Miami Dolphins @ New York Jets: Zach Wilson to secure a second-straight win? Teddy Bridgewater to step up in Tua Tagovailoa absence?
Miami Dolphins @ New York Jets kicks off this week's NFL Sunday triple-header - live on Sky Sports NFL at 6pm - with Dallas Cowboys @ Los Angeles Rams (9.25pm) and Cincinnati Bengals @ Baltimore Ravens (1.20am, Monday) rounding off the action
Sunday 9 October 2022 09:12, UK
Will Zach Wilson secure a second-straight win? Will Teddy Bridgewater step up in the absence of Tua Tagovailoa? And two former coaching team-mates and friends meet; we pick out six reasons to watch on Sunday @ 6pm, as the New York Jets host the Miami Dolphins...
Will Jets ride momentum with Wilson back?
The Zach Wilson era has been slow to get going in New York, in truth.
In his rookie season, the No 2 overall pick in the 2021 Draft threw seven interceptions over his first three games, while he followed that up with one more in each of the subsequent two weeks to make him only the fourth NFL QB after DeShone Kizer, Zach Mettenberger and Blake Bortles - (such esteemed company!) - to be picked off at least once in each of his first five starts in the league.
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Halting his development was a knee injury in Week Seven which would keep him out for four weeks, and the team, and fans (briefly) rallied round back-up Mike White to one of only four of their wins on the season - over the eventual AFC-champion Cincinnati Bengals, no less.
When Wilson returned to the line-up, though, the team did not finish the season strongly, he did, throwing five touchdowns to only two picks (including zero over the final five weeks of the season), along with four rushing scores.
It meant that much was expected heading into year two, but Wilson was again sidelined with a knee injury until last weekend, when he put in a superb showing in his first start of the season to see the Jets beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in their own backyard, rallying them from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit.
Will he and the Jets ride that momentum into this Sunday and now get a first home win of the season on the board?
Will Miami recover after Tua concussion saga?
It has been a tough 10 days for Miami. Not only did they lose their starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa to concussion in their Week Four, Thursday night loss to the Bengals - their first of the season - but they, and the league, have been heavily criticised for the handling of their QB too.
Tua had left the field just four days earlier in their Week Three game against the Buffalo Bills with what was initially described by the Dolphins as a head injury before subsequently returning to the action.
He was then listed as 'questionable' ahead of their road game in Cincinnati, said to be suffering from a sore back and ankle injury, before being cleared to play - only to be stretchered off the field and taken to hospital with head and neck injuries after being slammed violently to the turf, his fingers flexed awkwardly in what is known as the 'fencing response' to neurological trauma.
Former rugby league player Stevie Ward, captain of Leeds Rhinos before he was forced to retire at the age of 27 due to concussions he suffered on the field, told Sky Sports: "He [Tua] could have died," adding: "It's a respect thing. I don't think he was treated as a person. He was treated as someone that they just wanted to get back on the field."
Tua has been ruled out of Sunday's game against the Jets due to the concussion he suffered in Cincinnati, with it not yet known when he will be cleared to return to competitive action. The National Football League and its players' association, meanwhile, announced on Saturday that they have agreed to enhanced concussion protocols.
But with such distractions to contend with over the last week and a half, how will Miami respond on the field?
Will Bridgewater maintain Miami's explosive offense?
Also, somewhat lost in the shuffle from the fallout of the Tua concussion drama, is just how well he had been playing to start the season and therefore how big a loss his absence could be for this Dolphins outfit.
Tua has been much-maligned since entering the NFL as the No 5 overall pick in the 2020 Draft, with his arm strength, or lack thereof, a particular criticism. But, having added superstar speed merchant Tyreek Hill in the offseason after a blockbuster trade with the Kansas City Chiefs, pairing him with the equally explosive Jaylen Waddle at receiver, it has really opened up the Miami passing attack.
There is also the offensive genius that is Mike McDaniel at head coach calling the plays, having honed his craft under fellow savant Kyle Shanahan with the San Francisco 49ers, and Tua had taken full advantage, throwing for 1,035 yards through the first four games, with eight touchdowns to only three interceptions and with a league-leading 109.9 passer rating.
The Miami offense as a whole, meanwhile, has averaged 6.36 yards per play in 2022 - second in the NFL - while they have put up 24.5 points per game, good enough for ninth in the league, and round out the top three in terms of pass yards per game, at 291.8.
Now Teddy Bridgewater will be required to keep this Miami express train chugging along at the same pace. Predominantly a back-up QB over the last five or so years, is he capable? We are about to find out.
Battle of former 49ers coaches
McDaniel is not the only former member of the 49ers' coaching staff to fly the nest, with their one-time defensive coordinator and team-mate of McDaniel's on the sideline, Robert Saleh, also moving on.
Saleh has not found the going quite so easy on the field as McDaniel, who swiftly won his first three games in charge this season, but there are signs he is starting to turn things around in New York.
That being said, he is not relishing the prospect of going up against his friend on the opposite sideline this weekend. "I hate it, I hate it, I hate it," Saleh said.
"It's never easy. But at the same time, a tremendous amount of respect for him and what he is doing. And hopefully we can flip it to where we are the top two teams in the division every year and we can keep this rolling."
The respect is very much mutual, with McDaniel fully aware of the challenge Saleh and his staff present to his side when Miami travel into New York.
"I have a clear-cut vision of what it's going to take for our guys to be happy with their performance on Sunday," he said. "Because I know how detailed and passionate and how much energy those guys are preparing for us this week."
Saleh to start cashing those receipts?
Following on from the Jets' 24-9 hammering at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens on the opening weekend which stretched Saleh's record to 4-14 since taking over as head coach, he said: "We're all taking receipts on all the people who continually mock and say that we're not going to do anything."
Despite the unwanted four-win record, Saleh was confident enough in the talent he had assembled to add: "I'm taking receipts and I'm going to be more than happy to share them with all of you when all is said and done."
And while a .500 record at 2-2 is no time to be cashing in those receipts just yet, there are signs that under Saleh the Jets are indeed finally starting to turn things around. Their 2022 draft class, for example, flash weekly on the field - Ahmad 'Sauce' Gardner already looks like one of the best cornerbacks in the game, receiver Garrett Wilson has impressed, and runner Breece Hall is becoming more and more involved.
This is a young team that are going to grow together under Saleh and, with another win on Sunday, the Jets will be far from a laughing matter.
Will we see another last-gasp thriller?
Whatever the result on Sunday, these two teams normally guarantee some entertaining fare.
As mentioned earlier, the Jets recovered from a 10-point deficit to beat the Steelers late on last week, while their first win of the season - in Week Two against the Cleveland Browns - was even more remarkable, as a Nick Chubb touchdown with a minute and 55 seconds remaining saw Cleveland up by 13, securing themselves a win probability of 99.9 per cent in the process.
Cue a 66-yard touchdown reception from Corey Davis, a successful onside kick and then a winning grab by Garrett Wilson in the endzone with 22 seconds left to cap a stunning turnaround.
And the last-minute drama has not just been confined to Gang Green in New York. No, the Dolphins have been at it down in South Florida too.
In Week Two, having trailed the Ravens by as many as 21 in the fourth quarter, Miami put up 28 points in the space of 12 truly incredible minutes to run out 42-38 winners. It was the first 21-point comeback in the fourth quarter of an NFL game in 12 years - in the in-between years, teams were 0-711 in such games.
And if that did not showcase the resilient nature of this team enough, then, a week later, the Dolphins somehow triumphed 21-19 over the much-fancied Bills despite being outgained on offense 497 yards to 212, with Buffalo too boasting double their time of possession at 40:40 minutes.
Sunday's meeting between the Dolphins and Jets in New York looks set to be another cracker.
Watch Miami Dolphins @ New York Jets as it kicks of this week's NFL Sunday triple-header, live on Sky Sports NFL from 6pm.
