Rotobahn

This was not a very exciting game. The Dolphins showed pretty early on that they were not going to really compete. It was only the Jets' ineptitude offensively that really kept things close in the first half.

On offense, the Jets like to talk “ground and pound”, but they rarely follow through on said talk. This is pretty hard to comprehend. Shonn Greene is not a special player as far as tackle-breaking ability or speed is concerned, but he is very much the kind of back that could thrive in the offense the Jets claim they want to run.

So what gives?

Well, they seem to want to set up the ground game with the pass much of the time, and that’s what really confuses us.  Mark Sanchez is just not "there" yet (if he ever gets there) and it’s very obvious when you watch him play.  It would make far more sense for the Jets to pound the ball, set up play action and let Sanchez attack at less predictable times.  We keep expecting this to happen, but OC Brian Schottenheimer refuses to give in and simplify.

Eventually, we expect the Jets to go back to an offense that more closely resembles what we saw in 2009 and 2010, but for now, we just don’t know what to expect week-to-week.

Santonio Holmes seems to be back to full health and he had a sweet catch and run for a score. Dustin Keller was active, but they seem to have trouble getting him free as much as they did early in the year. This bring us to Plaxico Burress; the threat of Burress early in the year helped Keller, but Plax’s lack of production and separation from defenders has become stark, and defenses are no longer showing him the kind of respect they did a month ago.

The Jets D looked better than is has in a while, and though they have a few weaknesses, we expect them to finish pretty well from a fantasy perspective. Make no mistake, the keys to the Jets are Burress and then the ground game.

For Miami, new QB Matt Moore took a beating, but the guy actually played better than he’s being given credit for. He might just be a viable fantasy play at times if he can stay alive. Brandon Marshall looked better than we’ve seen him in some time, which is sort of amazing in that he was dealing with Revis much of the night. If they can keep Moore upright, Marshall could finish the year well. We still view him as a quality buy-low option.

As for the Miami backs, we think it’s all about Daniel Thomas at this point. Reggie Bush was also effective, and should retain some flex value in deeper leagues, but the guy with RB2 potential is Thomas. You can see it even in a game like this one, where Bush was actually more productive. Thomas has an NFL body, and if he can take the pounding, he has a chance to be a full-time player at some point. You don’t see that many big guys that are as comfortable in the passing game as Thomas.

Brian Hartline and Devone Bess really came up small and you have to wonder if our guy Clyde Gates will start to make a move soon. He was out there a fair amount and had a deep ball thrown his way. He is a serious talent and we expect him to be a starter at some point this year or next.

Miami has a much better matchup this week with Denver. It will be a much better gauge of where they are with Moore as an offense. It will also be a homecoming of sorts for Marshall, who could really go off.