AFC East Report: Week 17

Buffalo Bills (9-7, 2nd AFC East)

Week 17: win (17-9 against the New England Patriots, in Foxboro)

Pats Pulpit is already in the process of covering this game.

Game highlights can be found here.

Miami Dolphins (8-8, 3rd AFC East)

Week 17: loss (24-37 against the New York Jets, in Miami)

The Miami Dolphins finish the 2014 season at .500 and 3rd place in the AFC East after losing 24-37 to the visiting New York Jets. Miami played a solid game, from a statistical point of view, but made too many mistakes in all three phases to win the game. The offensive line allowed seven sacks and quarterback Ryan Tannehill (23/39, 259, 1 TD) lost a fumble in the fourth quarter. Furthermore, Miami's offense, which gained 387 yards, converted only 4 of 13 (30%) 3rd-down-attempts and was shut out in the final 28 minutes of the game. Not all was bad, though, as Miami was able to rush for 179 yards on 20 attempts (9.0/att). 178 of those were produced by Lamar Miller, who also scored on a 97-yard run (fellow running back Daniel Thomas had one attempt for one yard and a touchdown). On defense, the Dolphins were stout against their opponents' running game, holding the Jets to 3.1 yards per attempt and stopping them for a loss three times. However, the unit, which surrendered 494 yards, had a hard time defending the pass and allowed three touchdowns (one of which from 74 yards out) and 390 net yards through the air. The vaunted Dolphins' pass rush was also non-existent for most of the day, producing only one sack (by defensive tackle Randy Starks). Miami also had issues on special teams, allowing one 87-yard kickoff return and a 33-yard pass play on a fake punt. Furthermore, kicker Caleb Sturgis missed one of his two field goal attempts. Add it all up, and it comes as no surprise that the Dolphins lost their final 2014 regular season game.

Game highlights can be found here.

New York Jets (4-12, 4th AFC East)

Week 17: win (37-24 against the Miami Dolphins, in Miami).

The New York Jets end their 2014 season on a high note after beating division rival Miami 37-24. The team had arguably one of its best offensive outings of the season, gaining 494 total net yards and limiting mistakes (one turnover). Quarterback Geno Smith (20/25, 358 yds, 3 TDs) had his best game of the year, even though he lost a second quarter fumble. Smith threw three scoring passes and connected with eight different receivers. His favorite target of the day was wide receiver Eric Decker (10/221 yds, 1 TD), who caught a 74-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Decker was not the only standout wide receiver on the Jets roster that day: Chris Owusu had 161 all-purpose-yards and a touchdown. While the Jets' passing offense looked sharp, the running game had some problems, gaining 104 yards on 34 attempts (3.1/att), while the offensive line allowed seven tackles for loss. The Jets defense also had issues in the running game, allowing 179 yards on 20 attempts (9.0/att); the low point being a third quarter 97-yard touchdown run given up after the Jets' failed to convert on a 4th-and-1 in the third quarter. At that point, New York was down 14-24, but would come back to score the game's last 23 points. While the offense was able to score two touchdowns and three Nick Folk (3/4) field goals to close out the game, Gang Green's defense did not allow a score in the last 28 minutes. The unit gave up 387 yards on the day, but was stout against the pass. The pass rush in particular was very good, racking up seven sacks (2.5 by David Harris, 2.0 by Quinton Coples); one of which leading to a Jets' fumble recovery (by Demario Davis). The Jets had issues in the passing game in 2014, but looked solid in this area on both offense and defense against the Dolphins (as well as on special teams, as punter Ryan Quigley threw a 33-yard pass to Zach Sudfeld on a fake punt). Thus, they end their 2014 season at 4-12. [EDIT: According to Albert Breer, the Jets have fired head coach Rex Ryan and general manager John Idzik.]