Jets And Mets: Thanks, Miami, For All The Wins

The New York Jets and Miami Dolphins staged a Mediocre Bowl on Sunday. It was a contest of which team could be worse, and the Dolphins won (or is that lost?). The Miami Marlins came into Citi Field to face the New York Mets in a battle for last place in the National League East, and, if the Mets have played an embarrassing brand of baseball lately, they can take solace in the fact that the Marlins are a bigger disaster than they are.

The Jets were just flat-out not very good all day long on Sunday (and with the game dragging on and on, it seemed like it lasted all day long), but, mainly due to the ineptitude of the Dolphins, they pulled out a 23-20 victory. The quarterbacks for each team out-did each other in the battle for who could be worse: Mark Sanchez went 21-for-45 (46.7%), threw for 306 yards, but tossed two interceptions to go with his one touchdown, with a final passer rating of 58.2 Ryan Tannehill, though, made Sanchez look like Johnny Unitas, completing only 44.4% of his passes (16-for-36), throwing for 196 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception. He had a QB rating of 50.2. The few times Tim Tebow made it onto the field he was a non-factor, with the exception of his first down from a punt formation. The Jets and Dolphins also matched each other in the penalty department, with Gang Green being whistled nine times for 108 yards, and Miami 11 times for 65 yards.

The Jets lucked out when Dan Carpenter shanked two field goals, and the Dolphins shot themselves in the foot by calling a timeout a moment before blocking a Nick Folk kick in overtime. Folk easily put the ball through the uprights to win the game on his second try. Even the referees had a bad day, as they somehow botched a replay review on Anthony Fassaro's catch deep in Jets' territory. And the Jets weren't treated very kindly in the injury department, either, as Darrelle Revis had to leave the game with a knee injury. There were a few bright spots, with Santonio Holmes catching nine passes for 147 yards, Jeremy Kerley making a key 66-yard catch-and-run while also crossing the goal line and LaRon Landry scoring the team's first touchdown on an interception. But the Jets only managed 88 yards on the ground and didn't sack Tannehill once. It would have been fitting if the game actually ended in a tie.

Heading into the weekend series with the Marlins, the Mets had to answer questions of whether they have packed it in for the season after the 16-1 debacle at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday. It seems like they've had to answer those questions before as well, which tells a lot about the way their season has nosedived after the All-Star break. Luckily for them, though, the Marlins were next up on the schedule. Despite making base-running blunders galore on Friday night, highlighted by Lucas Duda's non-hustling single-that-should-have-been-a-double (who does he think he is, Robinson Cano?), the Mets won handily, 7-3, thanks in large part to the laughingstock way the Marlins performed. Miami is sleepwalking through the end of their terrible season, and they were just what the Mets needed to give them some much-needed energy (and wins). R.A. Dickey picked up his 19th victory on Saturday, though, in typical Mets fashion, the game turned into a nail-biter in the ninth inning. And they pulled off the sweep on Sunday, with Ruben Tejada's game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth.

The Jets did not perform well at all, but a win's a win. And the Mets continued to play some mistake-filled baseball. But the two teams combined to go 4-0 vs. the teams from Florida. Maybe the Jets and Mets should send the city of Miami a gift basket in return for all the gift victories they received.