jets made mistakes all day, but the last one was the killer. With just over five minutes left in the game, the Jets took a 23-20 lead on a touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Jalin Marshall.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Miami’s Jakeem Grant was stopped at the 19-yard line, but Jets safety Antonio Allen was flagged for going offside on the kickoff. The penalty forced the Jets to kick again and Kenyan Drake returned this one 96 yards for a touchdown and the win. The Jets also had 10 penalties in the game and two Fitzpatrick interceptions.
Oct. 22, 2017: Dolphins 31, Jets 28
The Jets choked away a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter in this unbelievable loss. They led 28-14 to start the fourth, but Dolphins backup quarterback Matt Moore led two touchdown drives to tie the game. Then, Jets quarterback Josh McCown threw an interception with 39 seconds left that set up a 39-yard game winning field goal by Dolphins kicker Cody Parkey. The Jets had minus-4 yards in the fourth quarter and committed seven penalties in the period in a complete meltdown.
Nov. 4, 2018: Dolphins 13, Jets 6
This was a game that set back offensive football by a few decades. The lone touchdown scored in the game came when Dolphins linebacker Jerome Baker returned one of Sam Darnold’s four interceptions to the end zone. It was the worst game of Darnold’s rookie season (31.8 rating), but it was not just him. The offense could do nothing. Center Spencer Long struggled to even get the snaps to Darnold.
Nov. 3, 2019: Dolphins 26, Jets 18
The Dolphins were 0-7 entering this game but got their first win over the Jets and first-year coach Adam Gase, who left the field to “Fire Gase” chants. The Dolphins had the 31st-ranked offense and 30th-ranked defense in the NFL but still beat the Jets. Fitzpatrick, now on the Dolphins, beat his old team with three touchdown passes. Darnold threw one of his worst interceptions, tossing one up at the goal line as he was being tackled for a brutal pick. The Jets had 10 penalties for 105 yards in the game, a theme of these games in Miami Gardens.
Oct. 18, 2020: Dolphins 24, Jets 0
The Jets fell to 0-6 with this loss when they did nothing right with backup quarterback Joe Flacco playing. The offense failed to convert its first 12 third downs, had six three-and-outs and 10 punts. The defense allowed three first-half touchdowns to an offense that was not that good. This loss was the exclamation point on a crazy week for the Jets that began with Le’Veon Bell complaining about his role then getting cut. Gase spoke about giving up play-calling duties and actually did a week later. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams blamed the offense for the defense’s struggles two days before the game.
Will this stretch of terrible play in south Florida end this week or will the Jets add another horrible chapter to this list?
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