FLORHAM PARK — It’s not always easy preparing for a divisional foe you just faced off against three weeks ago. That’s the reality the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins are in on Sunday in South Florida.
When the two teams meet at Hard Rock Stadium, it’s not just the battle on the field that will be heavily discussed, but the battle of the minds between either team’s strengths.
Miami’s calling card through the last couple of seasons has been a lethal offense filled with dynamic receivers and physical running backs. Led by offensive “genius” Mike McDaniel, the Fish believe they have a team more than capable of reaching the Super Bowl.
“He (McDaniel) really does an excellent job at figuring out your rules and then ‘how can I attack those rules, how can I compromise your rules, how can I put your guys in conflict the entire game?” Jets defensive coordinator said of the Dolphins play-caller.
Expectations might not be the same for the Jets this season following the injuries to their offensive line, and Hall-of-Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers, but Ulbrich’s defensive unit is still among the best in football. They’ve made top quarterbacks like Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, and Jalen Hurts all struggle in marquee matchups.
One of the few times they haven’t succeeded this season, though, was against these same Dolphins.
Just three weeks ago, New York dropped a tough 34-13 decision to the Fish on their home field. The Dolphins ran rampant on the Jets to the tune of 167 yards rushing and an elite 11-16 on third down.
“We handled what they were trying to do really well,” Jets captain C.J. Mosley stated. “If I could take back one thing that we need to do to improve this game, it’s playing better with their perimeter runs, and getting off the field on third down.”
Matchups like these for the Jets aren’t always the easiest for the defense. McDaniel has extensive experience against the type of defense Gang Green wants to run due to his time in San Francisco. McDaniel was the run game coordinator under Kyle Shanahan’s offensive system, while Ulbrich and Jets head coach Robert Saleh were on the defensive of the ball.
That prior experience together poses a threat because if there’s a group that understands how to beat a good defense, it’s the coaches who have worked against it in practice for years.
Ulbrich and McDaniel don’t just go back to their days by the Bay though. In fact, under Dan Quinn’s staff in Atlanta in 2015, the Jets’ defensive coordinator was the Falcons’ linebackers coach while McDaniel served as an offensive assistant.
Even going back to their days with the Falcons, Ulbrich understood that Miami’s head coach is not one to trifle with on the field.
“I knew he was one of the most insanely intelligent human beings that I’ve ever been around in my life,” Ulbrich said. “At the end of the day, players want information, they want to get better, they want to play well, they want to win because all those things lead to contracts and money and all the things that they’re trying to attain, so he’s that guy who provides all that for a player, so it’s no surprise in my mind that he is having such success.”
The Jets know that to stay alive in the AFC Playoff race, they’ll need to make sure their defense has an answer for this lethal Dolphins offense. As good as they’ve been all year, it’ll be up to Ulbrich’s guys to determine just how far this team goes the rest of the way.
And the battle off the field might be just as important as the battle on.
“You try to create some wrinkles, obviously some stuff maybe he’s not as familiar with, but at the same time, the pre-snap stuff is critical,” Ulbrich concluded. “Not giving away any information to the quarterback. If you do that, you give yourself a very good opportunity to win.”
