Jets face a ‘huge’ home test vs. winless Dolphins as AFC East rivals square off

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Must-win games in October might seem like an overstatement with so much of the NFL’s regular season remaining. Garrett Wilson and the New York Jets aren’t downplaying any of it, though.

Not sitting at 2-4 and trying to keep things from spiraling with the 0-5 Miami Dolphins coming to MetLife Stadium on Sunday.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s huge,” the star wide receiver said. “If we want to be where we want to be at the end of the season, these are the type of games you’ve got to have. We also take a lot of pride in protecting the home turf. So just knowing that and coming back home, you’re going to put a premium on this game.

“And at the end of day, we’re coming off a loss. You want to get that taste out of your mouth.”

The Jets dropped to 0-7 against AFC East rivals under Aaron Glenn with their 26-19 loss at New England last Sunday.

“We always say every game is important, but especially those division games,” quarterback Geno Smith said. “It’s early in the season for us, but now is around the time where things start to shape themselves up.”

The struggling and similarly rebuilding Dolphins know the feeling. They’re looking to avoid the fifth 0-6 start in franchise history, and first since 2019.

Miami is coming off a bye-week break, which might have come at a good time for coach Jeff Hafley’s bunch.

“It was fun to get back at it. I mean, I missed it,” said Hafley, in his first season leading the Dolphins. “I missed them. … Guys are locked in. Excited to get back to work.”

And some of the players who were in Miami in recent seasons know there’s time to turn things around. Last year’s Dolphins opened 1-6 before playing themselves into postseason contention and finishing 7-10. They were 2-6 in 2024 before ending that season 8-9.

“You never know how this season is going to end up,” linebacker Jordyn Brooks said, adding that teammate Aaron Brewer talked about going on a 12-0 run. “I’m right there with him. Why not, you know what I mean? It’s one week at a time, one play at a time. So my mentality is going to be the same. Having been through it last two years … closed the gap, had a fighting chance at the end. So I know it’s real, I know it’s possible.”

Need to know

Miami (0-5) at New York Jets (2-4)

When/where to watch: Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT, CBS.

Latest odds: Jets by 4 1/2.

Against the spread: Dolphins 1-3-1; Jets 3-2-1.

Last week: Dolphins were on bye, lost to Bengals 31-24 on Oct. 11; Jets lost to Patriots 26-19.

Last meeting: Dolphins won 34-10 on Dec. 7, 2025, in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Series record: Dolphins lead 63-57-1.

Matchup to watch

Dolphins QB Malik Willis vs. Jets’ pass defense. Miami ranks 31st in passing offense, averaging 153.6 yards per game. Willis hasn’t thrown for more than 220 yards in any game and faces a Jets defense that ranks fourth in the league by allowing just 185 yards passing per game. Willis has only two TD passes and four interceptions in five games, but has rushed for a career-high 186 yards — including 74 against Cincinnati, setting the franchise’s single-game record for a quarterback.

Stats and stuff

— The Dolphins have won 10 of 12 against the Jets, including four of the past six at MetLife Stadium.

— Sunday’s game will be Miami’s first divisional matchup of the season after beginning the season against two AFC West teams, one in the AFC North and one in the NFC West.

— The Dolphins have had 100-plus yards rushing in each of their past four games, tied for the team’s third-longest streak in the past 10 years.

— Hafley and Glenn coached together in Cleveland during the 2014-15 seasons. Hafley was the defensive backs coach and Glenn an assistant DBs coach. Hafley was also the co-defensive coordinator/secondary coach at Ohio State during Wilson’s freshman year in 2019.

— Miami released kicker Riley Patterson this week and brought back kicker Zane Gonzalez, who spent part of training camp with the Dolphins before being released in August with an injury settlement.

— New York has been outscored 119-49 in the closing minutes of the second and fourth quarters under Glenn, according to ESPN Research. That’s the worst point differential in the NFL during that span. The Jets have also been outscored 100-6, according to TruMedia, in the final two minutes of the second quarter the past two seasons.

— The Jets haven’t allowed any points on their opponents’ opening drives in five straight games, joining Seattle, Green Bay, Jacksonville and Denver as the only teams with an active streak of at least that long.

— Smith’s five touchdown passes of 20 or more yards ties him with Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence and San Francisco’s Brock Purdy for the most in the league.

— Since the NFL officially began counting tackles in 1984, Jets rookie edge rusher David Bailey is the only player with 30 or more total tackles, five or more sacks and one or more forced fumbles through six career games.

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AP Sports Writer Alanis Thames in Miami Gardens, Florida, contributed.

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