How the Dolphins Can Sweep the Jets on the Road

The 3-9 Miami Dolphins have faced former head coach Adam Gase of the New York Jets once this season and came away with a victory.

The Dolphins have a chance to complete the sweep when the two teams face off for the second time on Sunday. Here’s how they can take care of the 4-8 Jets on the road.

Use the Fitzmagic

On Sunday, the Jets will be without:

• Safety Jamal Adams, who suffered an ankle sprain against the Bengals on Sunday
• Cornerback Brian Poole, who is in concussion protocol
• Cornerback Arthur Maulet, who has a calf injury

And Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick is playing with a newfound confidence.

The #Jets will get a fired-up Fitzy on Sunday. “Personally, I feel like I’m better now than I’ve ever been,” Ryan Fitzpatrick told Miami reporters, saying his confidence is at an “all-time high.” #Dolphins

— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) December 5, 2019

“If anything, I think he’s improved over the course of the season,” Dolphins head coach Brian Flores told USA Today.

Fitzpatrick had his best game of the season in Sunday’s win against the Philadelphia Eagles, throwing for 365 yards and three touchdowns. His performance against the Jets in Week 9 was nearly as impressive with 288 yards passing and three touchdowns.

Relying on wide receiver DeVante Parker and tight end Mike Gesicki, and taking advantage of New York’s depleted secondary, could mean another Sunday afternoon of Fitzmagic.

Keep Fitzpatrick Upright

In order to see the Fitzmagic, the quarterback needs to be standing. The 37-year-old has been sacked a total of 21 times over the past five games. Seven of those sacks occurred in the game against the Buffalo Bills in Week 11.

Following that game, Fitzpatrick chose not to fault his offensive line.

“Every sack has its own little story,” he told the Miami Herald. “Some are on me not getting the ball out. Others, they’ve got good players over there, so there’s a myriad of reasons why things were happening and breaking down today; but at the end of the day, as a quarterback, I take that upon myself.”

Despite Fitzpatrick nobly placing the blame on himself, the Dolphins offensive line is shaky, at best. Left tackle Julien Davenport, who replaced J’Marcus Webb a few weeks ago, has allowed 21 pressures, five sacks and seven hits so far.

Omar Kelly, NFL beat writer and columnist for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, had much to say on the matter.

While this was a critical third down completion, DO NOT ignore the pressure Julien Davenport allowed. This is the type of bad O-line play that gets a QB put on IR. Julien Davenport is allowing waaaaaay too much pressure on the left side. It is a problem! Must be fixed! pic.twitter.com/gWlxD8QtGH

— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) December 2, 2019

A critical goal line sack where Julien Davenport can’t hold his block. This type of O-line play is destructive to an offense. 5 bad plays from an O-lineman a game can ruin 5 drives. It adds up. Miami overcame this by running the fake FG, but that sack could have produced a loss pic.twitter.com/sNXytPnXnt

— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) December 2, 2019

But like Fitzpatrick, offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo doesn’t hold one person responsible for his line’s woes.

“Davenport wasn’t the only problem the other day,” he said. “We’re equally to blame, myself included. We’ve got to find a way to get guys in the right position.”