EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Four years removed from the worst season in franchise history, the Miami Dolphins are trying to ignore the whispers that another 1-15 record is in the making.
The Dolphins fell to 0-5 Monday night, victimized by Darrelle Revis' 100-yard interception return and two long, timely drives by the Jets' offense. New York ended its three-game slide with a 24-6 victory that kept Miami at the bottom of the league.
"This is embarrassing," said receiver Brandon Marshall, who was the target on Revis' first of two picks. "We have way too many players in our locker room to be sitting at 0-5. We owe it to the city of Miami, to ownership ... to turn it (around)."
They couldn't do so against their AFC East rival, whom the Dolphins had beaten three straight times in New Jersey. The few times Miami threatened, it bogged down deep in Jets territory, winding up with field goals of 23 and 21 yards by Dan Carpenter.
Coach Tony Sparano, whose seat gets hotter by the week, said the Dolphins emphasized not allowing game-changing plays during practices in their bye week. Then they got on the Meadowlands field and not only couldn't find the end zone, but yielded those exact plays.
Again.
"All week long, for two weeks, all we were talking about was developing a next-play mentality," Sparano said. "Big plays have hurt us, they've just been different (kinds of) big plays.
"A good player brings it back, he does what a good player does," Sparano added of Revis' first-quarter TD, the longest interception runback in the NFL this season. "We've got to learn to get out of our own way and that's important."
Safety Yeremiah Bell, who was with the Dolphins for that 1-15 debacle, doesn't want to hear any comparisons.
"We know it's all on us," he said. "'07 was 1-15 and this is a way better team than the '07 team. We have a lot more players.
"It's very frustrating when you're 0-5 and not making plays. We can't think about 0-5, just have to put it away."
Marshall didn't live up to his promise to get ejected sometime in the second quarter. He also said he might start a fight with Jets linebacker Bart Scott or cornerback Antonio Cromartie.
Nothing came close to that.
Mark Sanchez threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Santonio Holmes and ran for another score as the Jets -- who called this a "must-win" game -- capped a tough week with a win.
With the losses mounting and the season already on the brink of spinning out of control for the Jets (3-3), they traded wide receiver Derrick Mason to Houston and then had to deal with some infighting as Holmes called out the offensive line for not giving Sanchez enough time to throw deep. Right guard Brandon Moore fired back, saying those comments could have a "fragmenting effect" and were not what a captain, which Holmes is, should do.
Ryan, who insisted his team's Super Bowl hopes would not be undone by locker room disharmony, even sent Holmes and Moore out as the captains for the pregame coin toss.
Sanchez, who has also taken lots of criticism, finished 14 of 25 for 201 yards and the touchdown pass to Holmes, and Shonn Greene ran for 74 yards on 21 carries.
Moore, starting for the injured Chad Henne who's out for the season after shoulder surgery, was 16 of 34 for 204 yards and two interceptions. Marshall had six catches for 109 yards, but was kept out of the end zone. Reggie Bush, who left in the third quarter with his right arm hanging at his side -- it was announced as a neck injury -- had 71 yards rushing and two catches for 7 yards.
The night appeared to be taking an awful turn for the Jets when they lost the ensuing kickoff after the field goal when it bounced off blocker Garrett McIntyre -- standing in front of returner Joe McKnight -- and was recovered by Austin Spitler.
But Moore threw at Marshall in the end zone, Revis stepped in front of the pass and returned it untouched 100 yards to make it 7-3. The return tied for the longest in franchise history, first set by Aaron Glenn in 1996, also against Miami.
Carpenter's 21-yard field goal early in the second quarter made it 7-6, capping a nine-play, 77-yard drive that was helped by Marshall's 46-yard catch along the left sideline -- in which he stepped out of bounds at the Jets 35. On third down at the Jets 3, Moore went to Marshall in the end zone but his toss was slightly behind him and the ball went off the receiver's hands.
The Jets opened with four straight three-and-outs for the second consecutive game before getting things going late in the first half. On third-and-9 from the Jets 20, Jeremy Kerley caught a 14-yard pass for New York's initial first down of the game, with 6:17 left in the half.
The Jets got three more first downs, including Holmes' 20-yard reception that got the ball to the 11. Two plays later, LaDainian Tomlinson gained 9 yards on a shovel pass. Sanchez, lined up in the shotgun, took two steps and then zipped forward and dived into the end zone for a 5-yard touchdown to give New York a 14-6 lead with 1:14 left in the opening half.
Nick Folk kicked a 28-yard field goal to make it 17-6 in the third quarter, capping a 13-play, 79-yard drive that took nearly half the period.
Holmes' 38-yard catch and run early in the fourth quarter sealed it for the Jets after Sanchez bought some time with his feet and found the receiver, who easily outran linebacker Cameron Wake and made a few nice moves on his way into the end zone to put New York up 24-6.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
