When the hated men in green come down to South Florida on Monday Night there is much more than a rivalry win on the line.  This game is for the Dolphin’s season.  A 2-3 record with two straight wins over division opponents is far different than a 1-4 record.  To make matters even more serious, the Dolphins host New Orleans after a bye week and then go up to New York to play the Jets again a week later.  Escaping those two games at 1-1 would make me happy.  Can you see my logic here?  A loss puts the team in a hole that would be seemingly insurmountable.  Enough conjecture.

If the Dolphins are to win this game (notice I didn’t say “pull off the upset”) they are going to have to win in a couple of key areas.  First, the Dolphins secondary has been decent, but susceptible to the big play.  Luckily the Jets and Sanchez are at the bottom of the league in pass offense.  Even still, with Cotchery and the addition of Braylon Edwards we need the young secondary (Davis and Smith) to step up big like they did last week.  Second, the Dolphins must eliminate Kris Jenkins and his 360 lb. frame from the middle.  He not only fills the interior running lanes, but creates

mismatches/double teams, which allow the Jets to blitz and overload the box on a huge percentage of their plays.  Third, and directly related to my second point, the offensive line MUST protect Henne and give him time to throw.  If he is sacked 6 times like last week the Dolphins have no shot.  Finally, the Dolphins need a big play or two out of the wildcat or on special teams to take pressure off of an offense that isn’t meant to come from behind or put up monster numbers.

Coach Sparano will have this team prepared like he does every week, but it’s up to the players to realize that this isn’t just a game versus a most hated opponent.  This game is make or break.  It’s only week 5, but this may as well be a playoff game.  We saw how the Dolphins performed against the Colts on Monday Night and I’m hoping for a similar performance this week.

Prediction: Fins 24 – Jets 21